History
History
Los Naranjos belongs to a select group of golf courses on the Costa del Sol, designed by world famous golf architect Robert Trent Jones and was built at a time when suitable land was still available. The course quickly caught world fame thanks to its championship layout and design, during the hosting of the World Cup, Spanish Open and other important competitions.
LOS NARANJOS 1970
In the mid 70s the second group of Robert Trent Jones courses were built on the Coast, Mijas, Valderrama and Los Naranjos. Mr Jones was comissioned by the Banus company, developers of Nueva Andalucía and the Las Brisas golf course, to design and build a second golf course on the estate, just north of Las Brisas. The site could not be better, 70 hectares of perfect golfing land with subtle undulations, a river running through and a orange groove from wich the course got its name. The instructions were clear, Banus wanted a true championship course of classic design, long with wide fairways and large greens, suitable for international championships but enjoyable for all levels of players, and Mr Jones delivered exactly that. When the course opened in 1977, it was opened together with Las Brisas. The first tee was the present 3´d hole, beeing the nearest hole to Las Brisas. The 18´th was the present 2´nd hole and the Club House what is now a private villa by the 2´nd green.
LOS NARANJOS 1980
In 1982 the Banus Company sold both courses to the Romero-Sauer group. Las Brisas became a private share holder Club and Los Naranjos continued as a pay and play course. A Clubhouse was built on the existing Clubhouse site with the first hole beeing the existing 10´th. In 1989 the golf course was sold to a Swedish businessman Percy Nilsson. The Club was transformed to it´s present set up, a shareholders Club with a limited member ship, providing the opportunity for visiting golfers to play this magnificent course. The new Club house was aponed in 1991 and the course was developed into it´s present layout with the famous par 5, 18th hole finishing in front of the Club house.
NOWADAYS
A number of important tournaments, both professional and amateur, have been held at Los Naranjos over the years.
- in 1988 The Marbella Ladies Open, part of the European Ladies Tour, was played with Laurette Maritz from South Africa winning with a score of 283.
- In 1989 the Spanish PGA Championship was played with José Rivero and Severiano Ballesteros on 278 strokes. Rivero won the Championship at the first hole of the sudden death play off.
- In 2021 Women’s Spanish Open. Los Naranjos hosted the Andalucía Costa del Sol Open in Spain for the first time in its prestigious history
Other important championships played at Los Naranjos include the European Senior Amateur Championship, the Spanish Junior Championship and the Spanish International Ladies Amateur Championship.
Awards
Ambassadors
Peter Hanson
Professional golf player
Hanson became a professional in 1998 and has played on the Challenge Tour, the European Tour and the American PGA Tour. He lost a cut year-round of an impressive 2012 campaign, during which he won twice, in the KLM Open and the BMW Masters, to finish his career in fourth place in the Race to Dubai.
Jon Olsson
Freeskier, Alpine ski racer, Fast driver
Jon started his career as a ski racer, but at 16 he changed his racing skis for Twin Tips and abandoned ski racing. Now he competes in both Freestyle and Ski Racing.
