Las Margas Golf Club

Monday and Tuesday, April 3-4, 2023

From Aravell to Las Margas

Walking the Camino de Compostela, you are not walking on highways or national roads, no. You are following the stars and walking the local paths. We are too.

We are not following the Google Map recommended route, which you see on the picture above. If we did that it would be a drive of about 376 km. Estimated to take about 3½ hours.

But no. We take the Camino route. That I have tried to illustrate on the picture below.

Honestly, I have no precise knowledge of the time it took us. It were very small roads, some with no space for two cars to pass. It was a very exciting and in and between also a bit nerve wracking route.

Also, we learned something. Our first stop to rest and get a cup of coffee was in the little village with the name of Sort. See it on the right-hand side of the picture.

Everything so authentic. And one wonders what the locals do for a living apart from tourism in the summer and skiing in the winter months.

Later, after we left Sort, Eza regretted not having bought a Lotto ticket.

Why? Sort in Catalan means luck and statistics indicate that there are more lotto-winners from the Sort area compared to the population from any other areas in Spain.

But now it’s too late. We are not going back. Maybe next time ……..

Las Margos Golf Club

Arriving at Las Margas the first thing we saw was this fantastic landscape. See picture below. Can you imagine a golf course built in this volcanic terrain?

Here is the presentation of the golf club taken from their web page:

WELCOME TO EXE LAS MARGAS GOLF:

SPECTACULAR NATURE AND TWO UNIQUE COURSE

Exe Las Margas Golf course is located in a privileged setting, surrounded by nature at the foot of the Santa Orosia and Oturia mountains and next to the Gállego River. The unique design of this place is based on the experience of José María Olazábal, who designed courses that pose challenges for both professionals and those who are beginning to practice this sport. With a total area of 60 hectares, the course consists of two courses, a main one with 18 holes, par 71, and a 9-hole Pitch & Putt. There’s also a large practice area and a golf school.

We didn’t get any impression of this being a golf club, but more a place where you can play golf.

One reason may be that the course is closed for most of the winter months and the hotel only opens in late May only for three months of the year. We played at the beginning of April and had to wait till 11 o’clock to tee off. That might be the reason why we didn’t find the atmosphere of a golf club.

But I can tell you that the golf course is an adventure.

The golf course

Welcome to a fantastic and unusual golf course.

Here you see the hotel from the first green

Fantastic view

This is me teeing off on the 11 tee

On the next picture you can see the first part of the fairway to the left and the green (to hit) over the ravine to the right.

This is what you see from the tee

On this course there are many great golf holes. Unfortunately, we didn’t take many good photos and there are none of them on the website. I am sorry for that. Maybe the reason is that both of us were kind of blown away by all these spectacular golf holes and the amazing nature.

When thinking about José María Olazábal, his personality and approach to golf, I am not surprised about the course design. It’s as intricate as I imagine what’s going on in his head when playing golf.

Let me also mention hole 4 par 3. 192 meters from the yellow and probably also about 100 meters down. Never tried that before. I mean, not the length of 192 meters. What club do you choose? Anyway, the view is fantastic.

The course is – kind of – divided into 2 parts. The flatter part which is the first 4 or 5 holes and the last 3 or 4 holes. The holes in between are the more dramatic up and down holes in – what to me looks like played in a volcanic terrain. If you don’t have strong legs and are not in good physical condition, I recommend an electrical trolley or golf buggy.

We found that some of the local players didn’t play this part of the course. I understand, but if you ever get to play Margas, don’t miss this part of the course. The most dramatic and fantastic part of the course, and beautiful. I have never played a course like this. The most surprising thing is that these are really good golf holes – probably thanks to Olazábal’s intricate thinking.

The mental part of the game

We played the course twice. Of course, one thinks about hitting good shots, being in the right place, making good puts etc. but the course and the nature are so overwhelming – it’s like the quality of the shots doesn’t really matters.

And maybe because of that, on the first round, I played the first nine in 37 strokes (gross). Not so good on the last nine – 44 strokes. That might be because the first nine’s score ignited my competitive gens. You start to think golf.

Lesson learned: Just enjoy.

Next off to Ulzama