Alhama Signature Golf

Overview: Alhama Signature Golf is a long, open course in Condado de Alhama, Murcia, designed and personally supervised by Jack Nicklaus. Its scale comes from broad fairways, large lakes, 116 bunkers, circular tees, and a series of changing elevations that make the course read like a strategic landscape rather than a simple desert corridor. The water is not decorative: it changes preferred lines and asks players to decide how much of the hole to take on. Fast greens and varied bunker shapes add a second layer around the putting surfaces, while the native and introduced planting gives the arid setting more texture. The 18-hole, par-72 layout rewards planning and controlled aggression, with several routes available when the direct line is not the best one.

History: Creation began in 2006, when Nicklaus became directly involved in the design and supervision. He first visited the site in July 2007 and sketched the layout, then returned in March 2008 to refine bunkers, grass transitions, and landscape details. The official history records the course opening to the public in 2009, a date also reflected by Spanish golf federation records. The design was conceived around the movement of Mediterranean waves, translated into a rolling course on the Murcia landscape.

Did You Know? Alhama uses Paspalum, a grass selected for its tolerance of saline, lower-quality irrigation water. That choice is part of the course's documented sustainability story and is also practical design information: the playing surfaces are maintained in a region where water quality and heat are central parts of course management.