Golf Parador de El Saler ☆ Follow

The Parador de El Saler golf course is an 18-hole, par 72 layout measuring 6,042 metres, situated within the El Saler Natural Park on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, 18 kilometres south of Valencia. Designed by Javier Arana and opening in 1968, it was immediately acclaimed the top course in Continental Europe upon opening and remains widely regarded as Arana's finest work and Spain's greatest course.

The course is routed across exceptionally varied terrain, interspersing holes set among towering coastal sand dunes and open seaside ground with holes flanked by umbrella pines in the adjacent Mediterranean forest. Rather than grouping the links-style and forest holes on separate nines, Arana wove both environments throughout both halves of the round, with no two consecutive holes oriented in the same direction — a deliberate device ensuring the player must continually adapt to shifting coastal wind conditions. Wide, rolling fairways and large, undulating greens are protected by nearly 100 bunkers, many of them deliberately fashioned in a blown-out, natural style to complement the dune setting.

The course has hosted the Spanish Open in 1984, 1989, and 2001, as well as the Seve Trophy in 2003 and the Spanish Open again in 2013. Bernhard Langer holds the course record of 62, set during the final round of the 1984 Spanish Open. The course is situated within the Albufera Nature Park, one of Spain's most significant wetland ecosystems, and the design places a strong emphasis on integration with and preservation of the protected natural landscape.