Almerimar Golf Clubhouse Progress (or not!)

Call this pogress? I have been watching the lack of progress on the Almerimar Golf Clubhouse for some time now, with a combined sense of confusion and cynicism!

First the confusion. Why do they need a clubhouse for a golf course that has no club? Are they going to reverse the current policy and become a members club? I doubt it somehow. Despite the genuinely valient attempts by a lot of locals to create a ‘club feel’ for the golfers here the fact remains that the golf is currently focused on the vistors (or it would be) rather than the locals and the voucher system has become less attractive over the years, and harder to get hold of. It is no secret that the course has been in very poor condition in recent years and more and more people are going elsewhere to play their golf, both regulars and visitors. While we don’t really focus on golf that much on the site as we no longer play, a lot of readers do play, and the site generally indexes in the top 3 on Google for ‘almerimar golf’ so we get emails most weeks asking us about what is going on with the course, club house, golf hotel etc. It is because I was asked to provide a photo of the progress on the club house and have recently had a number of discussions with golfers here that I am writing this article.

So back to my confusion! Back in the day when we played they didn’t have a clubhouse. They had a pro shop at the old golf hotel and a oustide terrace attached to a small bar that the golfers tended to use. It worked really well. After all why move to a country like Spain with it’s sunny climate and outdoor lifestyle to sit inside a ‘stuffy’ (as in formal) clubhouse. I just don’t get it to be honest. All I really see is the clubhouse taking business away from the many small bars and restaurants that currently attract the trade from those that don’t want to sit at the more than adequate chiringuito that the AR Hotel provide. All seems to work well enough to me without the need of a huge clubhouse stuck next to the derelict Piramide in what will probably be a building site for many years to come.

And now for the cynicism! I have said before that the ‘word on the street’ has always been that the clubhouse was a means of retaining the building permit for the hotel while they tried to get a grant, and that indeed some grant money was used to build the clubhouse. I certainly wouldn’t say this was 100% true, but at the same time I wouldn’t argue too strongly against that view. What I do know is that a LOT of businesses here see it as a waste of money, especially if the latest speculation is true ………. that it wont ever serve duty as a clubhouse! As far as I know that is pure speculation, but it is speculation that is gaining more popularity amongst a number of local people here in Almerimar.

Looking at the pictures below it would probably make an interesting restaurant, or a sports centre with a few shops, coffee bars, gym etc.

To be honest I would actually like to see it as a clubhouse, for a golf club! I think the golfers here deserve a lot of credit for the way they organise themselves and support the club, and I would have thought a membership scheme that incorporated:

• full time residents
• families that own properties
• a rental option for people that own properties to rent out
• a off peak or twighlight membership for people that want (or can only) play 9 holes

would do very well. Only time will tell as they say …….