Marbella Club Golf Resort

Overview: Marbella Club Golf Resort is an 18-hole mountain course in Benahavís, set above the Costa del Sol with views toward the surrounding hills and Mediterranean coast. Dave Thomas designed a routing that follows the contours rather than flattening the site, so the round moves through changing elevation, woodland and open mountain viewpoints. The fairways are separated by natural ground, bunkers and water features, and the approach to a green can feel very different depending on the lie. It is a course that rewards thoughtful use of the landscape: distance helps, but controlling direction and understanding the slope are just as important. The result is a quiet, high-altitude counterpoint to the busier coastal courses below.

History: The course opened in 1999 as part of the Marbella Club's mountain golf resort. Dave Thomas was asked to create a championship layout within a site where the terrain itself would provide much of the challenge. The completed course retained long views and natural drainage lines, then added lakes, waterfalls and shaped playing corridors to make the holes distinct. A daily limit on play has also helped preserve the resort's low-density character and the calm atmosphere associated with the property.

Did You Know? The course is known for the way water appears as part of the mountain scenery rather than as a single repeated hazard. Lakes and waterfalls sit among the elevation changes, so the visual impression can shift from wooded hillside to open panorama within a few holes. That changing scale is one of the layout's most memorable features.