"Golf" holiday: Marbella 2013
My first golf holiday with the boys.
04:00 start on Friday morning, landed 10:30 local, meet the Northern contingent and get to the hotel by just gone 11:00.
The hotel was nice. The clienele; well that's another matter. Imagine if you will a cross between Romford's night clubs sometime early Sunday morning, and a Russ Myers film and you have an idea of the majority of the clientele of the hotel.
My "bats" turn up just after 13:00 (I opted to rent rather than trek my own there) and we set off for the first game. A 14:00 tee slot.
You know what they say about mad dogs and English men, needless to say that there were not too many people playing, so we had the course to ourselves. The heat was intense, and I am not a fan of heat nor the sun!
The course was pure madness. It was situated in the middle of three mountains and what little of the course you could claim to be even slight flat was surrounded by shear cliffs and drops. There were times when the pin was 100ft below the tee, and other times the exact opposite.
I lost 12 balls (found a few and lost some of them too) and scored a whole 2 points.
I was a little despondent at this time. We got back to the hotel for a quick shower and a beer before heading out for a meal. We were booked in to "Sintillate" for the meal at 22:00. We finally got a table about 23:30, and by then I was already a good way through a bottle of red wine. This was the start of my downfall.
The meal was average, there was more wine, someone bought shots, and we all ended up in the nightclub part. A table was "acquired" for a guaranteed spend of a €1,000, I started drinking Jack Daniels and I remember nothing more until I was woken up the following morning.
I was supposed to be playing a round t 09:00, but I woke up fully dressed (including shoes) at 08:00 and my world hurt. I got undressed and went back to bed. I finally surfaced about mid afternoon to meet the boys by the pool. I was not the only one to miss the golf. Only three of seven managed to get out of bed in time.
Saturday ended up being a recovery day for me. The sight and smell of a beer made me want to heave. About 17:00 I braved a fish a chip supper, and took a walk down to the sea, then along the beach until I got to the marina. A leisurely walk back was followed by a night in watching the football and reading.
There was more carnage on Saturday night so just three of us managed to make the golf on Sunday.
This was also a 09:00 tee, the weather was slightly overcast, ideal conditions for me. I started well (one over par, which for my handicap is two points) and got better! I managed to Par the hardest hole on the course for four points! By the end of the first nine I had scored a whopping 14 points and not lost a ball!
The sun started to poke its head through the clouds at this point, and I started to tire. I had a few bad holes but managed to pick my game up a bit again, scoring a further 8 on the back nine.
The course (Los Naranjos Golf Club) was beautiful, it was the best game of golf! I'm all pumped up for the next game now!
Sunday night we all headed out for something to eat, and ended up in a bar/club for beers. I was not keen on a repeat of Friday night so after a few beers I left them to it. I was accosted by half a dozen people on the way back to the cab rank who wanted to sell things or people. It's a sleazy town.
Monday was a non-day. Up and packed by 11:00, 20 minutes too late to get a breakfast, sitting around reading waiting for the shuttle to pick us up to get the airport. Málaga airport is a bit of a joke. We were not allowed to check our bags until just two and a half hours before our flight even though we were there for at least 2 hours before that. After some more reading (gotta love a kindle - I got through two and a half books!) a flight home and sleeping in my own bed.
04:00 start on Friday morning, landed 10:30 local, meet the Northern contingent and get to the hotel by just gone 11:00.
The hotel was nice. The clienele; well that's another matter. Imagine if you will a cross between Romford's night clubs sometime early Sunday morning, and a Russ Myers film and you have an idea of the majority of the clientele of the hotel.
My "bats" turn up just after 13:00 (I opted to rent rather than trek my own there) and we set off for the first game. A 14:00 tee slot.
You know what they say about mad dogs and English men, needless to say that there were not too many people playing, so we had the course to ourselves. The heat was intense, and I am not a fan of heat nor the sun!
The course was pure madness. It was situated in the middle of three mountains and what little of the course you could claim to be even slight flat was surrounded by shear cliffs and drops. There were times when the pin was 100ft below the tee, and other times the exact opposite.
I lost 12 balls (found a few and lost some of them too) and scored a whole 2 points.
I was a little despondent at this time. We got back to the hotel for a quick shower and a beer before heading out for a meal. We were booked in to "Sintillate" for the meal at 22:00. We finally got a table about 23:30, and by then I was already a good way through a bottle of red wine. This was the start of my downfall.
The meal was average, there was more wine, someone bought shots, and we all ended up in the nightclub part. A table was "acquired" for a guaranteed spend of a €1,000, I started drinking Jack Daniels and I remember nothing more until I was woken up the following morning.
I was supposed to be playing a round t 09:00, but I woke up fully dressed (including shoes) at 08:00 and my world hurt. I got undressed and went back to bed. I finally surfaced about mid afternoon to meet the boys by the pool. I was not the only one to miss the golf. Only three of seven managed to get out of bed in time.
Saturday ended up being a recovery day for me. The sight and smell of a beer made me want to heave. About 17:00 I braved a fish a chip supper, and took a walk down to the sea, then along the beach until I got to the marina. A leisurely walk back was followed by a night in watching the football and reading.
There was more carnage on Saturday night so just three of us managed to make the golf on Sunday.
This was also a 09:00 tee, the weather was slightly overcast, ideal conditions for me. I started well (one over par, which for my handicap is two points) and got better! I managed to Par the hardest hole on the course for four points! By the end of the first nine I had scored a whopping 14 points and not lost a ball!
The sun started to poke its head through the clouds at this point, and I started to tire. I had a few bad holes but managed to pick my game up a bit again, scoring a further 8 on the back nine.
The course (Los Naranjos Golf Club) was beautiful, it was the best game of golf! I'm all pumped up for the next game now!
Sunday night we all headed out for something to eat, and ended up in a bar/club for beers. I was not keen on a repeat of Friday night so after a few beers I left them to it. I was accosted by half a dozen people on the way back to the cab rank who wanted to sell things or people. It's a sleazy town.
Monday was a non-day. Up and packed by 11:00, 20 minutes too late to get a breakfast, sitting around reading waiting for the shuttle to pick us up to get the airport. Málaga airport is a bit of a joke. We were not allowed to check our bags until just two and a half hours before our flight even though we were there for at least 2 hours before that. After some more reading (gotta love a kindle - I got through two and a half books!) a flight home and sleeping in my own bed.