The five-star La Manga Club has made a flying start to 2014 and added to its extensive list of honours by completing an unprecedented hat-trick and being named as the best golf resort in Spain for the third successive year.
The luxury venue in Murcia, south-east Spain, was once again the overwhelming choice of the readers of leading UK magazine Today’s Golfer to win the top consumer travel award, receiving nearly 50 per cent of all votes cast.
La Manga Club amassed an impressive 48 per cent of the vote to comfortably beat off competition from its nearest rivals and confirm its reputation as Spain’s flagship resort, and Europe’s premier sports and leisure destination.
Gary Silcock, La Manga Club’s director of golf, said: “To be recognised as Spain’s top golf resort for the third year running is an amazing achievement and a great honour.
“The vote results demonstrate the high regard that La Manga Club continues to be held in by UK golfers. It is a golf and sporting institution that is loved all over Europe and our commitment to excellence is shown by the wealth of facilities that are available for guests to enjoy.
“The last 12 months have been very successful and there are a number of exciting additions to our golf product in 2014 which will help to further cement the position of the resort as the continent’s leading sports and leisure destination.”
Featuring outstanding facilities including three 18-hole championship golf courses – all of which were named in the latest list of the Top 100 Courses in Spain – and an array of other five-star sports and leisure amenities and numerous bars and restaurants, La Manga Club has established itself as a firm favourite with visiting golfers since opening in 1972 and has enjoyed another memorable year.
The resort, a regular host of high-profile professional and amateur tournaments, increased its total number of golf rounds played by 20 per cent in 2013, while it provided the stage for the 2013 Spanish International Amateur Championship and was the venue for the climax to the Ecco Tour Winter Series for a fourth time.
La Manga Club will open a new Leadbetter Academy – the only such facility on mainland Spain – later this month while it has also been selected to host the 2014 Spanish International Amateur Seniors Championship in February and the prestigious PGAs of Europe 1st la Manga Club International Pro-Am from March 7-11.
Set in an area three times the size of Monaco, La Manga Club boasts a proud sporting history including featuring South African star Gary Player as the resort’s first director of golf and European Tour legend Severiano Ballesteros as the complex’s touring professional between 1980-85.
European Ryder Cup star Luke Donald cut his golfing teeth at the resort during his school holidays on his way to becoming world number one while the award-winning venue – the Lawn Tennis Association’s official overseas training base until 2016 – hosted Britain’s elite tennis players last month as they prepared for the Australian Open and their Davis Cup tie against United States.
In addition, the resort offers the ideal place for budding sports stars of the future to hone their skills with a wide selection of academies for boys and girls of all ages including golf, tennis, cricket, rugby, athletics, football and dance, and a range of fun-packed activities in its junior club.
La Manga Club features unrivalled facilities as a sports and leisure destination and, as well as its golf courses, includes a 28-court tennis centre and a 2,000sqm spa and fitness centre. It also offers the choice of a five-star hotel, four-star serviced apartments and townhouses and more than 20 bars and restaurants.