The past couple of years haven’t been the greatest for the golf tourism sector, with the southern European markets of Portugal and Spain bearing the brunt.

With golf in northern Europe booming thanks in-part to government-backed salary handouts during the pandemic, golfers found themselves with plenty of free time, spare cash, but with nowhere to spend it outside of their home countries.

Heavily reliant upon tourism income from visiting golfers from the UK, Scandinavia, and Germany, investing in a golf destination on the Iberian Peninsula during 2020 would have seemed reckless to the extreme.

But as Albert Einstein famously said: “In the midst of every crisis, lies great opportunity,” a sentiment echoed by Javier Jimenez-Casquet, general manager of the recently re-branded La Hacienda Alcaidesa Golf Resort in Sotogrande, Spain.

A real estate lawyer by profession, 45-year-old Jimenez-Casquet started working with Alcaidesa Links in 2005, overseeing property transactions at the resort which lays claim to being the only true links course not only on the Costa del Sol but also in southern Europe.

Originally a joint venture between Costain and Banesto, La Alcaidesa is a gated golf community in the Andalusian province of Cádiz, overlooking Gibraltar. Real estate construction at Alcaidesa began in the 1990s and features two courses – the Links which opened in 1992 and the Heathland which followed 15 years later, in 2007.

The resort had always lived in the shadow of its more illustrious neighbours of San Roque, La Reserva and Valderrama, as Jimenez-Casquet acknowledges: “When I joined the company in 2005, the most important thing for the company was the real estate area.

“But at the same time, we were developing this area because Alcaidesa in situated between La Linea de la Concepción and San Roque.

“At the beginning, it was the intention to have a very nice resort with 36 holes which obviously increased the price of the [real estate] plots.”

The same year that the Dave Thomas-designed Heathland Course opened for play, Jimenez-Casquet was promoted to real estate manager, and following the acquisition of La Alcaidesa and the hotels plot by Grupo Millennium in December 2019 for €33.2 million, was promoted a month later to director general of Alcaidesa Group in January 2020.

Then COVID struck; the world paused, and the new owners of La Alcaidesa were faced with a dilemma… press ahead with their planned renovation of the resort or hold fire until the pandemic had passed.

The decision was taken to carry-on and utilise the lockdown periods to implement changes not only to the Links Course, but also begin construction of a new five-star hotel which will be managed and operated by a high-end brand.

Due to open for business in mid-2023, the hotel will feature 150 rooms all with views across the Mediterranean Sea and the Links Course, helping to elevate the resort to a higher level.

“The last two years were very interesting,” smiled Jimenez-Casquet, “but the best thing is that we are spending a lot of money this year. We are not recovering; we are investing.

“Regarding the Links Course, the original plan was to improve the Links, but not to do a very huge reform. The plan was to try to develop a very nice resort with a hotel, improve the maintenance of both golf courses and maybe spend not so big an amount on the Links.

“But during 2020, the president of the Grupo Millennium decided to reform the Links Course as he really wanted to improve the Links.”

Originally designed by Peter Allis and Clive Clark, the Links Course at Alcaidesa had all the hallmarks to make it a great track, but sadly, never quite fulfilled it’s potential. With most holes routed along the beach, and with the Rock of Gibraltar as the backdrop, it had all the characteristics to upstage its more illustrious golfing neighbours, yet never featured as a ‘bucket-list’ course.

That though, could soon all change thanks to Texas-based architect Kurtis Bowman.

A former Nicklaus Design employee, who once had an internship at Augusta National, the Links at Alcaidesa is Bowman’s first project in Europe and was appointed to transform the Links into a modern masterpiece of golf course architecture.

Bowman met Javier Illán, the president of Grupo Millennium when he was working on a project in the Dominican Republic, and after the takeover in 2020, flew to Spain to visit the site and discuss the plans.

“I instantly fell in love with the property and saw the potential,” said Bowman. “Javier’s vision was exactly what I wanted to hear. He was prepared to give us the necessary budget to achieve what we wanted – which was to rework the entire golf course and dramatically improve it.

“It was my first golf course in continental Europe. It was a dream project for a golf-course architect, and I was going to do whatever it took to win that project. This is the type of site that can change the trajectory of one’s career.

“I was taken aback by the spectacular ocean views which are some of the best I’ve ever seen on a golf course globally,” added Bowman. “The fact that you can see the Mediterranean from the entire course, as well as the Rock of Gibraltar, just took my breath away.”

Drawing on inspiration from the likes of Pebble Beach and Cypress Point, Bowman has crafted a resort course which will have some of the largest greens in Spain, including three double-greens. And refreshingly, Bowman has designed a course fit for purpose stating: “We didn’t aim to make a golf course that could hold a men’s major or European Tour event.

“The brief and objective were to create a golf course that resort guests would like to play, have lots of fun and want to return over-and-over again.

“I designed a resort golf course that can host tournaments, rather than a tournament course that resort guests could play. This was a directive agreed by the ownership.”

The new design includes new tees, greens and bunkers, with a handful of holes that were totally reinvented, especially in the final stretch heading back towards the clubhouse.

And with a US architect on the payroll, does Jimenez-Casquet believe that this will help attach more North American golfers once the project is complete?

“Absolutely,” he states. “With the Solheim Cup being held at Finca Cortesín just up the road next year, we hope that many people will come to visit from the US, Canada and Europe, and stay at La Hacienda Alcaidesa Links as it’s important for us to show off our new resort.”

And as Bowman adds, the changes on-and-off the course will help elevate La Hacienda Alcaidesa onto the world stage. “There are lots of great golf courses in the Costa del Sol,” he said, “but one thing it was missing was a great oceanfront links golf course.

“Now this has been added to the mix – along with the five-star hotel, real estate, clubhouse, practice facilities, beach club and halfway house – this has elevated the entire development.

“As great as the other venues nearby are, none of them are set in a location even close to La Hacienda. This is honestly one of the most dramatic and spectacular views I’ve seen from a golf course in the entire world.”

It seems as if La Alcaidesa, has finally come of age.