Costa Ballena Ocean Golf Club — Attraction in Rota

• UPDATE - 3rd time visiting course: Took my family out to practice a little bit and enjoy lunch at the course. The day was great until 2 minutes before we left when the "marshall" decided to bother us at 5pm on the practice putting green asking if we possessed a paid green fee. I said no. He said "well you're not allowed to practice at the facilities without a paid green fee". In all my years...and that's many...and playing golf at hundreds of golf courses all around the world, I have never had to pay for a green fee in order to practice at a golf course. He said the only alternative was to pay a 6€ "practice fee" in addition to loading up my card with tokens for range balls. Insanity. He said that Costa Ballena is "special" since I never heard of that before. Indeed you are if these are your tactics for making revenue against your customers. He ruined what was a great day with the family at your facilities. Ruined it enough that I won't return in the future. There are other courses in Jerez and El Puerto that I will be trying out next. So sad that this one individual ruined that forever. *UPDATE in response to course management reply: Thank you very much for the invitation. As well as for the information regarding the greens maintenance. You are correct, no one made me aware before playing there. Perhaps I would have went to another location had I known that. I still feel that work could be done to improve directional markers after several of the holes there. Another example, going from the 10th green to the 11th tee box was also confusing as the 18th tee box is directly next to the 10th green and there are no signs telling you that you have to follow the cartpath in the other direction and cross the street to find tee 11. Also, the prices for buggies are just too high. I've never paid more for a buggy than I have for my round of golf. However, if I find myself in that area again in the future, I'll reach out and give it another shot. I did enjoy the layout and, like I mentioned before, I think the course could have great potential. Thanks again for the response. *

Visited there on Father's Day. Overall, a mediocre golf course. Not sure that I would ever play there again. It didn't leave me the impression that I just had to go back for another round.

Things I liked: Friendly pro shop lady who assisted me on the phone before arrival with my tee time and again when I arrived. Great price for 18 holes in Spain. €30 Pace of play was great. I was a solo and only saw and passed 1 group that was in front of me. Never felt any pressure from groups behind me also.

Things I didn't like: Price for a buggy rental was €36. €6 more than the cost of the round! That's absurd and easily the most expensive cart I have ever paid for. On top of that, it was very slow and didn't have any niceties like GPS which, in my opinion, for that price it should. Condition of the course was not great. Greens were really beachy and had a lot of abnormalities on them (like craters and bumps that looked like they were caused from some kind of animal). All the greens were like this. I couldn't understand it. I got lost on the course probably about 6 times. In some places there aren't directional markers to tell you where the next tee box was. Additionally, you have to cross the street about 3 times in the round to play 18 holes. And when you cross the street, there are no signs that tell you where the next tee is...so you have to just figure it out. Going from hole 1 to tee 2 I had to turn around and ask the following group how to get there. Thankfully he spoke English and was familiar with the course. Practice areas were not great. The greens I practiced on were represented on the course with the same abnormalities noted above.

Overall, I'd give it a 5 out of 10. What's sad is that it has the potential to be a great course. Just doesn't appear to be well-taken cared of. Being that close to Rota NAS, I would think they would try to make it...

This is a great course and I enjoyed playing the 9 hole Las Palmeras and the 9 hole Los Olivos to make 18. They have three separate 9 hole courses and use them in different combinations to make 18 holes. I did not use the practice facility or play the par 3 course. The staff was very friendly and accommodating. They helped make a tee time on very short notice and called for a taxi after my round. €35 extra to ride a cart or €5 to rent a pull cart for your bag. I ended up walking with my bag on my shoulder since the course was fairly flat. The fairways are well manicured, wide and forgiving with very light ruff. Many of the holes are quite challenging due to length with a few of the par 4's well over 400 yards. The greens are bermuda grass and very slow but in good shape with lots of undulations. Most of the cup holes are worn out, but I think this is due to the new rules of covid and not being able to remove the pin. So, plan on lots of lip-outs. I was a little surprised to not see any ocean views since many of the holes are only 100 meters or so from the beach. All in all, I think most golfers will enjoy...

We loved our time at the Costa Ballena Golf Club. We received a very warm Spanish welcome and the hospitality was second to none. The course has 27 holes and a 9 hole par 3. We used the par 3 lots especially after some very, very late nights in the local town of El Puerto De Santa Maria.

The views and scenery on the golf course are breath taking being next to a long white, sandy beach. The course is generally flat and the greens are wide and lush which has some thing for everyone. The putting greens are of very high standard which is amazing in such a hot, dry and arid climate.

After playing 18 holes on some very hot days we also welcomed the use of the excellent spa and the jacuzzi to relax before a well earned siestas at the hotel. We are recommending this great golf course to all our friends on Facebook as we are sure that anybody who comes here for a golfing holiday will have a great time....