Eighty-one full time students from the Lee Westwood Golf School during their annual 4-day intensive winter training camp at the Desert Springs Resort.
Eight Lee Westwood Golf School PGA Instructors accompanied seventy-seven boys and four girls aged between 15 – 18 years for 4-days of warm weather winter training at the Desert Springs Resort, Europe’s only international award-winning luxury family resort and championship desert golf course in the Almanzora region of Almeria in south-east Spain between 13th & 17th January.
“The golf course was fabulous, challenging but at the same time great. I can’t wait to come back and play the Indiana course again!”
“A great week at a quality resort with excellent facilities, I have had a thoroughly enjoyable experience at Desert Springs.”
Those are the verdicts of Abbe Symanes and Taylar Caner, two full time students from the Lee Westwood Golf School based at Macdonald Portal Hotel, Golf & Spa in Cheshire and Stoke-by-Nayland Hotel Golf & Spa in Essex, who have returned from their visit to the Desert Springs Resort for a 4-day intensive winter training programme to develop their individual golfing skills.
Lee Westwood PGA Instructors and Staff from left to right: Kiran Mistry, Simon Dainty, Andrew Kirk, Mark Hetherington, Jack Murgatroyd, Allan Craston, Michael Welch & Georgia Cook
The training camp utilised the excellent practice facilities at the Desert Springs Golf Academy where the PGA Instructors were able provide one-to-one tuition and take advantage of the use of the Desert Springs short game academy.
Students working on there chipping technique at the Desert Springs Short Game Academy.
Georgina Coughlin remarked of her experience at Desert Springs:
“Desert Springs is the perfect golf venue. The facilities allow you to work on your golfing skills and hone specific elements of your game.
The academy practice facilities are great and sufficiently big enough, even for a group of our size and coupled with the attention received from our coaching staff you can’t fail but to improve!”
Georgia Cook commented of her experience at Desert Springs: –
“Desert Springs comprises friendly, helpful staff, fantastic facilities, and an immaculate golf course with stunning views and beautiful surroundings.”
A Lee Westwood Golf School student tees off on Hole 7 “Tequila” whilst another plays their approach shot into Hole 11 “Bones” on the Indiana course at Desert Springs, Europe’s only international award-winning luxury family resort and championship desert golf course in the Almanzora region of Almeria in south-east Spain.
Simon Dainty, Lee Westwood Golf School PGA Instructor commented:
“During my first visit to Desert Springs last year, I was certainly impressed with the layout of the Resort; it was perfect in order to handle our group of students and keep them under control during the stay.
This visit has been no different, there is great attention to detail in all areas and the attentive resort staff were exceptionally welcoming, resulting in Desert Springs being the perfect venue for our official winter training camp.
The standards of the Golf Academy and Indiana Course were ideal, including the full grass range.”
Accommodation for the Lee Westwood Golf School students and coaches was provided in the apartments available at Desert Springs.
Michael Welch, Lee Westwood Golf School PGA Instructor remarked:
“Desert Springs is a fantastic resort with great staff and perfect practice facilities to allow our students to improve all parts of their game.
It has been a very productive winter training camp and we certainly believe that the students have had a great experience and maximized their time and potential whilst here.
The Lodge Accommodation was ideally located to all facilities and very much met with our expectations.”
Jack Murgatroyd, Lee Westwood Golf School PGA Instructor remarked: As always, we have had a brilliant week and I can’t say enough positive things about Desert Springs.”
- For details of Golf & Sports Training Camps, Corporate Golf Events and Meetings at Desert Springs call 01242 680 116 or visit the website, www.almanzora.com
- To find out more about the Lee Westwood Golf School visit the website www.leewestwoodgolfschool.com
Additional background Information
Warm weather winter training camps at Desert Springs
Desert Springs, Europe’s only international award-winning luxury family resort and championship desert golf course, is proving to be one of the most popular destinations for warm weather winter training camps among the growing number of schools with their own golf academies and teams, currently estimated at around 90 in the UK. In addition to Lee Westwood Golf School pupils, visiting groups have included golfing pupils from, Darren Clarke Golf School, Millfield School, Reading Blue Coat School at Sonning-on-Thames, King Edward’s School in Bath and Loretto School at Musselburgh near Edinburgh.
