Gary Player, Arnold Palmer and Severiano Ballesteros all played key roles in La Manga Club's glamorous and evolving history, and the famous Spanish resort has paid homage to the legendary golfing trio as part of its eagerly-awaited new-look golf clubhouse.

The golfing icons were integral to La Manga Club establishing itself as one of the world's elite sports and leisure destinations, and have been fittingly honoured by the Murcian resort in its newly refurbished and rebranded 37 Spike & Sports Bar.

Player was La Manga Club's first director of golf in 1972, Palmer won the 1975 Spanish Open at the resort and later redesigned its prestigious South Course while Ballesteros was the venue's touring professional between 1980-85, and the three golfing superstars have each had a corner of the sports bar dedicated exclusively in their honour to celebrate their achievements.

As well as enjoying rare photographs of the trio in action, members and guests can also view priceless pieces of memorabilia including one of Spanish icon Ballesteros' La Manga Club-logoed golf bags which he used during the pinnacle of his career, when he won four of his five Major titles.  

In addition, the redesigned bar features an inviting new décor, new seating and improved menu, which guests can sample while enjoying spectacular sweeping views of the resort's North Course and Hotel Principe Felipe.

The 37 Spike & Sports Bar is one of a number of improvements that La Manga Club is carrying out to upgrade its food and beverages service this autumn, including the reopening of its famous Piano Bar after a summer refurbishment programme.

And the significant investment in its golf and leisure facilities, which has also included the redesign of its pro shop, the purchase of a new golf buggy fleet and refurbishment of its five-star hotel, has seen the resort win a number of top recent industry honours.

Having been named as Spain's best golf hotel at the World Golf Awards for the last two years, La Manga Club was voted best golf resort in Spain by Today's Golfer readers for the fifth year in a row earlier this year while it was selected as one of Europe's top golf resorts in Golf World magazine's inaugural list of the 'Top 100 Resorts in Europe' this autumn.

Set across an area of 1,400 acres, La Manga Club has been at the forefront of European sports and leisure destinations for more than four decades and is widely regarded as Spain's flagship resort.

The official overseas training base of the Lawn Tennis Association, the multi award-winning venue boasts unrivalled facilities including three 18-hole golf courses and outstanding golf academy, a 28-court tennis centre, a new High Performance Sports Centre and 2,000sqm spa and fitness centre.

Guests can stay in a choice of the resort's four-star Las Lomas self-catering apartments or five-star Principe Felipe Hotel, while La Manga Club offers more than 20 bars and restaurants and its own Mediterranean cove beach.

For more details on La Manga Club, visit www.lamangaclub.com 

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Information for journalists

Press release written and distributed on behalf of La Manga Club by the Azalea Group.

La Manga Club

La Manga Club – www.lamangaclub.com – is an unrivalled sports and leisure paradise which sits between the low hills that separate the Mediterranean from the Mar Menor Sea, just 20 minutes from Murcia airport and an hour from Alicante. 

Set out over an area of some 560 hectares (approx. 1,400 acres), it enjoys a mild year-round Mediterranean climate and offers visitors a prestigious five-star hotel, luxury vacation apartments and extensive sports facilities, including three 18-hole golf courses, extensive practice facilities, a 28-court tennis centre and eight grass sports pitches. The resort is also home to innumerable leisure facilities, such as the 2,000m2 Spa La Manga Club with its 13 luxurious treatment rooms, comprehensive fitness centre and 25m indoor swimming pool; meeting, banqueting and incentive facilities, and more than 20 restaurants and bars.

As well as hosting both Davis and Fed Cup tennis matches, La Manga Club has signed a long-term deal to be the overseas training resort of the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) until 2019. It has also staged the Spanish Open golf championship and regularly attracts professional and international football teams to the first-class year-round training facilities which are also used by rugby and cricket sides.

As a result of more than four decades of continued investment, innovation and commitment to excellence, La Manga Club is widely recognised as Spain's flagship resort and as one of the finest sports and lifestyle destinations in the world. Evidence of this is provided by its numerous awards and accolades.

La Manga Club was the proud recipient of a 2013 Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor, the world's largest travel website, for the facilities and service on offer at its five-star Hotel Principe Felipe. The resort has been voted 'Best Golf Hotel/Resort in Spain' by UK readers of Today's Golfer magazine for the last five years and was named 'Best Golf Hotel in Spain' at the 2014 and 2015 World Golf Awards. La Manga Club has long been a staunch supporter of women's golf, being the official overseas resort partner of the English Women's Golf Association for three years as well as hosting the Ladies European Tour (LET) Qualifying School from 2009-12. La Manga Club is also the venue for the Ladies Murcia Open, an LET Access Series event, and regularly hosts top women's amateur events and teams.

High-resolution images of La Manga Club may be downloaded for editorial purposes from https://goo.gl/oi837y 

For more information on La Manga Club contact Pete Simm on 01730 711920 or email petes@theazaleagroup.com