Condado de Alhama is part of the Polaris World portfolio and will be several resorts in one. The resort will have three separate golf courses, all designed by Jack Nicklaus. Two of these comprise 36 replicas of the ‘Bear’s best’ – the 36 most notable holes that Jack Nicklaus has designed on courses all over the world.
The development includes a commercial area covering 100,000 square metres, containing all the sports, leisure and commercial and shopping facilities you would expect to find in a large town. The El Oasis town centre features Hispano-Arabic architecture surrounded by water, with wide streets and spacious squares lined by palm trees.
Within the resort you have the option of buying on several urbanisations, including apartments at Jardines de Alhama, one-bedroom holiday apartments at Golf Suites de Alhama, villas at Cortijos de Alhama Golf Resort, frontline golf apartments and independent villas at Los Naranjos de Alhama and apartments overlooking the resort at El Mirador de Alhama. Finally, La Isla del Condado is a development of apartments and penthouses set on an island in the middle of the Great Lake, offering views across the golf course. The island has bridge access for vehicles, controlled with a swipe card, plus a waterbus service.
You’ll have access to all nine of the Polaris World golf courses, with a bus service linking the resorts. If you prefer other activities, you can make use of a bus service to the beaches, plus a wide range of on-site sporting facilities, including tennis, paddle and basketball courts, football pitches, gymnasiums and pools. In addition, there will be a range of commercial facilities including banks, supermarkets, beauty salons, launderettes, pharmacies, restaurants, bars and cinemas. Mazarrón beach is 15 minutes’ drive away.
Completion is due in two years. The area is served by Murcia and Alicante airports, with the new airport at Corvera scheduled to open in 2009.
Beach and bunkers
If you love the tranquillity of being close to the sea, and want to divide your spare time between golf and watersports, consider this resort on the Mar Menor.
Roda Golf and Beach resort is beside the Mar Menor in Murcia, just south of the coastal town of San Javier. The resort has an 18-hole par-72 course designed by Dave Thomas,
with three strategically located lakes and plenty of trees to add challenges.
All properties are set within a tranquil landscaped environment, just one and a half kilometres from the coast. You can choose from a range of two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartments and townhouses or opt for the frontline golf two- to four-bedroom villas with spacious 16-square-metre terraces. The villas each have an entrance hall, kitchen and combined living and dining room plus an optional private pool or jacuzzi. All of the homes have been designed using typical Spanish architectural styles, with crisp geometric angles counterbalanced by arches and softly whitewashed walls. Interiors are decorated in cool, neutral colours, with marble flooring throughout, plus built-in wardrobes in the bedrooms
and marble surfaces in the bathrooms. Large windows maximise the natural light spilling into the home and create a sense of spaciousness. Kitchens are fully fitted and include an oven, hob and extractor fan. Comfort is as important as style, with ample room for large sofas and chairs in the living room, while air conditioning is pre-installed throughout, along with radiators and a gas boiler. After sunset, exterior lighting provides a welcoming glow that invites you to sit outside on your terrace late into the balmy summer evenings.
The Golf and Beach Resort will also have a De Vere Hotel with shops, bars and restaurants, a spa, heated pool, football pitch, and tennis courts. For a break from golf, you can head to the safe warm waters of the Mar Menor for swimming and water sports. As an added bonus for the non-golfi ng members of your family, you’ll have exclusive access to the Roda Golf Beach Resort, with a bar, restaurant, pools and water sport facilities. The club is located on the opposite side of the Mar Menor, accessed via a fun private shuttle boat service. Murcia-San Javier airport is ten minutes’ drive away.
Desert dreams
For a golf course home with the evocative setting of a desert, consider this resort, where house prices include golf club membership of this American-inspired course.
The five-star Desert Springs Golf and Country Club sits on an elevated plateau near the towns of Cuevas del Almanzora and Vera in Almería. The 18- hole Indiana Golf Course has been inspired by the desert golf courses of Arizona and California and offers the only desert golf course in Europe. Long-term plans include a further 18-hole course and commercial
facilities. All property prices include golf club membership so you can try the course for yourself.
Currently there are about 300 properties built or under construction. The design of the buildings is very traditional, with colonial-style architecture that sits well with the desert landscape surrounding the resort. Numerous cacti and exotic flowers thrive in the dramatic rocks and arid environment.
You can choose between two-bedroom, twobathroom apartments, two- and three-bedroom townhouses, three- and four-bedroom detached cottages and three- and four-bedroom detached villas. The pricier, more expansive properties attract wealthy celebrities to the resort.
