Since its opening in 1968, Atalaya Golf & Country Club has been one of the best known courses on the Costa del Sol. The excellent facilities, privaleged location and meticulous care shown by golfers are the distinctive sign of a club which each year plays host to countless championships of national and international importance.

Atalaya Golf & Country Club has two golf courses, Atalaya Old and Atalaya New, both par 72. It is 2 kms. inland from the sea on the Benahavis road. Atalaya New Course, mid-mountain high, and designed by Paul Krings, opened in March 1993. With 18 holes and now approaching its tenth anniversary, Atalaya New Course has undulating fairways and perfect greens which are a challenge for anyone who plays on this splendid course with challenging hills formed by nature itself.

The New Course presents magnificent views of the Mediterranean and Marbella and is dotted with olive, pineapple, carob, willow and oleander trees, from which the outline of the Rock of Gibraltar can be sighted. Cautious iron play off the tees is strongly advised. If the approach is too aggresive, the score card will probably have to be torn up by the 9th hole. But if, on the other hand, caution is opted for, the Atalaya New Course, which plays host to the International PGAE Team Championship each year, will reward the golfer handsomely.

Atalaya Golf & Country Club is the official training course of Deutsch Golf Verband (DGV), and since 1995, official southern European headquarters of the PGAE. It has an excellent driving range, putting greens and chipping area as well as a beautiful clubhouse - a typically Andalusian building is the perfect place to retire after a round of golf. The restaurant boasts a wide selection of national and international dishes while in the Ryder Cup Bar you can enjoy a more relaxing atmosphere with magnificent views of Marbella, the Mediterranean and Gibraltar.

Having arrived in Malaga in good spirits and with high hopes the weather quickly put a dampener on them. After a scenic drive from the airport we arrived at the Atalaya Hotel. At the entrance to the hotel we had our first surprise as we bumped into our host for the event Jim Long. Jim had been called upon at the eleventh hour to fill in for the event organiser Tony Philo who we were expecting to meet. Tony had suffered a nasty accident the night before he was due to fly out. However, Jim was very gracious and quickly put us all at ease.

Arriving very early in the morning the intention was to get a round in on the Sunday but the next surprise was discovering the course was shut due to the inclement weather. Several of the competitors did manage to find a course that was open and got a round in. So, we got ourselves settled in, had a quick nap and got ready for the evenings cocktail reception. Here we got to meet all the competitors and a few drinks later we headed down to the hotel's Italian restaurant, only to discover that only the Chinese restuarant was open. The meal was pleasantly good and most of us retired for a good nights sleep. The rest braved it in the hotel bar.

The following day the New Course was opened again and we managed to get a practice round in some light drizzle. The course drianage was inadequate with the amount of rain that had fallen. Not surprising really considering that the weather in this part of the world is normally very good. There were puddles everywhere and the fairways were saturated to the point that finding a decent point for relief from standing water became difficult - moving the ball 30 yards or more was not unusual. Even with the rain at least the greens were still in superb condition. However, we hadn't come to grumble about the weather and hear how it was nice and sunny back home! We soldiered on with forecasts of better weather in the preceding days.

That night a group of us journeyed into Puerto Banus where we headed to a renowned pasta restaurant recommended by Jim. The food was fantastic as we sat and chatted whilst watching the electrical storm and rain thundering down outside. The start of the tournament was under threat and we all concluded (except for Jim) that with the amount of rain that had fallen there would be no way the course would be open in the morning. So, we decided to extend the evening at Flicks bar where we were treated to a rendition of Suspicious Minds by our very own Karaoke King Azid Sohoye and accompanied by Raj Chima. Much fun was had and eventually we headed back to the hotel still in the pouring rain. So, it was with some surprise that a phone call was recieved in the morning to say that the course was open and the final was on. A quick breakfast aside we headed down to the course. At least the sun was out and it wasn't raining.

The final was to be played over the next two days in a 36 hole stableford format with 3/4 handicap allowance. The New Course again played very wet and it was hard going - that said it was the same for all of us. Playing in the group with the eventual winner Jonathan, it was clear from the outset that he was going to be the pacesetter. In the conditions he managed to play an immaculate round finishing with 38 points. Playing off 5 that was an awesome effort. That night we again headed out to Puerto Banus. Myself, Azid, Raj, Darin and Cullen went to a superb Indian restaurant called Sizzling Spice. After which we headed to Lineker's Bar where we met up with Roger, Julie, Jonathan and Claire to watch Celtic and Arsenal compete in the Champions League.

The next morning we rose early and headed to the course for a quick practice session on the range. The weather was even better now and I even managed to risk not wearing my waterproof bottoms. The course conditions were a little bit improved from the previous day but still wet underfoot in many places. This meant for some attacking golf with the ball sticking on the greens. Scoring didn't prove to be easy as we had ground to make up and tried to attack when caution would have been the better route. By the 14th hole myself and Darin realised we were out of contention so to make it interesting we played the last 4 holes for a drink afterwards and ended up playing our best four holes all week!! It was no surprise then afterwards that Jonathan had won by some way. Having played two rounds with him he was solid throughout and a pleasure to have played alongside.

That evening we met in the hotel restaurant for a meal and the presentations. All went well even though no prizes could be awarded on the night. The rest of the evening was spent in the bar talking, dancing and singing. The following day those of us who had late flights decided to play another round. Despite the weather early on, the competition had been great, it was a pleasure to play such a fantastic course and we came away with some great memories of the golf and the people we had met.

I'm sure all the competitors would join me in congratulating Tony for spending the time and effort to arrange what turned out to be a wonderful event and to Jim Long for being a wonderful host and sharing lots of laughter.