Marbella golf green fees the clubs don't publish

Six of the Costa del Sol clubs in our app publish no green fee for visitors on their websites: Santa Clara, La Quinta, Villa Padierna, Marbella Club, San Roque and El Paraíso. You only see the price on their booking pages, so we read them: 18 holes for two cost from €52 to €300 a player, depending on the club, the course and the date.

How we read the prices

On Friday 13 November at 06:41 (Madrid time) we asked each club's online tee sheet, through our app, for every free tee time for two players and 18 holes on three days: Wednesday 18 November, Saturday 21 November and Tuesday 15 December. The prices below are per player, as the booking pages showed them that morning.

That's a snapshot, not a tariff. Prices move with bookings and seasons, and some change with the size of your group, so check live before you go.

What did 18 holes cost?

Three of them were cheaper on 15 December: La Quinta by €22 to €27, Villa Padierna by €6 to €16 and San Roque by €50. Santa Clara and Marbella Club asked the same on all their days.

For comparison, Los Arqueros, which does publish its rates, charges €110 for 18 holes until 30 November and €90 in December.

La Quinta: the price depends on the hour

La Quinta, in Benahavís, has 27 holes in three nines (San Pedro, Ronda and Guadaiza), 15 minutes from Marbella. Its price changed through the day. On Wednesday 18 November it was €120 from 08:30 and again from 12:20, and €125 between 10:20 and 11:50. On Saturday 21 November: €125 from 08:30, €130 from 11:20 and €120 from 12:10. On 15 December every tee time was €98.

From 12:40 some tee times start on the 10th rather than the 1st.

Villa Padierna: three courses, three prices

Villa Padierna has three 18-hole courses, and the booking page showed three price levels on each day: €58, €130 and €141 in November, €52, €114 and €129 on 15 December. Our snapshot doesn't say which course each tee time is on; the club's booking page does, so check before you pay.

The club's own fact sheet tells the three apart:

The dearest tee times (€141, then €129) ran at quarter-hour intervals, the pattern of Alferini; the other two prices ran every 10 minutes. The fact sheet adds that no handicap certificate is asked for if you play with a PGA professional.

Group size matters here. On 18 November a four paid €122.50 each for a €130 tee time, and €130.75 for a €141 one.

Marbella Club: few tee times in November

Marbella Club Golf Resort is a Dave Thomas par 73 in Benahavís, 25 minutes from Marbella. It asked €125 at every tee time we saw, but in November there was almost nothing for two: one tee time (10:12) on the Wednesday and none on the Saturday. On 15 December there were 23, from 08:36 to 13:36, 12 minutes apart.

The resort's golf page asks for a handicap of 28 for men and 36 for women.

Santa Clara: €190, and the light runs out

Santa Clara Golf Marbella, a par 71 of 5,922 m 10 minutes from the centre, showed €190 at every tee time on all three days. On Saturday 21 November nothing was free for two before 14:00.

Watch the afternoon. Sunset at the course was at 18:10 on 18 November, and a round takes about four and a half hours, so a tee time after 13:40 would end in the dark. Every Saturday tee time we saw started after that.

San Roque: the dearest, and only in the afternoon

The San Roque Club's Old Course (par 72, 6,311 m) is a Dave Thomas design with bunkers redesigned by Severiano Ballesteros, in Cádiz province, 45 minutes from Marbella. It was the dearest of the six: €300 a player in November and €250 on 15 December.

There was nothing in the morning. The club's courses page says the Old Course is for members outside its daily public periods, and free tee times began at 11:50 on the Wednesday, 14:10 on the Saturday and 15:00 on 15 December. That day the sun set at 18:08, so a 15:00 start gives you about three hours of light for 18 holes.

El Paraíso: nothing online on our three days

El Paraíso, a Gary Player par 71 from 1973 in Estepona, showed no free tee time for two on any of the three days. Its website says to "contact the pro shop for current pricing" and gives its booking contacts: +34 952 88 38 35 and reservas@elparaisogolf.com. It's worth a call before you rule it out.

Before you book

• Look at the price for your group. At Villa Padierna a four paid up to €10.25 less each than a two.
• Carry your handicap certificate for Villa Padierna's Alferini and Flamingos, and for Marbella Club.
• Count the daylight. At Santa Clara and San Roque the free afternoon tee times mostly end after sunset in November and December.
• Compare with the clubs that publish rates. The autumn green fees at 11 Costa del Sol clubs and the twilight rates in Marbella cover them.
• Book on the club's own page. TeesDeSalida shows the free tee times and prices at all of these clubs on one screen, and every tee time takes you to the club to book. Each club's facts are in the Costa del Sol guide.