Montecastillo Resort Spain

After the last three years going to Turkey our golf trip organiser is looking at the Montecastillo Resort as an alternative because Turkey is getting on for about 20% more expensive for 2013.

A decent golf course here of course, but has anybody stayed here previously? What was it like and how did you rate it compared with other golf trips you have been on? Was it a bit quiet in the evenings and did you have to take cabs into Jerez for a bit of nightlife?

Hi blue.

I've been there a few times: 2004, 05, 07, 08, 10, 11. I'll give you the full low down in the next couple of days .

Couple of questions : what time of year are you going and how long for?

Thanks Ray, that would be great and I would really appreciate it.

We are going in the middle of May for one week. Numbers in the group will be either 16 or 20

ok, so I have been to Montecastillo quite a few times, which obviously means I like the place!

The pros:

It's easy to get there, if you are prepared to sell your soul to the devil. Ryanair fly to Jerez daily from Stansted, they used to have 2 flights a day which was really convenient, but cut back to one a couple of years ago. Jerez airport is only a 15 min drive from Montecastillo, about 25 euros in a taxi, and it is a small airport which means you get through it in no time.

The course is fantastic. It is long and tough, but is kept firmer than the typical target golf resort course, which means more roll on the fairways (which are wide) but it is harder to hold the ball on the greens. If you drive well you can score here, there are a lot of elevated tees with big carries.

The hotel is nice. Rooms are big, many overlook the 18th green and fairway. Further up the 18th hole are a row of villas and apartments which we have also stayed in and are fine too. Breakfast is good, and there is a nice restaurant and bar.

The facilities are good. Gym, indoor pool, 2 outdoor pools, one alongside the 18th fairway. Olazabal famously drove into this pool at the Volvo Masters and racked up a double bogey when he would have won with a par. Good practice facilities, and Glenn Hoddle's football academy is next door to the driving range.

Lots of good courses near by. If you are staying for a whole week you will want to play else where. Arcos Gardens, Sherry golf and Costa Ballena have all been used recently for ET Q school. El Puerto is ok, and further west is a great course called Sanlucar which will test your nerves with some intimidating holes.

The cons:

It's busy. Since they started offering these amazingly cheap deals, the place has become mobbed. Fair play to them, but we used to go there and we were almost the only people on the course and now it is packed from dawn to dusk so expect long rounds. It is also next door to the grand prix track. This doesn't bother me, but some people can find it a bit noisy out on the course.

Limited apres golf entertainment. The resort is in the middle of nowhere, and you will get sick of paying hotel prices for a beer. There is a "nightclub" next to the airport called Club Vaj - we've never been tempted to go there

Jerez is about 30 euro taxi journey. A nice little city with some decent tapas bars near the cathedral, but it's no party town unless you are a teenager. If you can find it, there is a bar in town where each table has its own beer pump, and the cold water jet they use to rinse the glasses. You set up a tab and then just help yourself to beer on tap without have to get up. There is a big screen above the bar which shows how many litres each table has consumed... as a group of competitive blokes from Britain we of course had to make sure we drank more than every other table!

I really recommend visiting the area, but you may want to consider staying in El Puerto de Santa Maria and driving to all the courses each day. This is a seaside town about 20 min drive south of Jerez and is much more lively as it is more of a holiday destination. It is close to all the courses I mentioned.

Another great option, and something we have done a few times, is to split the holiday and spend the weekend in Seville. It is an hour drive up the motorway and is a lovely city with great Spanish nightlife. You can play golf at Real Sevilla golf club, a cracking course which has hosted a WGC event as well as the Spanish Open. Seville also has 2 primera liga teams (Betis and Sevilla) so if you are there in May one of the teams will be at home, if you are lucky they may be hosting one of the big teams. I've seen some great games there down the years, the highlight being Betis v Chelsea in the Champions league in 2005.

So in summary, if you are going for a weekend its ok to stay on the resort, but for a whole week you need to find more stuff to do.

Hope this helps!

Ray that really is very informative and will be a terrific help. Thank you very much indeed for taking the time to do that

Well that's it, soul has been sold to the devil and we fly Ryanair on 15th May for a weeks golf at Montecastillo.

A friend of mine flew Ryanair a couple of weeks ago for a weeks holiday in Tenerife with his wife. He entered their full names online and didn't notice when printing his tickets that their surname was omitted. Cost of their flights was £300 return.

At the check in desk they refused his tickets because of the error until...wait for it...he had paid £40 administration fee for the outward flight on each ticket and the same again for the return flight and a further £160 being the difference in the price of the tickets on the day he booked online and the day of the flight (allegedly). So those £300 flights cost him £620. They are just thieving gits...don't know how they get away with it.

Not been a bad week so far, cleaned up in the Fantasy League and off to Montecastillo for a weeks golf in the sun on Wednesday

Just checked the weather forecast, 27 in Jerez today rising to 32 after the weekend

What nobody wants to wish me a good time?

Hope you don't get too sunburnt Blue, have a great time.

By the way does your missus even like you? You always seem to be on these golf trips with the boys

My week away comes at a hefty price Grumps, in return I've got to buy her a new car when I get back...

BlueCoverman wrote:My week away comes at a hefty price Grumps, in return I've got to buy her a new car when I get back...

Matchbox or Corgi?

Ouch, the price you pay for boys trips.

Good golfing Blue.

Off to Spain next Thursday myself with 19 others.

Thurs-Mon playing Mar Menor, Condado de Alhama & El Valle.

Let the sunshine.

How was your trip Setup?

Weather great, golf not so good, too much vino perhaps.

Mar Menor: had been hollow-tined about 2 weeks before we left, so some greens still showing the effects.

Condado de Alhama: way too hard: Jack Nicklaus has made this very tough.

El Valle: saved the best to last, tough track but playable.

YGT did not reserve our buggies, so had to pay for then on the day. So now in complaints process with YGT to get our money back.