James Arnold - Son Vida, Son Muntaner & Son Quint

This article was written by Nathan Dobson, and first appeared in the Mallorca Daily Bulletin, 09 March, 2008.

With the age-old debate about year long tourism on the island seemingly going around in circles, local government and hotel owners have increasingly turned their attention to the benefits of the golf season.

Starting in the slow tourism months of January and February, easing off during the summer when the island is full of tourists anyway, and picking up again in Autumn, golf offers a potential source of year round income.

The current difficulty is that Majorca is not really known as a golfing destination. Golfers back in the UK flock to the Algarve or the Costa del Sol, and despite events such as the Mallorca Classic, the island does not immediately spring to mind for golfers.

One of the ways to increase the golfing profile of the island is to build more golf courses. Yet with the local government recently having been forced to freeze construction projects around the island it is unlikely that they will be prepared to build more golf courses. But the point, as James Arnold, area director of three golf courses on the island, points out,the way to make Majorca a well known destination for golf is not to build lots of courses.

"The focus must be on quality." Arnold told the Bulletin, "existing local courses cannot compete with those of the Algarve and the Costa del Sol with a mediocre product.

"They need to get themselves up to a high enough standard and keep it that way. They need to be in great condition, well managed, friendly and value for money.

"The UK is the biggest golfing market for Majorca, but UK golfers expect quality.

"No one minds paying a high price and getting value for money. They just don't like getting poor quality.

"Quality courses like ours, the Arabella Spa and resort courses, and the Son Gual course, are forcing others to pick up their game, and you can see that they are working hard.

"We at Arabella have worked very hard to get our courses in peak condition in March. It usually takes until May or June to achieve that. In this way we are making the other courses work harder and stay at the top with us.

"No resort in Europe has as many golf courses as the Arabella Spa and Resort Mallorca. We are one of the top ten leading golf destinations in Europe. The reasons are to do with the geography of the island and the quality and proximity of our courses"

"We have three courses, (Son Vida, Son Quint & Son Muntaner) all within two minutes of each other. The courses have great international access being only 20 minutes away from the airport. They are tied into three top quality hotels and they also have the great city of Palma just nearby.

"The closeness of everything makes it a great resort.

"In order to attract golfers to the island the product that we offer has to be the best in Europe."

Arnold has a wealth of experience from all areas of the trade to draw on. He was a touring pro-golfer for a number of years. Unfortunately 4 hole in ones were not enough to dissuade him from leaving the game when he realised he was not going to be the next Tony Jacklin.

He took to running two golf schools in Germany and Italy and setting up a buying group in golf shops.

After that he moved into the public sphere and started running a company that built and owned 4 public golf courses in Hamburg.

One and a half years ago he came to the island to take over as area director for the Arabella spa and resort Mallorca.

Now managing courses that accommodate roughly 100,000 rounds a year he is enjoying the challenge of making Mallorca a top year-round destination for golf.

"We get people on the courses from January to the summer months, and then with the slow down over the summer we offer people a chance to play earlier, before it gets too hot," explained Arnold. "we introduced early bird specials with competitive green fee prices that mean people could have a round of golf before going to the beach. That had never been done on the island.

"Golf resorts need to sustain a level of quality; not just sit back because they are full for a few months. They need to be constantly working to maintain standards."

"It is the same with Majorca tourism on the whole. The rest of the world is not sleeping. "The Dubais" and the Canary Islands are always thinking of new markets and Majorca needs to be doing the same."

Hollow Coring at Vall d'Or

We have received the following information from Vall d'Or Golf Course:-

"Due to maintenance and conservations works to the green, we announce that on Monday the 11th, and Tuesday the 12th of May, only 9 holes will be open. Therefore we are offering a 50% reduction on the green fee.

The greens will be sticked and sanded between the 11th and 20th of May, during which period there will be a 15% reduction on the normal green fee price."

Volunteers Needed For European Seniors Tour!

The “Son Gual Mallorca Senior Open” takes place from the 8th to the 10th May 2009, with Pro-Ams being played on the 6th and 7th May. Volunteers are required for a variety of roles, and application form can be downloaded by clicking on the following link:-

Son Gual Mallorca Senior Open - Volunteers

Should you require hotel accommodation during your stay, then why not book now and pay on arrival with www.SimplyMallorca.com?

Son Muntaner, Son Vida & Son Quint, Scheduled Course Maintenance 2009

Son Muntaner 09 & 10 June 2009, 07 & 08 September 2009.
Son Quint 15 & 16 June 2009, 14 & 15 September 2009.
Son Vida 17 & 18 June 2009, 09 & 10 September 2009.

Additional discounts are available during the works and immediately afterwards through major tour operators such as www.SimplyMallorcaGolf.com

Vall d'Or - Scheduled Course Maintenance 2009

The course will be hollow-tined during the following periods, during which a discount of 15% will be in place:-

11 May - 20 May 2009 &
14 Sep - 23 Sep 2009

Son Antem - Scheduled Course Maintenance 2009

East Course
03 & 04 February - Light aeration, approx. one week to recover.
05 - 07 May - Two weeks to recover.
01 - 03 September - Two weeks to recover.

West Course
24 & 25 February - Light aeration, approx. one week to recover.
26 - 28 May - Two weeks to recover.
22 - 24 September - Two weeks to recover.

Pollensa - 18 Hole Golf Development?

A Majorca based British consortium is in the final stages of securing permission to develop a luxury spa hotel and 18 hole golf course on the site of the current nine-hole Pollensa Golf course and club.

The consortium is being led by the Pollensa based Barnard Hamilton Grop of companies and includes a number of British partners.

Permission to build a hotel and expand the golf course to 18 holes was granted in 1990, but due to a lack of general interest and investment, the original project was never carried out.

However, nearly 20 yeas later the British consortium is in the final stages of 'reactivating' the development licenses.

It appears that the project has the backing and support of the local council which believes it will give quality tourism in the area an important boost.

The five star hotel will have 100 bedrooms and also include a luxury spa, while the 18 hole golf course will be one of the most advanced in the Balearics and be renamed Son Gall in honour of the famous rooster emblem of Pollensa. Russell Hamilton Currie recently said that no fixed date had been set for the work on the project to commence.

"It is a two and a half year project and we want to make sure that we meet all of the necessary environmental requisites and have been granted all the relevant permits and licenses before we start work.

"Once we get going, we wnat to be able to continue right through to completion. We don't want to get bogged down in a stop-start project.

"We want to get it right straight from the start",

Richard Mark Barnard, Currie's partner, has a number of exciting ideas for the Son Gall luxury hotel. spa and golf resort, and they have the international contacts and market to ensure immediate success.

Both have been involved in the top end of the yachting and real estate business in Majorca and London for decades, and have a global client base.

Golf Pollensa was the 5th course to be built in Mallorca. It opened in 1986 the same year as Real Golf de Bendinat, and as was the custom in those days, permission was granted for a 5 star, 100 bedroom hotel to have been built on the site in 1990.

It appears that finally, a British consortium will complete the project which will significantly add to the facilities and services Majorca has to offer the luxury end of the international holiday market which many tourism experts maintain is where Majorca's future lies.

Article first published in the Majorca Daily Bulletin, December 14, 2008.