Fortunately many golf courses have seen the writing on the wall and have resisted trying to increase the green fees on the previous year.
However there are a few who have thought it necessary to increase their tariffs, but we will endeavour to try and always get the best deals for you and all our golfers.

We are hopeful that we will be able to offer some buggy inclusive deals when the season kicks in but at the moment they are few are far between.

Please do not hesitate to ask for any golfing deals around when you are looking to book your golf trip and link to the list of maintenance dates on our web site.

http://www.golf4ualicante.com/component/content/article/1-latest/1-discounted-green-fees-costa-blanca.html

2012 lets hope its a good one. is a post from: Golf4uAlicante Blog

And a BIG thank you for everyone who put their trust in us to organise your golf in 2011 which reading your comments all went pretty smoothly, despite the fact some got well saturated inside and others got the odd drop of rain outside.

This has meant that our enquiries coming in for 2012 are well up on this time last year and we will continue to improve what we do through your feedback. For anyone who hasn’t used us please read some of the comments-please on www.golf4ualicante.com testimonial page

Look through the Rogues Gallery from 2011 click here on the gallery page.

If you wish any information or to make an enquiry please send an email to lucy@golf4ualicante.com and we can put together a package to suit your visit to the Costa Blanca.

 Whistle blowers cash rewards!
====================
Expats in Spain are being asked to join the fight against tobacco smugglers and tax dodgers – and cash rewards are on offer.

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has launched a new campaign asking people who have information to call a customs hotline.
According to the British goverment, whistleblowers do not need to give personal details and they ‘may get a cash reward for useful tip-offs’.

The call for help in the fight against illegal imports of cigarettes to Spain, which are often en route to the UK, comes as smugglers try to make huge profits by evading tax or by selling low-quality, counterfeit cigarettes, tobacco and other goods.

According to customs chiefs, some 225 million cigarettes and several tonnes of tobacco destined for the UK market have been seized in Spain over the last year.

Seasonal offers
In December now and some still playing in shorts 18 degrees today -14 th December.

As we continue in low season we have some great offers available for you:-

Las Colinas
16/11/11-15/02/12
between 8-9 and 12-2.48
2 GF & Buggy 99€

Afternoon tee from 1.12
 2 GF & Buggy 78€

Lo Romero
01/12/11-05/02/12
2 GF & Buggy 85€

Campoamor Twilight
after 14.00 in Nov
2 GF & Buggy 88€

Mar Menor
15/11/11-14/02/12
2 GF & Buggy 100€
Twilight after 13.00- 35€

For all current deals simply email info@golf4ualicante.com.

Demise of another bank
================
The uncertainty over the future of the CAM savings bank is over after the Banco de España awarded the sale to Banco Sabadell for the symbolic price of one euro on the 14/12/11

The Catalan bank will take over the CAM after the central bank, via the deposit guarantee fund (Fondo de Garantía de Depósitos, or FGD) injected 5,249 million euros into the CAM funds in what has become the largest bank bailout in Spanish history – even larger than that of Banesto in 1993.

Serena Golf Hotel
============
SPECIAL OFFER
DECEMBER SERENE GOLF
from the 2 to December 29 2011…
A offer you cannot miss! 
99€ per person!
3 NIGHTS IN ROOM DELUXE ·
Breakfast included.
Room Deluxe

(Upgrading subject to availability)
Cava and Fruit in the room ·
late check-out until 16:00 ·
Parking in Garage included
Information and reservations: reservas.serenagolf@veladahoteles.com

 Well done Rory
============
Rory McIlroy has been named BBC Northern Ireland’s Sports Personality of the Year for 2011.
The 22-year-old capped a spectacular year by winning his first major championship – the US Open – and he is now number two in the world rankings.
McIlroy pipped Open champion Darren Clarke for the award while Ulster and Ireland rugby star Rory Best was third.
“I am thrilled to be named as the BBC Northern Ireland Sports Personality of the Year,” said McIlroy.
“Looking back on 2011, it’s been an amazing 12 months of my life.
“It’s been a year I will always remember, not least because I won my first major.

  See you in The New Year!

