MikeJ

Actually, in addition to being nosey I'm also a bit of a pedant. ICG has bought a golf course not the golf club which had a saporophitic relationship with the previuos course owners.
In this case I guess that the existing members of Esuri Golf will be invited to join the IC golf club, or both clubs will jointly use the course ( although I could envisage all sorts of logistical and management issues) or something else which I guess will come up at the meeting.

guesswork

Dellaph Kite

That's fascinating, shows the scale of work required and how lucky we are that finally we have course managers who seem to know what they're doing. Thank you for the video.

irlanda

Isla Canela Golf are very experienced in running golf courses for many years, and fully aware of what needs to be done,
for most golfers the golf course is their first priority, and secondly a well run Club House for its members [and visiting golfers]

Kayann

Dellaph Kite

Whilst you do make a valid point, CE has been decaying for years and was in effect finished when IC came in. Far better to have a vibrant, sought after golf course that requires a degree of planning to play than somewhere not worth the effort. The course is far more than a postscript to the CE development, it has the potential to be the beating heart. The fact that IC are even holding a members meeting illustrates their commitment to them. So yes, good luck with the members meeting this weekend, I am looking forward to hearing the outcome.

Jon-Bxl

I agree that a properly managed and legal clubhouse could become the 'beating heart' of CE. Providing a much-needed SOCIAL hub to our development. Hopefully bringing together the different nationalities and the golfer's and non golfers.

Of course it makes business sense that they cater for both the golfers (and arguably) the larger population of non golfers in the area. There's good money to be made here! Also I know they have one of the best kitchens in the whole area offering us a great chance to have a great proper restaurant as well as a bar.

I remember when there was a golfers only area. None of us non golfers were concerned about that. In fact it was my observation that most of the golfers preferred being in the general area anyway. For example after the prize giving was done for a competition in their room.

I'm not bothered that non golfers are not invited to the meeting because we have to wait for months to have a completed project and will know very soon what was discussed at the meeting anyway.

However, I do think it's OTT that a guy with a clipboard will be there checking names off! I don't think anyone excluded is going to turn up uninvited!

As for the comment about the clubhouse becoming a 'community centre' I don't agree with that. I've always said that the club can become a brilliant social centre for us all. With a proper management strategy.

However, over the years, the clubhouse has hosted 'community projects' like for example Spanish classes, Bridge club, Mah Jong, Book club, Mosaic classes etc etc.

I don't see how anybody would begrudge these kind of projects/initiatives happening in the future.

Looking forward to hearing the feedback from the meeting. With good work underway on the course, I hope to hear that the clubhouse development has a committed and contracted management plan

Jon

SteveandCathy

Most private clubs in the UK accommodate none golfers by having a social membership which is usually about £100.00 per year with a bar discount card issued. My golf club in the UK gives a 20% discount on the bar so maybe a card scheme is the way forward. I often noticed none golfers using the Esuri clubhouse and not buying so much as a coffee!.

Kath Las Colinas

Costa Esuri golf club did a similar thing. We used to pay €10 a month until they did away with the discount. Not that we ever gained €10 in discount anyway but there was no longer any incentive.

Teed Up

Parcheval

Wouawh, lovely pics! :-D

Short summary of today's meeting:

- Canela will honour the remaining paid part of every H2O membership contracts when the course re-opens (meanwhile Esuri members can play Canela for 20€). Once what is left of your paid H2O membership is over (counting on from when the course closed until your paid membership is due) they'll propose a special offer (valid for renewals sealed before end of June 2020) for those who want to continue the membership, allowing to choose either between 1 course (playing the other course for 25€) or 2 courses. It will be either an annual membership or prepaid vouchers of various GFs. No x months contracts will be offered. Prices details will be available shortly.

- goal is to re-open both the club house AND the west golf course (the 2 plots bought by Canela, the 3 others plots remain property of the previous owner) at the same time, early-to-mid November, basically as soon as the greens are fully playable, mostly depending on the weather since all what can't be achieved in the next month will be on stand by until March due to the new nano-Bermuda grass used for the greens which sleeps during Winter. Obviously fairways will take longer (but it's not something new for Esuri's members to play regular fw, is it?) and they'll keep us informed about the works in progress. More details to come around Oct 20th for exact opening date, and shortly afterwards an opening ceremony with the Town Hall and a golf tournament

- rebranding of both courses: new logo for the Canela course which will become "Isla Canela Old Course" and also for Esuri, which will be renamed to "Valle Guadiana Links by Isla Canela". They said it's about positioning both courses in the international market/Google/etc..., but also to get rid off the old activities done in Esuri and give it a fresh start

- front nine and back nine will be swapped, so the physically hardest and hottest part will be played first (as it has mainly been the case during Summer) and also that new players will stay with the Links taste in their mouth when finishing the round

- new course lengths will be set up (so most probably new slopes I assume) so that everyone can play from any tee, without any gender attached to any colour code (will be also the case in Canela)

- business case for Esuri (or Valle Guadiana Links from now on) is to sell golf packages in the international market, just like they've been doing in Canela for years, so members will have to be flexible and co-live with tourists, which means you won't be able to have straight away your 10 tee-times twice a week at the same time, but availability will depend on the course load. Sounds maybe terrifying for some members, but experience in Canela has shown that all in all everyone can organize their competition, maybe not every fixed day at the same time like it used to be in our more-or-less private course, but could be maybe a Tuesday at 11h for one week and the next time a Wednesday at 9h30 for example. But also keep in mind flexibility might be required just during high season peaks, and that they have now 2 golf courses to offer so there will certainly be spots for everyone to play at the convenient time

- some years ago there was no need for another course in Canela and in 5-7 years the situation has changed, so although they are not currently looking actively to expand more their activities in Esuri, if things go well as expected they could think about getting an eye on the hotel and who knows, about the other course...

Finally, last but not least, especially for non-golfers: Thebussem will run the clubhouse on a 365 days basis, with enough workers both in and outside the kitchen, so most of you will finally have what you have been asking and dreaming for years!

Sounds definitively promising to me, don't you think?

keithBT

Excuse my ignorance, but who exactly is Thebussem the company destined to run the clubhouse. Does anyone have any knowledge of them ? As a non- golfer I look forward to hopefully having a half decent resto there.

Parcheval

Thebussem is the current company running the restaurant/bar/cafe at Isla Canela

Jon-Bxl

Hi Keith

Here is Thebussem...

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restau...Andalucia.html

Thanks also to Parcheval for the detailed update.

Looks good at this stage... . I'll get excited when the bar/resto actually opens for business... And we hope to be good customers spending dosh there if it does.

Jon

keithBT

Thanks for the update. I now recall seeing the Thebussum sign at the roundabout entrance to IC. Bring it on !!