Meloneras Golf by Lopesan

Save something for the cliffs.

Meloneras Golf is on the south coast of Gran Canaria, just west of the Maspalomas lighthouse and the Meloneras hotel zone. It was the Lopesan hotel group’s first course and the sixth to open on Gran Canaria. Ron Kirby designed it, and it opened in June 2006. The front nine is gentle and inland. The back nine runs along low cliffs above the sea, between the Meloneras hotels and the marina at Pasito Blanco. Prices are published in full, Lopesan hotel guests pay less, and one green-fee card also covers Maspalomas Golf and Anfi Tauro.

Meloneras Golf by Lopesan green fees and tee times.

Book through the club’s TeeOne booking page, by phone on +34 928 145 309 or by email to melonerasgolf@lopesan.com. Lopesan hotel guests get a lower rate on every green fee, about 20% off. A golf cart with GPS costs €25 and is not included in the fee. The Green Fee Card gives four, five or six 18-hole rounds that can be split between Meloneras, Maspalomas Golf and Anfi Tauro. Cancel at least 24 hours ahead or the full amount is charged. Third-party listings give a handicap limit of 30 and ask for a home-club certificate. The club’s own rate page does not mention one, so carry proof anyway.

The round, in perspective.

Where2golf lists it as a par 71 of 5,846 metres from the back tees. The opening nine stays inland. Two of its three par threes measure under 90 metres from the visitors’ tees. The 3rd is harder: a carry of about 150 metres over a small reservoir to a modest green. The back nine turns towards the sea at the dog-leg 11th. The par-three 12th is played to a green on the edge of the cliff above a rocky shore. The next four holes stay along the clifftop, with the Meloneras lighthouse and hotels to the east and the marina at Pasito Blanco to the west. They are the reason to come, and they get much harder from the back tees in the wind. The course hosted the Spanish PGA Championship in 2007.

Know before you go.

Golf cart

€25 with GPS; not included in the green fee

Cancellation

At least 24 hours ahead or full charge

Handicap

Certificate expected; third-party listings give a limit of 30

Club hire

TaylorMade sets €45

Spikes

Soft spikes only (as listed by where2golf)

Make the trip work.

The rate card has two seasons. Winter runs from 1 October to 30 April and summer from 1 May to 30 September, when 18 holes drop to €90 (€72 for hotel guests). In winter, the twilight round from 15:00 costs €94 against €145 for a full-price morning, and it still gives you the cliff holes in late-afternoon light. If you plan three or more rounds on Gran Canaria, the Green Fee Card is cheaper than paying course by course: four winter rounds cost €552, or €440 for Lopesan guests. The Meloneras Golf Academy gives lessons.

Gran Canaria airport (LPA) is on the east coast, about 40 minutes south-west along the GC-1 motorway. Where2golf’s directions use exit 50 for Pasito Blanco, then the Pasito Blanco signs through three roundabouts to the club, about 2 km south-west of Maspalomas. Taxis from the airport are metered. A hire car is worth having if you also want to play Anfi Tauro or Salobre, which are further west.

Where it is.

Somewhere to settle in.

Lopesan’s Meloneras hotels, including the Lopesan Costa Meloneras Resort, are a few minutes east of the course. Staying with the group gives the guest green-fee rate and the cheaper card. Elsewhere in Meloneras there are other large resort hotels along the promenade by the lighthouse. Maspalomas and Playa del Inglés, a little further east, have a wide range of apartments and cheaper hotels.

Make a trip of it.

Maspalomas Golf, also on Lopesan’s Green Fee Card, sits beside the dunes ten minutes east, and Anfi Tauro is about 20 minutes west. All three share the Green Fee Card. Salobre Golf, in the hills behind Maspalomas, is another option. The Maspalomas dunes nature reserve, the lighthouse promenade and the Pasito Blanco marina are close to the course for a day off.

Find your season.

Gran Canaria’s south coast is the dry, sunny side of the island, which is why the hotels cluster here. October to April is high season on the rate card. Wind off the Atlantic matters on the cliff holes, so check the forecast and pick your tees to suit. Summer brings the lower rates and the quietest tee sheet.