The Ladies European Tour’s season finale, a sold-out amateur week and one very busy river.
If a late-autumn golf holiday in Spain is on the cards, La Cala Resort in the hills above Mijas has the liveliest fortnight of the season to offer. First the Ladies European Tour arrives to settle its season on the Europa course.
Then, almost before the grandstands come down, a field of amateurs takes over all three courses for the XXI La Cala Golf World Open. The professionals play for a €700,000 prize fund. The amateurs play for handicap prizes, a nearest-the-pin and the right to mention it at every dinner party until next November.
The Season Ends on the Europa Course
The Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España presented by Oysho runs from 26 to 29 November 2026. It closes the LET schedule with a 75-player field, with both the title and the Order of Merit still to be decided. (Ladies European Tour)
It is La Cala’s first time as host. The championship moves around the Costa del Sol and spent the past two years at Real Guadalhorce, where Nastasia Nadaud of France won last year aged 21 — her first European title, and the youngest win in the event’s history. (Andalucía Golf)
Three Amateurs Among the Professionals
The organisers have invited three amateurs into the field: Paula Balanzategui, the reigning Spanish Women’s Amateur champion, Balma Dávalos from Castellón and Anna Cañadó, who plays college golf at Duke University. (Official Press)
Nobody should treat them as passengers. In 2022 the amateur Cayetana Fernández finished fifth in this championship, and plenty of seasoned professionals spent the weekend looking at her back. (Andalucía.com)
What the Field Will Face
Cabell B. Robinson designed all three of La Cala’s courses. On paper the Europa is the most forgiving of them — generous fairways, flatter ground, around 6,014 metres and par 71. The catch is the River Ojén, which crosses eight holes, with water guarding the 3rd and 14th greens for good measure.
The layout rewards precise approach play over raw length, and the greens are undulating enough to demand a careful read. Forgiving is a relative term when a river keeps turning up. (Andalucía Golf)
Then the Amateurs Take Over
The World Open runs from 30 November to 5 December: 54 holes of individual handicap Stableford across the America, Asia and Europa courses, with 09:30 shotgun starts. A Texas Scramble opens the week, and a gala dinner, prize-giving and closing party finish it. Men and women of any age with a handicap can enter, though prizes go only to men up to 26.4 and women up to 36.4.
The 2026 edition is fully booked. This is the twenty-first year, which suggests the people who go tend to come back. Anyone who fancies a place should aim for 2027 and register their interest early.
A Resort Spruced Up for the Occasion
La Cala Golf & Spa Resort has just finished a €5 million upgrade: a 50-metre tunnel linking the America and Europa courses, a new bypass road with two roundabouts, new buggy paths on the Asia and car parking almost doubled, from 173 to 333 spaces. (Andalucía Golf)
The 107-room hotel was named was named Spain’s Best Golf Hotel at the World Golf Awards. Málaga Airport is about 30 minutes away, Marbella 20. (IAGTO)
Watch One Day, Play the Next
Tickets for the championship are on sale through openfemenino.com, and the dates make for a very civilised short break. Follow the leaders round the Europa on Saturday, then take on the Asia — the course professionals rate most highly of the three — on Sunday. You will at least know where the river is.
And if the World Open’s sell-out has left a gap in the diary, La Cala runs its own competitions through the year, from a St Patrick’s Day tournament in March to the Cudeca charity cup in May.
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