The oldest course in the Marbella area, Rio Real was built on a compact site back in 1965 when Javier Arana laid out an 18-hole course on the banks of the Real River where it enters the Mediterranean Sea. 

The Rio Real golf course was designed as an annex to the Los Monteros hotel, the hotel had established itself as one of the grandest destinations for high-end tourists on the Costa del Sol, a magnet for film stars, aristocrats and other figures who dragged the paparazzi in their wake.

Rio Real is a classic old Costa del Sol course that retains a fair amount of its original charm, and its pine and palm tree-lined fairways play to slightly elevated, well-bunkered green sites, often crossing the river en route to the hole. The trees on the property have matured into fine specimens but a number now present more of a hazard than originally intended, screening, as they do, the best line of play in some instances. 

The high point at Rio Real is its excellent set of long par fours, some of which are among the best that Arana ever designed. All four holes are entirely different from one another despite the scorecard stating similar lengths. One of the more memorable holes on the card is the par four 4th, doglegging left from the background sound of the traffic on the tee to the crashing of waves on the seafront, with the green located right on the coastline. Another fine long par four awaits at the 8th, a wonderful hole that veers left from an elevated tee position and ends with a downhill approach to a small green that’s benched into the hillside.