New Bermuda grass putting-surfaces to enhance sustainability and year-round playability.

Major refurbishment work is underway on La Cala’s oldest course – Campo Asia – that will see all greens upgraded to Bermuda grass in a bid to improve sustainability and year-round conditioning. All bunkers will also be fully renovated during the project expected to last two months.

In recent years, La Cala Resort has embarked on a major improvement programme to enhance its courses’ reputations yet further. Campo America was the first to benefit in 2018, with the 4^th and 15^th holes undergoing extensive remodelling to improve playability and all bunkers refurbished to enhance the aesthetics as part of a comprehensive upgrade.

Now, as La Cala celebrates its 30^th anniversary this year, it is the turn of the resort’s elder statesman, Campo Asia, to benefit from major improvements. The course, which was the first of the three to open in 1989 and which has co-hosted The Alps Tour Q School for the last seven years along with Campo America, will this summer become the first course on the Costa del Sol to switch to Bermuda grass on its greens, via the ‘No-Till’ method rather than returning, as part of a major refurbishment programme that will also see all bunkers renovated to improve the course’s visual appeal and conditioning.

The end result will not only be better year-round putting surfaces, but also a major benefit in terms of sustainability as Bermuda greens will significantly reduce water consumption and the risk of grass diseases while also relying less heavily on the use of chemicals and fertilisers.

“We are constantly looking for ways to improve our golf offering,” says Sean Corte-Real, Director of La Cala Resort, “and greens that roll and play better all year-round will be a real asset. But the real beauty of the switch to Bermuda grass is the extent to which maintaining Campo Asia will impact on the environment. We live in environmentally sensitive times, and rightly so. Anything we can do as a golf resort to not only reduce our water consumption but also minimise the amount of chemicals and fertilisers we are putting in to the ground, can only be the right thing to do.”

Campo Asia will re-open for play with its new Bermuda greens and renovated bunkers in September this year.