Las Colinas Golf and Country Club: Key info
When you enter the vast Las Colinas Golf and Country Club, you'll feel like arriving into a city in the Alicante countryside.
The resort, situated under an hour from Alicante airport, is home to hundreds of villas and apartments and has been voted Spain’s and Europe’s Leading Villa Resort in the World Travel Awards.
Every way you turn there's a development or a new one being built, with the resort's seriously impressive real estate projects making it a very desirable destination for international golfers and non-golfers to base themselves in this area of Spain. It's set it a beautiful part of the country, in the hills of the Dehesa de Campoamor with gorgeous views everywhere you turn.
Also on-site is a racquet club, a sports and health club, three restaurants, walking trails and a minimarket. Las Colinas also has its own beach club. Golfers will be drawn to Las Colinas, which translates in Spanish to 'The Hills', by its renowned course and just as the name suggests it's not flat, and because of that there are sensational views on offer throughout.
When it comes to the golf, Las Colinas Golf and Country Club has previously hosted European Tour Q-school and is regarded as one of the best golf courses in Spain. The undulating and varied layout opened for play in 2010 and was designed by Cabell Robinson, the man behind 2023 Solheim Cup venue Finca Cortesin.
The course gets off to a tricky start, with a strong dogleg-left opener that requires a solid drive and a mid-iron that plays uphill. The second is a long, straight par 4 with a long green before the downhill par 5 3rd that features a tricky layup with water right and left, which then cuts in to guard the green.
Thankfully, Las Colinas lets up a bit with the short par 4th before a long par 3 with water left that's followed by a beautiful three-hole stretch. The treelined par 4 6th is short, tight and uphill where a drive should leave a wedge into a three-tiered green that is extremely long and narrow.
The 7th in one of the stars on the course, playing a little over 100 yards down a severe slope and over vegetation. It's a gorgeous little par 3 that should offer up a good birdie chance, albeit the green is large and there's a lot of danger if you're wild.
Up next is the par 4 8th, which has arguably the best views on the entire course from the tee box - you won't find many golfers playing the course for the first time not reaching for their phone to snap a photo. It's a beautiful downhill par 4 that narrows the further up the hole you go. The green features a big slope off the back, right where an up-and-down will be tricky for even the sharpest of short games.
The closing hole on the front is another strong par 4 that requires a well struck drive up the left and a short iron uphill into the green. After tapping in, you'll drive by the excellent halfway truck where you can pick up your refreshments to power you through the back nine.
The closing half starts with another delightful, short par 3 that is a mere wedge before the 600+ yard 11th that doglegs right and then plays downhill and slightly back up towards the green. It's a beast of a par 5 where five is a great score - and six is a decent one, too. There's vegetation left, trees the whole way down the right and bunkers dotted about along the way.
That's followed by a good birdie chance at the par 4 12th and then another at the 13th, which is a dogleg-right par 4 where the tee shot has to be a good one as it's a tight fairway with native area right and danger lurking left.
Another glorious par 3 follows at the 14th, where you'll play a mid-iron down the hill over water with views of the Colinas properties and the par 5 3rd. The 15th is a strong par 5 with the green jutted out to the left in a peninsula and surrounded by water before the dogleg-left 16th which plays around the same lake.
The par 3 17th is the longest and toughest par 3 on the course around 200 yards from the white tees to give your long iron/hybrid play a late test, and then the superb closing hole plays towards the clubhouse and is a reachable par 5 for the longer hitters - although watch out for the water short, right of the green.
It's a superb layout that features real variety throughout. From short par 3s to long ones, doglegs, plenty of par 5s and birdie chances. The conditioning is exceptional, the views are just as good and the facilities on offer include a Toptracer driving range to warm up your game beforehand.
Once you've finished your round, you'll be spoilt for choice if you're hungry as Las Colinas is home to three restaurants. In the main clubhouse you'll find unik, for breakfast and lunch, while there's also the Japanese, Mexican and Peruvian fusion restaurant at umawa. Just next to the clubhouse is il Palco for fans of Italian food.
The vast resort of Las Colinas is home to dozens upon dozens of properties, which are all grouped in developments named after plants. We stayed in one of the stunning Madrono villas, which featured three bedrooms, a roof terrace and outdoor pool with views over the course.
For golfers looking to tick off a few more courses on a trip, Las Colinas makes for a great base as there's Villamartin Golf, Las Ramblas Golf and Real Club de Golf Campoamor Resort all within 20-minutes' drive.
Las Colinas Golf course photos:
