A leading force in developing golf’s stars of the future, Spain’s La Manga Club has extended its support of junior golf after forming a new partnership with the Shires Junior Golf Tour. The award-winning luxury venue in Murcia, south-east Spain, has provided the foundations for thousands of young golfers over the last four decades – including former world number one Luke Donald.
Donald spent hours as a schoolboy practising on La Manga Club’s famous fairways during family holidays on his way to global golfing stardom, and the winner of this year’s Shires Junior Golf Tour Grand Final will have the chance to follow in his footsteps thanks to the new agreement.
La Manga Club has teamed up with the burgeoning tour to offer the star first prize of a dream luxury four-night golfing holiday for a family of four at the resort to the 2016 champion.
“Supporting junior golf is an important part of our philosophy at La Manga Club and the resort has a long-term commitment to encouraging as many youngsters as possible to play the game, “ said Eduardo Ruiz, director of golf at La Manga Club.
“The Shires Junior Golf Tour is a fantastic initiative and we’re delighted to have been given the opportunity to form this new relationship with them.”
Offering an array of outstanding golf facilities, La Manga Club features three 18-hole golf courses, a nine-hole academy course and extensive practice amenities including a new Leadbetter Golf Academy – hailed by top instructor David Leadbetter as a teaching facility to rival any in the world – with tuition packages on offer to suit all ages and abilities.
Available to boys and girls aged from five to 21, the 2016 Shires Junior Golf Tour will feature a series of 12 qualifying tournaments this spring and summer at a number of different venues in Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire.
A field of around 100 youngsters will then gather for the grand final at The Leicestershire Golf Club on Sunday, October 23, to compete for the first prize of the trip to La Manga Club including four nights’ bed and breakfast and six rounds of golf on a choice of the resort’s three courses.
Shires Junior Golf Tour organiser, Paul Bull, said: “The number of players joining the tour is growing with every year and and to be able to offer such an amazing first prize to the 2016 champion is testament to how far we have come in such a short space of time.
“La Manga Club is one of the most famous resorts in the world. Its name is synonymous with golf and I’m sure the winner will enjoy a holiday that they will remember for the rest of their lives.”
Renowned as Spain’s flagship resort and set in an area three times the size of Monaco, La Manga Club is regarded as Europe’s premier sports and leisure destination resort, with golfing legends including Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Spain’s favourite golfing son Severiano Ballesteros featuring prominently in its illustrious history.
Among the many accolades it received in 2015, the resort was named ‘Spain’s Best Golf Hotel’ at the 2015 World Golf Awards as well as being voted ‘Best Golf Resort in Spain’ by UK readers of Today’s Golfer magazine for the fourth year running, while its West Course was elevated among the top 100 courses in continental Europe.
As well as golf and tennis, the resort’s extensive facilities include eight full-size football pitches, a new High Performance Sports Centre and 2,000m² spa and fitness complex, a five-star hotel, four-star serviced apartments and townhouses and more than 20 bars and restaurants.