John Hindmarch gets in the swing of things on a trip to Spain

We have all seen the TV advert – a holidaymaker having such a relaxing time turns down the chance to play a round of golf with Jack Nicklaus at Polaris World.

The bloke must be mad! I’ve been to Polaris World and the Golden Bear’s vision of golf in the Spanish sun is breathtaking.

The Polaris World project was started in 2002 and the Nicklaus Design company was first choice to bring the Murcia region of south-eastern Spain to life with a series of golf courses.

The firm, headed by the winner of 18 major titles spanning three decades, has created 300 courses worldwide and, while each is unique, they all share Jack’s philosophy of extending the natural environment and creating courses to challenge players of all skills.

There are now four courses to play on the ever-expanding Nicklaus Trail, and with more in the pipeline Polaris World will boast one of the world’s most exciting experiences for golfers whatever their handicap.

Polaris World is a massive concept with 50.5 million square meters of land under construction.

It’s like leisure complexes on a town planning scale, with properties ranging from 119,000 to 1.5 million euros based around golf courses and other sporting facilities.

The firm is supported by world famous brands, not only Nicklaus Design, but also InterContinental hotels, renowned health spa operators ESPA and leading interior designers, with all customer payments secured against bank guarantees issued by major Spanish banks.

Polaris World do not issue mortgages or other forms of financial assistance.

I took a scheduled Monarch Airlines flight from Birmingham International Airport. The airlines offers a daily service to Alicante and four flights to Murcia during the summer.

The flight took about two hours and 40 minutes and after a short drive I arrived at the five-star InterContinental hotel at Polaris World’s Mar Menor golf resort.

Mar Menor is currently the only site to boast a hotel, but another splendid hotel is due to be completed soon ready for a grand opening on New Year’s Eve at the nearby La Torre resort.

The £24 million low-rise Moorish-style InterContinental is a sumptuous hotel with just 64 bedrooms and a handful of suites.

My room was beautifully fitted out with hydro-bath, walk-in shower and a stunning balcony which overlooks the free-form pool and nine-hole golf course. A second nine is under construction and will be opened next year.

For the non-golfer there is also an indoor pool and the ESPA treatment suite offering all manners of relaxing massage and beauty treatments in an exceptionally chilled-out environment.

Each room also has the benefit of flat-screen TV, desk internet access, with air conditioning, in-room safe and 24-hour room service.

Myself and two fellow guests (from the Manchester Evening News and The Irish Times) played the El Valle golf course, about 30 minutes drive from our hotel.

The course was built under the guiding hand of Gary Nicklaus (Jack’s son). An 18-hole par 71 it proved to be quite a challenge.

Holes are measured in metres and Nicklaus junior certainly likes his bunkers – there are scores of them – the third alone has 13 of them and the sixth green is surrounded by seven traps.

The stroke index one (toughest hole), the seventh features undulating contours along the fairway to a stunning raised green.

Al the greens played true, featuring humps and borrows, not the pin positions were favourable on the day.

For me the feature hole was the 13th, a 368-metre par four with a stunning water feature and lake.

Water is of a premium in Spain and Polaris World have spent a fortune on the development of turf that can be watered with saltwater.

El Valle takes full advantage of its desert setting with several holes playing adjacent to natural rock outcrops, hills and ridges.

Thick rough and trees are non-existent and so to further enhance the desert theme the course has been landscaped with many species of natural shrubs, grasses and plants.

At one point we were attacked by a giant tumbleweed which blew across the green.

Lunch at El Valle was also an experience, the smart restaurant overlooking the course featured an expansive selection of Spanish and international dishes and fine wines.

Another exciting development is the La Loma golf resort, created by prominent Mexican architect Jose de Hurbe.

Designed around a sports complex and nine-hole course, the resort features low-density housing with just 444 properties on 130 acres.

The town centre is is built in the shape of a Spanish guitar, which features a waterfall which runs down the neck.

However, the jewel in the Polaris World crown is Condado de Alhama. Constructed around a giant purpose-built lagoon, it is the firm’s most ambitious project.

There will be three 18-hole Jack Nicklaus courses built by the man himself, two of which will be the Bear’s Best (the first in Europe), based on the best 36 holes in the world – according to Jack.

The resort will also feature tennis courts, football pitches and around 200 acres of public parks and gardens. There will also be a bi-lingual school, hospital and heath centre.

“This is more than a resort,” says Jose Luis Hernandez, the company’s 35-year-old CEO.

“This project defines residential tourism, and our town will have everything you would expect from a collection of villages in the Mediterranean.”

Murcia is known as the garden of Europe. The 156-mile-long Costa Calida (warm coast) is largely unspoilt by high-rise development and has wide open beaches and small coves.

The region enjoys 300 days of sunshine a year with an average temperature of 21C. The region now boasts a new road system with easy access to Murcia and Alicante airports.

Links to other parts of Spain are excellent with the historic cities of Alicante and Cartagena within an hour’s drive.

Getting back to our aforementioned reluctant golfer.

Having now experienced Polaris World, if Jack offered me the chance of another round of golf I’d be on the plane faster than you could say: “We’re going to win the Ryder Cup back in 2010!”

By John Hindmarch