Costa Brava - The rugged coast

With Barcelona as its pulsating, vibrant capital, famous for its architecture and gastronomy, the region of Catalonia has traditionally been less popular among golfers than other Spanish Costas. Now, all that is changing…

The last time I was in Barcelona, I was pick-pocketed. I had only been there six hours, just enough time for a shower and a drink.    That sort of welcome is enough to make you take to your heels and head straight back onto the plane home. But I didn’t. Instead, two old soaks helped me up and a local teenager walked me back to my apartment apologizing on behalf of the city.    “We are not like that,” he said. “Catalans are better people and we want you to enjoy our city.”

LAS RAMBLAS. In fairness, we had been warned about pickpockets before arriving. Las Ramblas is the main tourist strip in Barcelona, full of locals nibbling on tapas in between cigarette drags and tourists ordering beers in ridiculously oversized jugs. At night, the neon lights come on and Las Ramblas gets busier and louder.    While it is one of the quintessential visits you must make when in this part of the world, it is also an opportunist’s dream, so ‘enjoy yourself responsibly,’ as the adverts tell us.        That’s what I decided I was going to do. After all, Barcelona is a pulsating city right now. Beyond the aesthetic beauty of its marina, beach and gothic architecture, is a spiritual beauty that you can’t help falling in love with.

FOOD & FOTBALL. One cannot think of Barcelona without thinking of the football club. The team plays with a quintessentially Spanish passion and style, and the whole of Catalunya supports it with every fibre of its being. One would expect no less. As Bill Shankly put it, ‘Some people believe football is a matter of life and death…I can assure you it’s much more important than that.’    And that’s not just an attitude found on the terraces. Catalans have allowed this passion to spill into every facet of their lives. Their food is no longer just cold slices of tortilla and a few olives on a bar; it’s the greatest food in the world, far richer and more exciting than the careless imitations to be found elsewhere. Places like El Bulli and El Cellar Can Roca have evolved beyond restaurants into a pilgrimage for anyone who wants to stick a white hat on their head. As such, you are just as likely to bump into a food fetishist as you are a golfer. As a hybrid of both, I spent an enjoyable evening at Aula Gastronomica de L’Emporda cooking local dishes before devouring them with a bottle of local Emporda wine as a fitting accompaniment.

QUALIFYING SCHOOL. Music fans will also tell you that the Sonar festival is one of the best in the world. Combining this with a spot of people watching is a recipe for a cracking holiday as far as I’m concerned, but it has never really been somewhere I’d think to go for golf. That changed a couple of years ago when the European Tour moved Qualifying School to a place called PGA Catalunya.     I had never heard of it before; when you think about golf in Spain, you think of the Costa del Sol. But about an hour from the high-rises of Barcelona, the Costa Brava is home to a quieter set of golf courses and while they are not as ostentatious as their southern counterparts, that doesn’t mean they are any less good.

BUILD IT AND THEY WILL COME. I began my golfing voyage at Golf Platja de Pals. This course is situated about half a mile from the sea. Not that you’d know it – all you can see is trees, trees, trees. Platja de Pals was founded by a Spanish duo who made a fortune in Cuba (take that Communism!) and retired to their beloved Catalunya. They bought up a section of beach and then imported one million umbrella pines to create a narrow, fidgety course that is a real pleasure to play. Age has softened the course a little bit, but that’s only if you hit a straight ball – spray it about and you will soon find yourself surrounded by a lot of trees. Precision and strategy are key, and the bitter wind that blows down from the Pyrenees makes that all the harder.

FANTASTIC LUNCH. I really enjoyed this course. There’s a good variety of holes and shots to play and it was nothing like I imagined when travelling here. Also, have lunch. It was amazing. We had a selection of starters/tapas and I could have very easily sat there all afternoon, ordering dish after dish.    While I was tucking in, there were two particular holes that stuck in my mind and I’m sure they will stick in yours as well – the two spectacular par three holes at the 9^th and 11^th. The 9^th is beautifully framed, over water and a large bunker, and it will take a good shot to find the green. The 11^th is from a raised tee and you have to play over the canopy of umbrella pines to find the green below. It really hones your concentration and reminds me a bit of the 4^th at Augusta.