All school golf trips to Desert Springs are bespoke. If desired, the programme can include time away from the golf course for some local sightseeing in what many regard as ‘the real Spain.’
During their stay pupils have opportunities to swim, play tennis, football and use the gymnasium, trim trail, jogging tracks, paddle tennis and beach volley ball courts.
Desert Springs is easy to reach from the UK, thanks to three international airports. They are: Almeria Airport, around 40 minutes away by road; Murcia Airport, 80 minutes by car, and Alicante Airport which is a drive of less than two hours. Airlines currently flying to the region from the UK include easyJet, Monarch, Ryanair, Jet2, Jetair Fly and Thomas Cook.
Already well known as a resort specialising in family holidays, Desert Springs is gaining popularity as a centre for warm-weather training for cricketers and footballers, as well as golfers.
Accommodation is provided in the apartments and villas available for holidays and short breaks at Desert Springs. Meals are served in the resort’s Croc Restaurant, part of the family-friendly Crocodile Club that is geared up for a wide variety of leisure activities and the award winning El Torrente Restaurant at the Club House.
A spokesman for Desert Springs said that, depending on the size of the group and its requirements, the total cost of a four-day trip for warm weather training, including flights, would work out at between £350 and £400 per person.
The Desert Springs Resort & Golf Club
Facilities already completed and in use at Desert Springs include:
- a par 72 -18-hole USGA Indiana golf course designed by former Great Britain and Ireland Golf Team Captain Peter McEvoy who was inspired by the desert courses of Arizona and California;
- a golf academy whose PGA qualified teaching professionals cater for several international teams, for the women’s elite squads of the Golf Union of Wales and for many of the English County Union’s elite squads; PGA European Tour and LET players.
- two hard tennis courts, two paddle courts, beach volley ball and two football pitches – one is a full-size grass pitch; the other is designed for five-a-side games;
- a Cricket Academy with facilities that comprise; a six bay grass wicket and run up with nets, a two bay artificial wicket with nets, a full length artificial grass wicket, a Professional Bola Bowling Machine with 28 ball feeder, a slip catch cradle and a specific hard standing area, which provides outside space for facilities such as a free weights gym, stretching mats and a medical area
- a Spanish colonial style Golf Club House with a lounge, bar, restaurant, locker rooms, TV and reading rooms, and a Ralph Lauren Golf Boutique;
- The Crocodile Club which provides family fun at the heart of the resort with pools, equipped sand play areas, a kid’s battery powered John Deere Gator circuit and a games room as well as a jacuzzi, sun lawns and a pool bar;
- a health and fitness club and spa.
Awards
In 2005 Desert Springs won the Daily Mail Best Almeria Award and the Bentley International Property Awards for the Best Spain Development and Best Architecture. In 2006, it was awarded the Spanish National Madera Verde Prize for Environmentally Sensitive Development. In 2007, the El Torrente Restaurant received the New Millennium International Gastronomy Award for the Tourist, Hotel and Catering Industry. This award was created by the Trade Leaders Club with the aim of distinguishing companies from all countries, for the outstanding quality of their products or services.
The climate of the Almanzora coastal region
Desert Springs takes it name from the region’s desert microclimate, which is unique in Europe. It has the warmest winter weather on the continent with an annual average of more than nine hours of daily sunshine and maximum daily temperatures of between 16°C (60°F) and 30°C (86°F) throughout the year. Annual rainfall is less than 200 mm. The Almanzora’s coastal waters are among the cleanest and warmest in Europe, attracting both fish and diving enthusiasts.
Reader enquiries:
NOTE: High Resolution Images available upon request.
Simon Coaker
The Almanzora Group Ltd
The Manor, Boddington, Cheltenham,
Gloucestershire GL51 0TJ
Tel: +44 (0) 1242 680116