Steven and Lucy Franchi
Golf4uAlicante
info@golf4ualicante.com
www.golf4ualicante.com

Merry Christmas December 2011 is a post from: Golf4uAlicante Blog

• Only the TaylorMade R11 driver can offer the three dimensions of distance by offering a total of 48 different settings, meaning your perfect driver is just the twist of a wrench away.
• TaylorMade have managed to design three adjustability technologies and cram them into one great looking R11 driver, giving every golfer the ability to choose the three dimensions of distance that suit their own game and individual swing.
• The TaylorMade R11 driver uses a ‘Flight Control Technology’ (FCT) hosel, letting each golfer adjust the loft of their club, up or down, by 1 degree. This changes the launch angle that the ball leaves the face of the club.
• TaylorMade’s ‘Adjustable Sole Plate’ (ASP) technology is found on the sole of the club in the form of a red triangle and can be used to adjust the face angle into a neutral, 2 degree open or 2 degree closed setting.
• ‘Moveable Weight Technology’ (MWT) uses a 1 and 10 gram weight, they come with the club to create either a fade or draw bias depending on their position in the club head.
• Using all three adjustable technologies allows every golfer up to 100 yards of side-to-side trajectory change on your drives. Meaning each and every golfer, no matter what your standard can set the club up perfectly for their game.
• The 440cc powerful Titanium head of the R11 driver features a Ghost White crown and a contrasting black PVD face, making it much easier to see the ball at address and aid alignment for extra confidence.
• A super slippery smaller 440c aerodynamic shape promotes faster club head speed for more distance over other drivers with the 460c heads.
• The R11 driver is designed with a new, modern-classical head shape intended to catch the eye of better players, while still providing forgiveness and confidence for mere mortals.
• Each TaylorMade R11 driver comes fitted with a Fujikura Blur 60gram graphite shaft, which uses a large weave design to offer more stability at impact.The matching headcover and wrench key along with instructions on how to make changes to the R11 are included in the price of any new club.

In short this is a fantastic looking new driver, but one that you need to be fitted for by a good Professional, the reason being the shaft is the most important part of this or any golf club. If you decide just to go out and buy an R11 of the shelf or say ebay you may be very disappointed with your new purchase.
The reason I’m telling you this is I had on loan an R11 with the Fujikura Blur 60gram Stiff shaft, it was like using a fishing rod very very whippy.
The R11 I used was set up 2 degree open the 10 gram weight in the nose and the 1 gram weight in the heel and every ball I hit from the tee had a big hook on it !!!.

 I took the club back to the shop and told the local Professional what was happening, he said to me you would need the upgrade shaft for this club and that it would cost much more than the normal retail price. To cut a long story short he gave me a demo R11 with the new Aldila R.I.P Beta 60 Stiff shaft, wow now this is what I call a great shaft and yes it turned the same demo club into a very long and straight hitting golf club. So remember go and get fitted if you are looking to buy a TaylorMade R11 Driver.

This review was brought to you by Steven Franchi of www.golf4ualicante.com.

TaylorMade R11 Driver Review. is a post from: Golf4uAlicante Blog

We saw new management company Ola Golf being very active in promoting the golf courses at Mar Menor and Saurines de la Torre .
Whilst both courses are proving to be a good day out and a great test of skill for our golfers Mar Menor is proving more popular. The reason behind this is that there are no facilities as yet at Saurines , therefore no where to enjoy a few relaxing beers after a hard days golfing.

There is also word out that very soon the other courses that were managed by Polaris World Golf  such as Hacienda Riquelme, La Torre and El Valle may soon come under the belt of Ola Golf, which should mean more attractive pricing through us at Golf4ualicante if the tariffs at Mar Menor and Saurines de la Torre are anything to go on.

Watch this space and we Golf4ualicante will keep you posted.

Murcia Experience-Ola Golf is a post from: Golf4uAlicante Blog

It has just been included by Golf World magazine, among the “TOP 100″ of its prestigious annual ranking and will host the 2nd Stage of the European Tour Qualifying School. 

In just over a year, Las Colinas is already one of the best courses in Europe. This rapid maturity has been recognised by Golf World, one of the UK’s leading publications, with the 73rd  position in its highly-acclaimed European Top 100 listings.

They sent us this information last week that they are  delighted with the recognition of Golf World and YourGolfTravel. It represents an amazing achievement in just one year, during which the team of Las Colinas has done its utmost to make the course a success in Spain and Europe.

They promise to continue doing everything possible to raise the ranking in the coming years” commented Juan Alvarez, Golf Course Managing Director Las Colinas Golf & Country Club. “Certainly we are getting a wonderful appreciation by players, professionals, and European media since the inauguration of the course in summer 2010″.

An other recent accomplishment is that Las Colinas has been selected by the European Tour to host the 2nd Stage of the Qualifying School, from 2nd to 5th December.

The selection of Las Colinas by the “European Tour” came after a visit from Mike Stewart and his team in spring 2011, to assess the suitability of the golf course and facilities. The tournament in the second qualifying round will feature some of the most promising stars of golf, while they try to earn the European Tour card for 2012.

