In the beginning

When Almerimar Golf Course opened in 1976, and until the nineties Almerimar was a little known gem and apart from July and August played by a few local Spanish and some ex pats.
Truly millionaires golf. Drive through all the greenhouses, miles of plastics, and then you reached the top of the hill and lying before you an oasis called Almerimar.u

Almerimar was very small in those days and property owners with an escritura were issued a card with their photograph which entitled them to green fees at a 30% discount. They could also buy an annual ticket and they had reserved tee times between 9 and 10am every day.

Forming a club

In 1989 more people were playing and there was a need to have more official competitions for handicap adjustment. A small group – Jose Lopez, Federico Lopez, Douglas Kemp, Luis Bemejo and Tom Saul decided they should start a proper golf club. A series of meetings were held with Javier, the General Manager of Almerimar, and at first it looked very promising. However, they were suddenly told it would not be possible to form a club. No reason was given but perhaps the subsequent sale of the golf course and hotel to a Japanese company was already being mooted.

As a consolation Javier said that Juan Parron, the Golf Professional, would submit score cards from our unofficial competitions to the federation for handicap purposes.

Forming a society

There was obvious disappointment but there was now an increasing number of the younger local spaniards playing at Almerimar and in 1995 it was decided to form a golf society attached to Almerimar Golf Course.

We were not allowed to use Almerimar in the name of the Society and as a result of a meeting in the Golf Hotel the Club de Golf Bahia San Miguel was formed, named after the local bay. Jose Lopez was the first president and in the early years the enthusiasm was very high. Many competitions were organised – singles knockout, pairs knockout, a three club competition plus many one-off competitions. There was also a very good social programme.

The recent past and the future

During the period of ownership by the Japanese company we lost our reserved tee times and the annual tickets. The current system of books of green fee tickets was introduced.

The course and hotels returned to the ownership of the Spanish in 2005 and although the Golf Hotel is still to be rebuilt a tremendous amount of course renovation has taken place.

The course has also become much busier during the winter months and finding dates for competitions during October to April is more difficult. Nevertheless the club now has its largest membership ever.

The improvements to the golf course by Almerimar Golf Resorts were completed in December 2007. The original eighteen holes opened in December and has been renamed the Master Course. Many holes have been lengthened and with added water hazards the course is now a considerable test of golf.

The nine hole course opened in 2005 has been renamed the Classic Course and although available to everyone it will be used for Academy purposes, beginners and obviously offers less of a challenge.

2007 saw the launch of this web site which helps to keep members informed and the site is in process of being expanded to include much more news and information.

In future we would like to communicate with as many members as possible by email and our new emaill address is:

bahiasanmiguelgolf@telefonica.net

We would also like to have members email details, up to date addresses, telephone numbers and federation membership number, so please get in touch.