Apartments are built around courtyards with communal pools, children’s paddling pool areas and landscaped gardens. Most offer panoramic views of the golf course and mountains surrounding the homes. All properties have off-road covered parking, marbled and tiled floors, hot and cold air conditioning and mirrored and fitted wardrobes. Fitted kitchens include granite worktops, ovens, ceramic hobs, fridge/freezers and washing machines.
On-site restaurants and bars are for your exclusive use, and the Crocodile Club provides family fun at the heart of the resort, with pools, play areas, games room and jacuzzi, plus the pool bar. There is also a health club and spa. In addition, you can keep fit at the tennis courts, paddle courts, beach volleyball court, football pitches and pitch and putt area.
Murcia-San Javier and Almería airports are both 45 minutes’ drive away.
Watch the birdies
If style and ecology are your key aims, consider this eco-friendly golf course on Spain’s south-east coast, where you can play golf without worrying about water shortages.
These properties are located on the Hacienda del Alamo golf course, between Murcia and Cartagena, 30 minutes from Murcia- San Javier airport.
The resort offers two Dave Thomas golf courses, which have been designed to minimise their impact on the environment, with grass that needs 35 per cent less watering than average. All homes will have two separate water systems: one for drinking, plus a recycled system for irrigation. The site will have a private reserve fresh water supply of 110,000 cubic metres and all landscaped areas will be watered using automatic irrigation systems. As a fi nal touch, nesting boxes will be installed all around the site to encourage as much birdlife as possible.
Property options at Hacienda del Alamo range from two- and three-bedroom fully-furnished bungalows to two- and three-bedroom apartments, all with communal pools, gardens and sports facilities. If you want something more spacious you can choose from front and secondline detached two-, three- and four-bedroom villas with their own pool and a choice of designs that allow you to personalise your new home. The more lavish properties feature pre-installed hot and cold air conditioning and underfl oor heating in bathrooms.
In addition, the resort offers facilities in the style of a Spanish town, with shops, bars, restaurants and tapas bars. There is also a fi ve-star hotel and spa designed to blend in with its surroundings. The clubhouse and the golf academy are nearby, along with a large driving range, practice holes and a golf academy, plus tennis courts, paddle and a health spa.
Within the resort only 12 per cent of the land available has been utilised for properties, leaving plenty of room for orange, olive and lime groves. A wi-fi wireless network will help you stay in touch, and a fi bre optics network enables internet, telephone and cable television connections. The whole resort has unobtrusive 24-hour security surveillance, ideal if
you don’t intend to live here year round. So you can make full use of the golf course, you’ll have reduced fees and exclusive club membership.
Tranquil Tesoro
If you prefer the idea of being within walking distance of a golf course to being situated on the course itself, consider this villa on a peaceful development.
This brand-new villa is located on the Tesoro Park development, close to the Club de Golf Jávea, offering a nine-hole course, two putting greens, a driving range, two tennis courts and a large pool with a paddling pool for young children. The Jávea course was inaugurated in 1981, making it one of Alicante’s most established.
To access the property, you’ll enter through electrically gated, video-controlled gates onto a stone paved driveway. At drive level, in the villa’s underbuild you’ll find a large garage and storeroom. In addition, there are ample parking spaces on the driveway. On the ground fl oor, you’ll find a fully fitted kitchen, and a dining room with sliding doors that open onto a traditional outdoor kitchen with a barbecue, where you can cook in the fresh air throughout the summer. The large lounge has a stone fireplace, with double doors that open onto a
naya, which is best described as an open conservatory or covered terrace and provides extra living space, and the pool terrace surrounding the private 9.5 by 4.5 metre pool. This level has two double bedrooms, plus an office that you could use as an additional bedroom. On this floor there is also a bathroom and a guest cloakroom.
Stairs lead up to a landing with a door to a large roof terrace with a shady pergola, where you can relax and enjoy far-reaching views of the Jávea golf course and general countryside. A master suite completes the house, with a double bedroom, bathroom and dressing area.
All glass doors and windows have double-glazing with electric persian blinds and mosquito nets. The property has full central heating and pre-installation of air conditioning throughout, with a piped music speaker system. Every room has recessed ceiling spotlighting and tiled fl ooring. The property is conveniently situated less than 15 minutes drive of the traditional towns of Jávea and Moraira, and the shops and bars of Benitachell are less than five minutes drive away.