Las Colinas Golf & Country Club announced this will take place and you can experience this event live, from 2nd to 5th of December.

We will let you have more details when we have them.

Las Colinas in top 100 ! is a post from: Golf4uAlicante Blog

As golfers fly from colder climates like Sweden,Ireland ,England, Scotland , Norway, Germany,Poland and many more countries they are delighted to be able to play some great golf courses in short sleeved polo shirts and shorts.

We know why we moved here to start a discounted golf tour business  with Golf4ualicante…….as a  curly haired singer from the 70′s sang- ” I can’t stand the rain”- Leo Sayer  for those who can’t remember!

http://www.torreviejainformation.com/the-weather-in-torrevieja/

Great golfing weather in Torrevieja is a post from: Golf4uAlicante Blog

No, I am talking about Las Colinas golf course which  hollow tined their greens on 30/31st August ,then offered a superb deal on the green fees for 9 days after this during the recovery of the greens back to the standard they should be.

Steven went to play with a few good customers of ours and was pleasantly surprised and delighted to find that the greens were excellent and  had healed well.

So congratulation to the green keeping staff at Las Colinas for continuing to keep this fantastic course in such great condition.

Quick recovery is a post from: Golf4uAlicante Blog

…tee times of 7.24am, 7.36am, 7.48am, 8.00am, 8.12am  (1st tee start only)

…buggy included per 2 players for you only 39€  per player

Grab this while you can.!

Early Bird Deal Las Colinas is a post from: Golf4uAlicante Blog

Reading a recent article reported from Beijing—A Chinese sovereign wealth fund has told Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero that it is mulling an investment of up to €9.3 billion ($13.46 billion) in the country’s savings banks, also known as cajas, in a new show of financial support for Spain’s troubled economy. The announcement comes as Mr. Zapatero was on an Asian tour to China and Singapore. During a meeting with Mr. Zapatero recently, Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said his country plans to continue buying Spanish bonds and would considering investing in savings banks, but no figures were given.

China was a big investor in Spanish government debt last year and currently holds a total of around €25 billion, or 12% of all foreign holdings. Spain needs to sell €50 billion in net debt this year to finance a deficit it forecasts will be just over 6% of gross domestic product, twice the limit for European Union countries.
It has been reported that we now have a situation where Spain is paying their debt back to China in product- mostly Olive oil, wine, leather products and preferential tax breaks for Chinese companies setting up retail outlets in Spain.
A Chinese investment of €9.3 billion in Spain’s cajas would cover more than half the €15 billion these institutions need to raise this year to cover new Spanish minimum-capital requirements. The cajas are scrambling to either find private investors or obtain funds from Spain’s state-backed Fund for Orderly Bank Restructuring.
Most analysts estimate the cajas will need to raise much more capital to cover mounting losses after the collapse of a decade-long housing boom.
At a press conference in Madrid recently, Isidro Faine, head of Spain’s savings bank association, said he hadn’t been informed of the possible Chinese investment but that he would be “delighted” by such a move.

China helps with Spain’s debt is a post from: Golf4uAlicante Blog

Mickelson meanwhile missed a 2 foot putt on the 11th green which he may regret, we will have to wait and see over the next hour or so. Phil Mickelson blows his chance by hitting his second shot on the 18th hole into the gallery stands out on the right side of the green, however I’m sure he will be back next year and he is so good to watch and a true gentleman.
The pairing of Ricky Fowler and Thomas Bjorn are both playing some superb golf, Fowler has had 13 straight pars and for only his second British Open and only 22 years old he is going to be a future winner of many Majors I’m sure. Bjorn is still on three under after 11 and needs to hole some putts if he wants to get back in contention.

Dustin Johnson who is playing with Clarke has had three birdies within 4 hole and got to within two shots off Clarke’s lead but has hit his second shot out of bounds on the par 5 14th to maybe seal his fate. Clarke bounces over more bunkers with his second shot from heavy rough on the 15th hole to make the green and secure a great par. Clarke misses his first short putt of the day on the 17th and falls back to 6 under but still has a three shot lead over Dustin Johnston with only one hole to go, this is a very exciting finish to this years Open.
Dustin Johnston finishes with a bogey on the final hole to tie with Phil Mickelson for 2nd place.
Darren Clarke three putts on the 18th hole to win the 140th Open Championship by three shots over the above two players and to become a major winner after a 20 year wait. For the first time Darren looks speechless but very pleased.

This has been a truly glorious British Open and one to remember for years to come with only 4 players finishing under par, thanks to the great British weather

Well done Darren winning the 140th British Open is a post from: Golf4uAlicante Blog