Cala De Mijas, Calanova Golf Course

Played in May 2011 just after a storm and the course should really have been shut. It was an utter disgrace and had a digger in front of one of the greens. Given the fact that the course was falling apart, the lack of staff working to fix the problems was amazing.

In general, weather damage aside, I found the course to be very samey with a lot of similarity between holes. The greens were poor and the facilities were pathetic - the "clubhouse" was a portacabin.

Never play this course - pay a bit more for a better experience.

A Group Of 14 Golfers Played Calanova First 9 ok, The Back 9 Was A Disgrace We Were Told Wild Boars Had Gained Access To The Course Which Was A lie. When we had finished our game we made a complaint to the general manager, he informed us that the course was fine, we were not happy with his reply and wanted some sort of compensation, to no avail. We later on found out that there was a dispute between the green-keepers, the back nine was like a building site irrigation system was leaking, greens,fairways paths etc where all dug up, will never play this golf course again a disgrace. Date played Oct 2010.

We've had an annual golf trip to the Costa Del Sol now for over a decade and played Calanova for the first time in March 09.

This is a course basically built on the side of a very, very steep hill! The course itself is spread out over a huge area, with some of the biggest distances I've ever seen between some greens and tees. I hate using a buggy, but here a buggy IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST!

Tee to green, due to a lack of water in our opinion, the course is very baron. 2 words used by one of our group summed it up perfectly - "scruffy" and "parched".

The greens were absolutely diabolical. Rock hard to start with, but that was minor. They clearly have trouble with the locals, half a dozen greens were badly vandalised with slogans burnt into them with weed killer or similar. The 13th in particular was a real mess and should have been closed. There was no mention of any of this I might add prior to play.

Add to this problems with locals running on the course on holes adjacent to the hotel/apartments and roadside stealing your ball from the fairway, and you can imagine we weren't overly impressed.

Prior to play, the staff were quite pleasant. We told the same staff afterwards of our experiences and they simply weren't interested - they'd had our money, so that was that. Of course, in the long run it is Calanova that will lose out.

Our verdict? A unanimous NEVER AGAIN!

Calanova is a fantastic course which only opened in 2006. Fairways and greens in good condition (apart from the 7th green which was GUR). We were made to feel really welcome by the professional Monty, who is a really funny American guy and the Director of Golf (cant remember his name), they gave us good hints and tips to the course and made us feel like members. I would recommend this course to anyone playing in this area, great day had !!! Excellent course, friendly staff, great value for money, Loved it and can't wait to go back !!

Calanova Golf Course is set at a beautiful location in Cala De Mijas: sea & mountain views. The course is both challenging and interesting, but easier routes for beginners. Also has a driving range. I thoroughly recommend it.