A Swing Through Spain

REAL CLUB DE GOLF LAS BRISAS
Marbella, Málaga; 011-34/952-810-875, lasbrisasgolf.com. Yardage: 6,740. Par: 72. Slope: 128. Architect: Robert Trent Jones Sr., 1968. Greens Fee: $183. T+L GOLF Rating: ****
Perhaps the country's most underrated layout, Las Brisas is a meticulously groomed RTJ Sr. course with dramatic mountain views and water on a dozen holes. Visitor play is limited here, but it's worth the effort needed to worm your way on. General Franco loved walking the course, as did Bing Crosby, and it's easy to see why. Number eleven is one of Spain's prettiest holes, a 206-yarder with water stretching from the green's front center to its left side. But keep an eye on the trees: Las Brisas has more than a hundred varieties from around the world, including some rare African acacias on the left side of seventeen.

THE SAN ROQUE CLUB, OLD COURSE
San Roque, Cádiz; 011-34/956-613-030, sanroqueclub.com. Yardage: 6,708. Par: 72. Slope: 128. Architect: Dave Thomas, 1990. Greens Fee: $161. T+L GOLF Rating: ****
There's no better resort in Spain for a family golf vacation. In addition to having the finest on-site facilities in the south, the course itself is forgiving and fun, albeit a bit overplayed. The front nine rolls gently through cork oak groves before toughening on the watery inward half. The ravaging wind, which whips in from the Strait of Gibraltar, often greatly complicates club selection. A second eighteen, designed by Perry Dye and Seve Ballesteros, opened late last year.

LA CALA RESORT, NORTH COURSE
Mijas-Costa, Málaga; 011-34/952-669-033, lacala.com. Yardage: 6,323. Par: 73. Slope: 132. Architect: Cabell B. Robinson, 1992. Greens Fees: $49-$85. T+L GOLF Rating: ***1/2
Robert Trent Jones Sr. protégé Robinson used these rolling inland hills to deliver a wide-open design that tests the ability to hit to elevated greens. Steer clear of the (very) occasional wild boar on the way to the marquee hole, the short but scary 115-yard par-three sixteenth. From its elevated tee, the view across the Mediterranean is distracting, but it's the water flanking the pin that will most concern you. Incidentally, the Mijas golf region is booming these days. Robinson's South course is a worthy plan B if the North is too busy; and his new eighteen-holer along the Ojén River will be fully operational by 2005. Rounding out the area's options, ten minutes from La Cala on an old avocado plantation lies the new flat-but-taxing Santana Golf & Country Club.

MONTE MAYOR GOLF CLUB
Benahavis, Málaga; 011-34/952-937-111, montemayorgolf.com. Yardage: 5,855. Par: 71. Slope: 132. Architect: Pepe Gancedo, 1989. Greens Fees: $61-$110. T+L GOLF Rating: ***
Gancedo is known as the Picasso of Spanish course designers, and indeed this hilly outpost has all the logic of a cubist still life. Set away in a high valley between two steep mountains, Monte Mayor is an ideal day out for a group of buddies—sadistic buddies. The layout twists and dips precariously with lofty tee boxes and sunken fairways linked by white marble bridges that crisscross streams and ravines. The ups and downs require every club in the bag, not to mention every ball.

REAL CLUB DE GOLF SOTOGRANDE
Sotogrande, Cádiz; 011-34/956-785-012, golfsotogrande.com. Yardage: 6,807. Par: 72. Slope: 132. Architect: Robert Trent Jones Sr., 1964. Greens Fee: $195. T+L GOLF Rating: ***
Sotogrande was built at the height of the Franco years, and its style may best be described as dictator chic: not many frills, plenty of terror. Your troubles begin in earnest on seven, a 417-yard dogleg-left par four to a narrow green guarded by sand, trees and water. The daunting back nine is exemplified by the thirteenth, a 181-yard par three with water long and right. Technological advancements have taken their toll (several fairway bunkers are no longer in play), but Sotogrande remains a fine place for old-school Spanish golf.

ORIENTATION
Traditionally, most international golfers have jetted into Madrid on the way to courses along the Mediterranean coast, but that city can be avoided if you like by flying direct to Barcelona in the north or via London to Málaga on the coast or Sevilla in the south. From those culture-rich gateway cities, you'll need to hit the highway. The easiest rental option is Europcar (europcar.com), since it provides English-speaking assistance. One warning: Sharing those corkscrew coastal roads with aggressive Iberian speed hounds can be as harrowing as the approach to the seventeenth green at Valderrama.

COSTA BRAVA
Barcelona is the point of embarkation when traveling to the Costa Brava, and before you flee for the greens, you have to see the city in all its glory. The best view for that is from one of the towers inside Antoni Gaudí's unfinished Sagrada Familia cathedral. For another kind of sight-seeing, Barcelona's Las Ramblas promenade is the place to people watch—a major local activity, especially on weekend afternoons. Once on the road to the coast, take in the Dalí Theatre-Museum in Figueres (011-34/972-677-500). It's an understatement to call it surreal; let's just set the mood by saying "tuna fish apple-cart poppycock" instead. For more art and a charming waterfront, wind your way to the remote seaside artists town of Cadaqués.

COSTA DEL SOL
The coast has the courses, but nearby Sevilla offers the culture. Its spectacular fourteenth-century Alcázar Palace is the oldest royal residence in Europe. From Easter to late October, you can catch a bullfight in the place where the sport originated, the hilltop town of Ronda. Sip jerez (pronounced "hehreth") in the sherry bars of Jerez de la Frontera, its original hometown. The old quarter of Cádiz and the fishing town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda are as colorful as they were when Christopher Columbus's ships returned here five hundred years ago. Finally, the quirky British territory of Gibraltar is a day trip from Sotogrande. Just gawking at it from afar is fun, too.

TOUR OPERATORS
Spanish Golf Adventures (800-772-6465, spanishgolf.com) specializes in customized high-end trips. Other reliable tour operators for Spain are Golf International (800-833-1389, golfinternational.com), Perry Golf (800-344-5257, perrygolf.com) and Haversham & Baker Golfing Expeditions (800-883-3633, haversham.com).

From luxe beach resorts to quaint mountain inns, Spain offers a vast range of accommodation options. And to think, the Man of La Mancha slept outside with Sancho Panza.

COSTA BRAVA
EUROSTARS GRAND MARINA HOTEL
Barcelona; 011-34/936-039-030, grandmarinahotel.com. Rooms: $393-$453. Suites: $726-$823.
Flying into Barcelona and looking for lodging before storming the coast?You could do far worse than this. Resembling an ocean liner docked in port, the new five-star Marina is grand indeed. Its 235 rooms and thirty-eight suites come equipped with Internet TVs, Jacob Jensen phones and six-headed Pharo showers.