The 60’s marked a turning point on the Costa del Sol as mass tourism started to arrive and the first golf clubs were founded. Las Brisas Real Club belongs to this group of pioneering clubs. It was founded by José Banús in 1968 and originally, under the name Nueva Andalucía Golf Club. He chose Robert Trent Jones to design the course. Back then, this American architect was already considered one of the best golf course designers in the world.
In the next ten years, the Club became an open Club and it was used as a tourist attraction in Málaga and it welcomed many visitors. The following decade was marked by the celebration of great sport events, especially from 1985 to 1991, as it hosted the most important national and international competitions such as TRM King and Queen International Cups, the Spanish Open, the Nations Cup and the World Cup.
This year 2018, Las Brisas Real Golf Club turns 50 years of live golf history and it reaches its anniversary in the best condition, after 2.8 million euros budget for the renovation of its holes. Kyle Philips, President of Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design was in charge of renovating the itinerary. He is a prestigious designer who has 30 years’ experience in designing golf itineraries in Europe and whose personal and unique touch is noticeable in each of his works.
In 1968 Robert Trent Jones had built Sotogrande golf course after he had designed Las Brisas and he went on to design Los Naranjos and Valderrama. His work turned out to be prominent and original as he designed difficult and attractive courses. Trent Jones was also original when choosing the type of grass to be used; “Bermuda” for the fairways and “Pencross Bent” for the greens which were unusual species in Europe in the 60’s. Now, Kyle Philipps has been enthusiastic about the work that Trent Jones carried out in Las Brisas. He has outlined this renovation and redesign of the itinerary as a personal tribute to the designer.
As a complement to the original design, José Banús asked Gerald Huggan to carry out the work in the gardens and the arboretum in the golf course. He had just come back from Kenya where he had designed the gardens in Nairobi and was a great specialist in subtropical plants. The trees of all the gardens in the world are present in the course: African species like the Cabo Chestnut Tree or the Thorny Acacia, the Laurel from India or the Mysore Fig Tree from Asia, the Silk floss Tree from America and the Green Ash from Mexico, the Black Acacia and the Mouse Hole Tree from Australia next to different species of Palm Trees and Mediterranean trees that lived together in harmony making this golf course a botanical garden.
It is important to remember the history of Las Brisas. When the golf course was designed, Trent Jones never took the houses around the course into consideration because they did not exist. At the beginning of the 80’s, Las Brisas was bought by Herman Sauer and Juan Romero. In order to do this, they had to sell the plot located in the 18-hole 3 par itinerary. This plot that was next to holes 14,15,16,17 and 18 and it was used to build houses and in time, it became a troubled spot in terms of owners’ security.
The redesign proposed by Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design improves golf experience in general, making Las Brisas a more balanced 72 par course, less rigid on the outside limits, right to holes 13, 14, and 15 and reducing the visual impact of the houses, in keeping with the original design and with Trent Jones’s perspective.
An important element in this renovation by Kyle Phillips was the improvement of the existing drainage system in the golf course, especially during the periods of heavy rain.
It should be pointed out the work accomplished by all parts involved in this renovation such as the company “Acttua” in charge of the tender that was finally granted to Garden & Golf, a highly qualified golf course building company. Also, the company “Surtec” that carried out the technical management and made sure that all Kyle Phillips’s recommendations were made very carefully. Finally, Kyle Phillips Golf Course Design has done a great job redesigning the holes.