Marbella is one of the top golf destinations with a wide range of fabulous golf courses. La Quinta Golf & Country Club is one of these highly recommended options. 

Despite the cold winter, a bit of rain, and many of the courses suffering from the bad weather these weeks, we stopped by La Quinta Golf & Country Club to see the Westin Hotel and play its 18 holes.

The Hotel is a five-star property very well located near Puerto Banús and close to Las Brisas, Aloha, Los Naranjos, and Magna Marbella; meaning you can have five very good golf courses no more than five minutes away from the Hotel (which also features a very good Spa).

La Quinta Golf & Country Club is one of those courses where the terrain dictates to the designer what can and cannot be done. Set in the mountains, the course has many elevation changes but with a certain level of forgiveness from the tee, something that doesn’t often happen in this type of layout.

We played the C-A loops in that order, as the B loop is closed due to the low flow of golfers caused by Covid-19. Although it has several sets of tees, it is short in distance and very accessible for all levels, with a very good combination of five par 3s, varied in yardage and generally offering the best views toward the sea.

Worth highlighting is the short 6th on the C course (photo) with a two-tiered green where any lateral mistake leaves a very demanding chip. Moving to the A course, holes seven and eight (photos) are a short downhill par 4 that long hitters can reach on the green—but where any shot past the green leads to serious trouble—and the 8th, a short par 3 with water in front and a green that slopes toward the pond.