Real Club De Golf Las Brisas

Grace Kelly danced here, Julio Iglesias sang here, and Sean Connery played a mighty golf game as a member.

The Spanish king has even bestowed royal patronage on a club where his teacher was the first professional.

Real Club De Golf Las Brisas was one of the jewels of the Puerto Banus development to the southeast of glamorous Marbella in the late 1960s.

Its mission statement remains to be the “private club of choice for those who appreciate an exceptional golf experience and relaxing social environment.”

Meanwhile, its focus is “to provide excellent service, well-maintained facilities, superb dining and a variety of social events and recreational activities for the benefit of guests and members.”

Fortunately, there are tee times for visitors to play, albeit very limited, mainly during the summer months.

We mused over its history with Ricardo De Miguel, the head of golf, whose father was the first professional and a celebrated player who competed in the US Masters.

Both have rooms dedicated to them in a large, modern clubhouse that overlooks the Robert Trent Jones-designed course.

Jones’s work includes the water features and fiendish bunkers typical of the Costa Del Golf, especially his creation at Sotogrande, which predates Real Las Brisas by just four years.

Everything is on point here, from the underground car parking area to the stylish club shop and top-notch service in the restaurant.

The starter provided us with all the relevant information before suggesting that we try out the practice putting area to get accustomed to the speed.

I learned the lessons on the front nine, but they disappeared from my brain during the second.

There is no easy introduction to the course – the first hole is a downhill par-four between trees to a green behind a hidden brook. Approaches that leak left will find water.

Kyle Phillips remodelled Real Las Brisas in 2015, and new bunkers can be seen on the left and right of the curving fairway of the par-four second hole.

Inevitably, I found the already existing creek on the right when my second shot clipped the top branch of a tree and dropped like a stone.

The third has been transformed from a short par-five to a long par-four with a drive over the hill before a drop to a narrow green entrance. I found sand on the left of the flag but was very pleased with an up and down.

There are many risk and reward decisions, usually prompted by whether to take on water.

An example is on the sixth – a super par-four where a direct attack over the left-hand side would mean firing over a lake with a mini-waterfall.

Mrs W and I took the conservative option by playing down the right. Whether it cost us a shot or gained us one, we will never know.

The dangers of the par-three seventh are on the left, where water will snaffle a hook, and a massive bunker in a steep bank awaits those just offline. Those taking the line down the right will likely be rewarded as the green falls from that side.

A stream runs the length of the par-five eighth hole, forcing players to play out to the left before water emerges again in front of the green. 

Even those who feel they have played the hole well could see their ball slip into a greenside sand trap and may have to settle for bogey.

The halfway house is as impressive as any I have encountered, with a terrace that looks down the 18th.

We had a quick drink and bite to eat before comedy on the 10th hole.

We were in pole position on bending par-four from the tee, and Mrs W struck a rasping five wood that just avoided a right-hand bunker. When it dipped out of sight, we presumed it was just off the green.

A couple of minutes later, we discovered that it must have bounced off the cart path and zipped 20 yards, only stopping at the base of a tree.

In her recovery, she made a brilliant connection, only for the ball to hit a sign and veer right down the cart path on the 11th hole. The players in front of us retrieved it 50 yards away!

When we played the par-three 11th for real, we were pleased to clip our balls over the lake onto a tired green with devilish borrows.

Strategy is the keyword on the par-five 12th, which reminded me of the final hole at Adare Manor because the target is on the opposite side of the water to its fairway.

Even if the ball avoids the drink, it may not hold on to one of the course’s narrower greens.

I am a fan of the par-five 15th – a hole created by Phillips to move the course away from nearby housing, built after the club sold its short course.

Its fairway is split by a substantial stream before the hole ascends to a green that falls back to front between a quartet of large bunkers.

It is followed by a gorgeous par-three cut around a lake to the right. The ideal shot was played by Mrs W off a left-hand bank. I was too aggressive and was left with a downhill bunker shot.

The 17th is a new par four and requires a drive over a lake and approach over a creek to a green, heavily guarded by bunkers. I made my sand save of the day for my most pleasing par.

We had seen a couple of groups play short of the 18th, and I was determined not to make what I perceived to be the same mistake.

This superb uphill par-four narrows between fairway sand traps before the assault on the pin.

Only too late did I discover that people had been playing short because the putting surface falls sharply from back to front, making it almost impossible to stop the ball near the flag.

It was yet another nuance that only those who had experienced the course would understand.

Nevertheless, there was cracking entertainment for those enjoying a one-off experience on this remodelled Spanish classic.

And we can understand why it has more than 1,000 members willing to pay for its high-end offer.