CAN'T SEE THE WOODS FOR THE TREES. I moved on from Pals, taking a short drive to Emporda GC, a 36-hole resort divided into two halves. The Forest Course gets your heart pumping just looking at it. The holes weave around hundreds of umbrella pines that head off into the distance across a seemingly endless mass of bunkers and humps. To add to the challenge, large bunkers, larger greens and a splash of water make this a very intimidating course.    Trying to find a swing, I found myself chipping sideways a lot in the early holes. Then the water got involved and my scorecard began to look very messy. But I was still having fun. Emporda is the work of Robert Van Hagge, the architect behind Le Golf National and Seignosse, and you can see his touches in details such as the railways sleepers on bunkers and lakes.    I thought every hole on the Forest Course was great in its own right, but the 6^th and 7^th holes are very special. Water makes both tee shot and approach daunting and it can wreck a good start.

A GOOD TEST. The Links course is newer and plays that way. Water bites in places but is easily avoided and by sticking to the middle of greens you should have a few birdie chances. I saw a severed snake head on this course which may have tempered my experience – that and the fact I wasn’t playing well at all by this stage, having started to swing rather aggressively.      My partners found the course a lot more enjoyable by sticking to fairways. Although it is called a links course, that’s mainly because of the style of the layout and not the playing experience. Even so, there are some very strong holes to finish so it is still a good test of skill.

SURPRISINGLY GOOD. I must admit to being somewhat surprised by the variety and quality of golf along the Costa Brava. This particularly struck me as I raved about my trip to a passenger on the train home after he enquired where I’d been. He was a keen golfer and enjoyed a yearly holiday, usually to the Algarve, and I tried to convince him to have a look this way.     It wasn’t just the golf I was raving about, but the serenity and comfort that surrounds it. I stayed in the Park Hotel for a night and enjoyed blissful and unencumbered views out to sea from its cliff top location over the beach of the Costa Brava. The next morning, I spent a hypnotic breakfast watching the Mediterranean sway back and forth.    The hotel is quite modern in design, but the rooms are very snug so it’s probably best that you have an action-packed schedule to keep you out all day. The location is perfect for access to all manner of golf and water sports, which is another thing that this area is famous for. Should you decide to pack a wet-suit in your travel bag, you will never find yourself short of things to do. 

THE JEWEL OF COSTA BRAVA. But I had my sights set on bigger fish. I had been aching to test myself out at PGA Catalonia for the entire trip, and now the morning was upon us.    As the new home to European Tour Qualifying School, you can expect a challenge set to test the best of your skills. It’s the jewel of the Costa Brava crown and has been voted the third best course in Europe and second best in Spain. It has drama, flair and strategy from the moment you step onto the first tee and stare down the valley where your tee shot needs to go. Unfortunately, framing that view is a lot of trees and beyond that a lot more trees. Each hole is set up like an individual theatre in which your drama can play out, drama which is heightened – literally and figuratively – by the many elevated tees.

HIDDEN SLOPES. The emphasis is on solid, accurate shots. Hitting fairways makes it easier to hit greens, which are often fiercely guarded by water or sand (or both). Added to that, the greens are riddled with hidden slopes that keep your ball rolling. You definitely feel that endurance is the key to playing this course well.    Mistakes can be made, but do not let them take over your round. Simply accept them and move on. I suffered a torrid front nine and my shoulders were slumped, but I picked it up on the back with some consistent shots and soon got back into the round. I personally can’t imagine what’s going on inside players’ minds over the six rounds of ‘Q School’.

THE NEW HOME. We didn’t get to play the Tour course, which is a shorter and softer test, but still one that relies on accuracy. It’s the course where some players make up some ground with some record low scores, so, on reflection, maybe it should’ve been the course to play, but where’s the fun in that?    The Qualifying School has decided to make this region its home for the next few years, which gives you an indication as to how highly the European Tour values this place. Where better than an environment that encourages you not just to do your best, but to be the best? As a part of the world to spend your free time, what greater inspiration should you need?