La Gomera may not be the first choice of travellers heading for the Canary Islands but if you’re looking for a different golfing experience then it’s worth going that extra mile. Andrew Warshaw reports

Think golf in the Canary Islands and you tend to think of the resorts in Tenerife, Lanzarote or Gran Canaria. Or perhaps, just to be a bit different, Fuerteventura.

But if it’s tranquillity and serenity you’re after, on a course to suit all standards and with spectacular cliff-top views, why not go that extra mile? Well, a 40-minute ferry ride to be precise. Enjoying a laid-back, almost hippie-style ambience far removed from the tourist invasion of its more established neighbours, La Gomera, 47 kilometres off the south coast of Tenerife, is the ultimate chill-out destination.

It’s a conservationist’s paradise complete with a single, sensational Donald Steel-designed par-71 championship course that forms the centrepiece of the Hotel Jardin Tecina. To say the people of La Gomera have learned how to protect their island is an understatement. It has an extraordinary landscape - a mixture of the volcanic verging on the Jurassic and deep green forests – and much of it has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The course, which opened in 2003, is situated above the sleepy fishing resort of Playa de Santiago, one hour from the tiny capital San Sebastian where the ferry arrives from the port of Los Cristianos in the south of Tenerife. Perched on a cliff, the native vegetation becomes more and more exuberant as the course slopes down to the sea until it reaches a beauty spot full of tropical fruit trees.

Opt to stay at the exclusive, sprawling Tecina complex, cleverly designed to blend in with the environment, and you will be housed in one of the hotel’s Canarian-style bungalows, nearly all of them strategically positioned to ensure maximum privacy. With its five swimming pools, five tennis courts, eight restaurants and all manner of other facilities and activities, the complex offers all the pampering and add-ons the discerning golfer could possibly need.

But you don’t have to stay there to play the course. If you’re looking for something less grand and more personal, try one of the smaller self-catering tour operators such as Casas Canarias, situated in a tiny unprepossessing office in the heart of Playa de Santiago.

A short walk uphill from the harbour, past the sleepy beach bar and banana plantations, Casas Canarias is run by Liz and John, British ex-pats who have lived on the island for more than a decade, know just about anyone worth knowing and for whom nothing is too much trouble. Hooked already? Wait till you arrive at the club itself. Even getting to the raised first tee is an experience, a buggy ride along a marked pathway to the starter hut where you collect your trolley, if deciding on that option rather than sticking with the buggy, along with copious bottles of water.

Once you’re on your way, with palm trees dotted along the fairway and the sea on the left, it’s hard to describe the unique experience of the next three to four hours. Whilst La Tecina is not a links course as such, the high-quality construction gives it that kind of feel.

All 18 greens face the sun-drenched Atlantic and although, sadly, building work recently got under way to provide a complex of adjacent luxury apartments, they do not obscure the wonderful flora and fauna, nor disturb the island’s renowned bird life. But beware. Beautiful it may be but deceptive also. Overshoot the green on several holes, starting with the second, and your ball could well end up in the water - and not the kind of water from which you can easily retrieve it. Accuracy is rewarded on the relatively wide and open fairways though mid to high handicappers should not be too ambitious, especially when playing into the undulating greens, many of which are surrounded either by rough from which only a wedge is possible, or complicated bunkers.

Percentage golf is often the best strategy to avoid a spate of double bogeys or worse. On the 169-metre par-3 fourth, the drive is over a scary-looking ravine while the 337-metre 10th has the tee positioned 45 metres above the level of the green, offering players an unforgettable panorama but also fraught with danger.

Like many winter golfing destinations, La Tecina is more expensive between October and April when booking is advisable. Cheap it isn’t at €91 in the peak of high season but €61 out of season is far more palatable and you get a 15 percent discount if you stay in the hotel. Go for a pre-booked package – which 70 percent of overseas customers do – and you invariably get the best deals.

A one-day excursion from Tenerife, for instance – ferry, car hire for two and green fee – will cost €95 while there are similar deals covering unlimited golf. In terms of handicap certificates, club rules are pretty relaxed, requesting no more than the usual 28 maximum for men and 36 for women. Soft spikes are required and regulation shorts are fine all year round: in 2007,

La Gomera had only eight days of rain! Although costing extra, the Tecina Golf Academy is an added attraction, providing either individual lessons with the resident pro or three-day courses both for beginners and more advanced players. Tecina is one of the Canaries’ last remaining golfing secrets. Give it a whirl – before the secret gets out.

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