One year and a half ago, Eduardo Ruiz joined La Manga Golf team as its Golf Director. At that time, he faced the challenge of running 3 courses, North, South and West, 18-holes-in one each, in one of the most renowned resorts in Southern Europe. Given the perspective of time, Golf Circus interviews him and he tells us about La Manga Club present and its future projects.
It’s been one year and a half since we interviewed you for Golf Circus, when you had just arrived to your new position at La Manga. What is the evaluation so far?
During this first year and a half we have tried to improve the service offered, infrastructures and maintenance of the golf courses. I must say that in all three sections we have progressed successfully.
The golf courses have been recognised in Europe by specialised media and the international tour operator. In terms of infrastructure, we have completely changed the pro-shop, the restaurant and all the signage on the courses.
Have your goals been fulfilled?
Of course, I did not expect to progress that much in so little time. I could not have achieved these goals without the full support of ownership and resort’s general management.
However, we do not relax in our efforts to raise the golf courses to a much higher level of excellence. Constant work, supervision and commitment from all areas of the company are essential to continue with our ascending progression.
It seems that Spanish economy is more than ever supported by tourism. This summer has broken all records in terms of tourist arrivals. How did the summer go for golf in La Manga?
We have had an excellent summer, just like some other destinations. We must emphasise we had a massive influx of national customers which is totally new in our resort and also in the region of Murcia. We have managed to fill up our courses thanks to a dynamic policy of yield, which we have adapted to the different market segments.
Is it seasonality a problem for La Manga?
La Manga Club Resort is one of the few resorts in Europe that learnt how to overcome seasonality many years ago; we combine all the sports we offer to make attractive the different packages launched. It is possible to mix golf and tennis, football and golf, cricket and golf, etc. All these combinations enable us to get over periods with less turnout of customers.
Which are the new projects for golf at La Manga?
We will continue to invest in infrastructures. A new terrace for the recently refurbished Spike Bar, the construction of new paths for buggies in all three golf courses and carry on with our gradual renovation of the machinery fleet.
During 2017, we will start preparing the South course to host a possible event of the European tour.
Another important project is the new Academy, which will be called La Manga Club Golf Training Centre by Thomas Johansson. He is a Swedish well-known professional who has worked at San Roque golf course, in Sotogrande, or Los Naranjos, in the Costa del Sol. In this academy we will create a new educational system based on the combination of Swedish, English and Spanish school, together with a bilingual children’s academy to make it more attractive to the Spanish public. Our challenge is that, at least, two kids qualify for the 2018 junior national championship that will take place in our golf courses.