How's the golf in and around San Miguel de Allende?
Eric Chazaro - Keller Williams Allende
Golf is my passion. We have two eighteen-hole golf courses in San Miguel de Allende. Both of these courses are really nice. The one that has been here for a long time now is called Malanquín, which the expat community founded about 45 years ago. It was originally a nine-hole golf course and they recently added the second nine holes just about 6 years ago. Malanquín has really nice old trees as it has been there for so long. They have...
Golf is my passion. We have two eighteen-hole golf courses in San Miguel de Allende. Both of these courses are really nice. The one that has been here for a long time now is called Malanquín, which the expat community founded about 45 years ago. It was originally a nine-hole golf course and they recently added the second nine holes just about 6 years ago. Malanquín has really nice old trees as it has been there for so long. They have really nice pines that blend into the atmosphere and the desert of San Miguel de Allende.
The other golf course here in San Miguel is a resort golf course designed by Nick Faldo called Ventanas de San Miguel (Windows of San Miguel) or more commonly, Las Ventanas. It is an eighteen-hole, signature golf course and it is just amazing. It was built about 7 years ago. The Latino Golf Tournament, which is a tournament where the best golfers of Mexico played against the best golfers of Latin America, was held at Las Ventanas last year. The golfers that joined that tournament would get points to play for the PGA. So it is pretty awesome. Las Ventanas golf course is much easier to play. It is a much friendlier golf course. It is wide open and it is 71 par. Malanquín is a 72 par.
I belong to the Malanquín Golf Club. To become a member, you buy a share that would only cost you US $10,000. The monthly cost or the maintenance is only 2,500 pesos ($135) per family. That is the fee that will give you the ability to play at 28 different golf courses around San Miguel de Allende, which is an awesome deal. Malanquín has an exchange program, where if you are a member, it allows you to play at these golf courses that are not farther than 2 and a half hours away from San Miguel de Allende. Some of them are just 45 minutes away like the ones in Celaya or Queretaro. If you are a retiree, you can go and play for free in any of those golf courses as long as you belong to the Malanquín in San Miguel de Allende. There are at least three golf courses in Queretaro. There is a really long and incredible golf course in San Juan del Rio, which is about an hour and a half away from San Miguel. You can also play in the city of Morella, or in San Luis Potosi, Salamanca, Leon, etc. There are two golf courses in the city of Celaya, which is only 35 minutes away from San Miguel. Their country club called Campestre de Celaya is for sure one of the nicest golf courses I’ve ever played and I have played golf almost all over the world. There are really a lot of options for playing golf in and around San Miguel.
There is a third golf course in San Miguel that is par three, located inside a gated community called Zirandaro in which they did a really good job but it is an executive golf course so it is only nine holes. If you own a property in Zirandaro, you pay a special rate but if you are from outside Zirandaro then you pay a green fee.
(Logo for Malanquín Golf Club, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, pictured.)
Posted June 3, 2016
Jonathan Peters - Ventanas de San Miguel
San Miguel de Allende has world-class golf thanks to the presence of Ventanas de San Miguel. Ventanas de San Miguel is an 18-hole, 470 course, Nick Faldo design, that everybody who's a golfer falls in love with. There is another 18-hole course in town but folks generally come here to Ventanas de San Miguel every time there is a promotion, because Ventanas de San Miguel is considered such a top notch tournament level course. There are probably more options as well,...
San Miguel de Allende has world-class golf thanks to the presence of Ventanas de San Miguel. Ventanas de San Miguel is an 18-hole, 470 course, Nick Faldo design, that everybody who's a golfer falls in love with. There is another 18-hole course in town but folks generally come here to Ventanas de San Miguel every time there is a promotion, because Ventanas de San Miguel is considered such a top notch tournament level course. There are probably more options as well, but I don't think there are any golf courses in all of central Mexico that are better or maybe even on the same level as the Ventanas de San Miguel course. Ventanas de San Miguel is a golfer's paradise for sure. Some golfers who stay in San Miguel de Allende for a week come out and play every day because they enjoy it so much.
One of Mexico City’s newspapers rated Ventanas de San Miguel as one of the top 5 courses in all of Mexico. Golfers absolutely fall in love with Ventanas de San Miguel, which is considered to be a difficult course but it's the kind of course that's wide enough that you can keep the ball in play. In that sense, Ventanas de San Miguel is a course that even beginners can enjoy because they can keep it moving.
The two closest major cities from San Miguel de Allende are Celaya and Queretaro and there are at least a couple of golf courses in each city that are considered quite good but some golfers do everything they can to come over here in Ventanas de San Miguel and play. At least we're on the same level as any of the surrounding golf courses. In San Miguel de Allende, there's an older golf course that first had a 9-hole course that expanded to 18. My understanding is that they have a good solid back 9 but their front 9 may be a little bit narrow. A third option in San Miguel de Allende is a very small 9-hole course that has a nice little amenity but it's not for serious golfers, either. Out of the three golf courses, the superior option as far as the level of play and the course being interesting, Ventanas de San Miguel is definitely the way to go.
The cost to play golf in Ventanas de San Miguel depends on which day you go. Mondays are 50% off and Tuesdays are two-for-one. So on Mondays and Tuesdays, you can bring someone else and both of you play and the cost is US $130. The cost is $150 to play on the weekends in Ventanas de San Miguel.
(Pictured: golf course at Ventanas de San Miguel.)
Posted December 25, 2016