Sotogrande Gets a New Par 3 Course: What The Alto Club Has Built, Who Can Play, and What It Costs

I play a lot of sport, and short courses are where you actually get better. Nine holes with every club in the bag getting used is exactly what most people need and exactly what this coast was short of. Sotogrande had the most famous golf in Spain and no easy way in for a beginner. Now it has one, and it is cheap.

The Alto Club par 3 in numbers

How the new short courses work

Who can play

Anyone. No handicap certificate, no membership, no dress code beyond the usual collared shirt and no jeans. Book a tee time online or by phone like any public course. Corporate and academy members get a discount on the par 3 green fee, buggy excluded.

How long it takes

About an hour for nine holes walking, two for eighteen. The 18-hole option is simply two loops.

Which clubs you need

With holes from 80 to 200 metres you will hit everything from a wedge to a long iron or hybrid. Distance control decides your score, which is the point of the course.

The pitch and putt and the executive course

Next to the par 3 the club lists an 18-hole pitch and putt, also by Piñero, for the short game only, and a par 29 executive course with two par 4s marked as coming soon. The website shows no separate fee for the pitch and putt yet, so ask when you book.

Who it suits

• Beginners and juniors: a real course with real greens, short enough to enjoy from day one, and €16 for a child.
• Families and resort guests who do not have four or five hours for 18 holes.
• Good players: holes of up to 200 metres need anything from a wedge to a long iron. Play it for the iron practice.
• Academy students, who put what they learn on the range straight onto a course.

“The beauty of a great par 3 course is that it challenges every golfer, regardless of their ability,” said Suzann Pettersen at the launch. “It is a place where beginners can build confidence, juniors can develop their game, and experienced players can sharpen the skills that make the biggest difference on the course.” Stéphane Menou, general manager of SO/ Sotogrande and The Alto Club, called it “another important milestone in the evolution of The Alto Club”.

From Almenara to The Alto Club

• 1998: Almenara Golf Club opens with 27 holes by Dave Thomas in three loops, Alcornoques, Pinos and Lagos.

• Later: Manuel Piñero remodels the course.
• 2025: relaunch as The Alto Club. Pinos and Lagos become one 18-hole championship course. The old Alcornoques nine becomes the Golf Academy with a Toptracer range.
• September 2026: the 9-hole par 3 opens next to the academy, with the pitch and putt.

If you read “Almenara Golf” on an old list, this is the same place with a new name and a new layout. The par 3 is presented to the same standard as the main course, so it does not feel like a pitch and putt.

Where it sits among Sotogrande’s courses

Prices from each club’s 2026 rate card where published. For every course between Sotogrande and Marbella see our Costa del Sol golf guide.

A local talent in the Solheim Cup

The Alto Club is the training base of Mimi Rhodes, who grew up in Sotogrande, became the destination’s Global Ambassador in 2025 and was a captain’s pick for Team Europe at the 2026 Solheim Cup at Bernardus in the Netherlands, 11 to 13 September. Her case rested on a 2025 season with three Ladies European Tour wins and Rookie of the Year. For a coast that hosted the Solheim Cup for the first time in Spain at Finca Cortesín in 2023, that is a nice full circle, and Europe won the cup.

Living near the golf in Sotogrande

Golf is part of why people choose Sotogrande as a year-round home rather than a holiday base, which we wrote about in Sotogrande: why year-round living is the new story here. The marina is another reason: Puerto Sotogrande is the fifth largest marina in Spain. The Alto Club sits in Sotogrande Alto, ten minutes from the beach and five from Sotogrande International School.

New homes we currently have in Sotogrande:

Prices as listed on santinahomes.com in October 2026. See also all properties in Sotogrande, our Sotogrande area guide and the Sotogrande Alto and La Reserva guides, or contact us.

Sources: altogolfclub.com/the-academy/par-3/ (fees, booking, pitch and putt, executive course, read 8 October 2026); The Alto Club press release via MyGolfWay (4 September 2026), The Golf Business (September 2026) and Destination Golf; SO/ Sotogrande golf page (July 2026, tee times from September); altogolfclub.com memberships page (par 3 discount); sotogrande.com, “Sotogrande’s Mimi Rhodes selected to represent Team Europe at 2026 Solheim Cup”; Sky Sports and Capital FM on the Solheim Cup picks; The Alto Club, “Everything about the rebranding from Almenara”.

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