Appointed earlier this year in March, 40-year-old Alfonso Castiñeira, is the latest director of golf at Las Colinas Golf & Country Club on the Costa Blanca in Spain.

Officially inaugurated in March 2011, Castiñeira becomes the fourth director of golf at the Spanish venue and plans to build on the success of his predecessors as he settles into life back in his home country following spells in Panama.

Hailing from Galicia, Castiñeira lives and breathes golf, and grew-up in La Coruña and was introduced to golf by his father.

“My father was a professional roller hockey player and played for one of the best teams in Spain, Deportivo Liceo, in my hometown,” explained Castiñeira. “In football you have Real Madrid and Barcelona, and in hockey it would be Barcelona and Liceo. They are two of the biggest teams in Spain.

“When my father retired, golf was a natural sport for him to play – especially with less injuries – and I picked-up the game around the age of 11. I wasn’t that great a golfer, but I do remember going [to the range] one day to hit balls with him, and my third shot actually went into the air and started flying and I said to myself, hang on a minute, I do like this! I basically developed from there, and by the time I was 17 I was quite a sports freak,” smiles Castiñeira.

“I played football, hockey, and golf, and was a three-handicapper at the time.”

Although his father introduced him to the sport, it was his mother who introduced him to the business of golf, when she suggested that he consider an academic scholarship in golf at Coastal Carolina University, with his studies split 50:50 between the US and Barcelona.

“I must say that I wasn’t a great student back in high school, so as a 17-year-old, I was either going to do Business Management or Law School, which in Spain is basically the two paths that you take when you are not sure what to do. I was never going to be a doctor or an engineer,” recalls Castiñeira.

“Going abroad to live and study in Carolina was obviously expensive, and as an only child, my parents made a big sacrifice so as I could go and do the programme.”

By the time Castiñeira finished his time in Carolina and had graduated with a degree in Professional Golf Management from the PGA of America, he was playing off scratch and hungry to test himself, both on and off the course.Aged

23, he returned to Spain and gained his first break in management when playing in an amateur event at Desert Springs in Almería, when during one of the practice rounds a Spanish Federation representative asked if he would be interested in working at the venue.

“Before I started the tournament, I had a job offer in my inbox,” recalls Castiñeira, who stayed for a couple of years as head professional before obtaining his Tour card and trying his luck on the Alps Tour.

“I had saved some money and was curious as to how far I could get as a Tour pro and wanted to give it a proper go. I said to myself that the worst thing that could happen would be to reach the age of 40 and look back and say that I should have tried.

“I gave it a good go for three or four years but realised that I wasn’t good enough to basically make a living playing golf on the main tour.

“I was then invited to return to Desert Springs as golf operations manager and stayed for another four years.”

Ambitious, and keen to progress his career, in 2018 aged 35, Castiñeira realised that he needed to move away from Spain after failing to land a role in his homeland due to his lack of overseas experience.

“When I was not selected for the job, I did get in touch with human resources [at the destination] to get some feedback about my profile,” he admits candidly, “and to ask for my career to develop, what did I need to add to my CV.

“They kindly answered that because of the business the destination operated, I needed more international experience, so when the opportunity to move to Panama came up later in the year, I knew that I had to go for it.”

Castiñeira spent just over a year plying his trade as director of golf at the luxurious Buenaventura Golf Resort just outside Panama City, which at the time, was managed by Troon. Sadly, following the untimely death of both of his parents, Castiñeira returned to Spain, assisting with the pre-opening of Golf Xaz in his hometown whilst dealing with personal matters.

“I always kept in touch with Troon, and they said at the time that they were lending me to my hometown for a couple of years, but whenever I was thinking about moving, to give them a call. Then another option came up in Panama.

“When I took the job at Santa María Golf Club, I told the GM that I wasn’t planning on being in Panama for a long time and wanted to progress my career with Troon. I was happy in Panama, and everything was going well.

“Funnily enough, Santa María had just been selected as the host venue for the 2024 Latin America Amateur Championship, and in January, I was invited to visit the event which [this year] was held in Puerto Rico.

“At the same time, I was in conversation with Las Colinas Golf & Country Club about a return to Spain.”

Although disappointed not to be able to oversee the Latin American Amateur Championship, the lure of landing the role at Las Colinas was too great for Castiñeira to pass by, and he took over the reins in March.

Only nine months in, what improvements or recommendations has Castiñeira seen that can help elevate the visitor experience at what was already, a worldclass.golf facility.

“I like to say that I like to build on what my predecessors have been doing, because I think that Las Colinas has had very competent professionals working with a great vision.

“So, nothing drastic, but I think it’s just the little touches. So, there’s things that we’re looking at from the service point of view.”

Minor improvements such as the removal of colour-coded tees and the repositioning of the starters hut are planned, but perhaps the biggest change will be behind the scenes with Troon being more involved.

“Troon has always been there for Las Colinas, so I think that Troon now has a bit more visibility and they’re clearer about what’s going on at Las Colinas. And I think that Las Colinas is also benefiting more from Troon’s resources.

“In terms of marketing, we’re taking advantage of their marketing efforts and Las Colinas is jumping on the back of that. So, Las Colinas Golf & Country Club is now more visible for certain operators networking with other Troon international properties.

“Also, one of the important things that Las Colinas is really keen on is ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and trying to protect the environment as much as possible. It’s important for us to show that we actually care about the environment and have protocols in place that we actually follow.

“I’m still learning about Las Colinas Golf & Country Club and I’m still trying to see how I can improve Las Colinas more than what it actually is, and from a golf point of view, there’s always new stuff to learn.”