La Manga Resort - Gregory's 'Field of Dreams' moment in the Spanish sunshine

In the film, Costner has a vision of a baseball diamond and a voice in his head saying 'if you build it, he will come' - 'he' being the sport's legendary 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson.

It was built, and 'he' did come. He had too; would have been a damp squib of a film otherwise.

American businessman Gregory Peters, too, had a vision involving his own fields of dreams. More grass, this time, but still sporting dreams nonetheless.

His 'Eureka' moment arrived back in the late 1960s on the Costa Calida in southern Spain, near La Manga - the 18km strip of land jutting up into the Mediterranean Sea.

'If you build it, they will come.'

That could have been the voice in his head.

An aerial view of La Manga Resort

The La Manga area had so much going for it. Totally unspoilt by tourism at the time, the area boasted several kilometres of golden sand, two seas - the strip separates the Med from Mar Menor, a giant lagoon sometimes referred to as the 'world's largest swimming pool' - and one of the best climates in Spain. Which is saying something.

Gregory Peters knew all that, and he knew one thing was missing.

'If you build it, they will come'.

So he went ahead and oversaw the construction of two 18-hole Championship standard golf courses on a previously barren area of land a few miles away from the La Manga strip.

No sooner had the courses - complete with 3,000 palm trees brought in from outside the region - opened in the autumn of 1972, then they came.

The stars came to play in a Pro-Am tournament. They came in force. And they came from all walks of celebrity life, not just the world famous golfers - led by La Manga's own director of golf, Gary Player - but from the worlds of showbusiness, Hollywood (Sean Connery), politics and other sports.

From the small acorns of two golf courses has grown, over the last 40 years, the mighty oak - or mighty palm tree, to be more accurate - which is now the glorious La Manga Resort.

The pool at the hotel at the La Manga Resort

Just a couple of hours flying time from Bournemouth or Southampton airports, this is a world renowned sporting Valhalla in paradise conditions.

There are now three 18-hole golf courses, one of which held the Spanish Open five times in the 1970s - a tournament which at the time offered one of the biggest purses on offer anywhere in world golf.

There are also world class football training facilities, with eight pitches - making it southern Europe's biggest training base.

Some of Europe's leading clubs visit La Manga every year - either for pre season training or a mid-season break.

Glenn Hoddle took his England squad there prior to the 1998 World Cup, and informed the world on a patio at the resort that Paul Gascoigne - and Saints legend Matt Le Tissier, for that matter - wouldn't be part of his finals squad for the tournament in France.

Managers of the calibre of the late Sir Bobby Robson and Manchester United's Louis Van Gaal have been frequent visitors down the years.

But La Manga Resort does not just host the world's stellar name; it aims to nurture and help develop the next generation too, through extensive coaching clinics throughout the year for youngsters.

Ditto tennis.

The Resort has hosted Davis Cup ties - I wasn't joking when I said the facilities are world renowned - and regularly welcomes some of the best players in the world to train.

As with the golf and football, there is a packed programme of coaching courses available for youngsters.

Set in a beautifully landscaped area in the foot of a valley, the Resort is large - at 1,400 acres it's three times bigger than the principality of Monaco - and offers sports-loving families or couples, of all ages, an ideal getaway 12 months of the year.

An aerial view of the Prince Felipe Hotel

Golfers will love it. Golf widows will love the spa, which is a few minutes drive away from the main 172-room hotel in the Las Lomas area of self catering townhouses and apartments.

Accommodation wise, guests are spoilt for choice.

My wife and I stayed in the Prince Felipe Hotel, offering five-star luxury in an Andalusian style with some wonderful views over the golf courses.

Centrally located, it's just a short walk to a shopping complex built in the late 1990s offering retail therapy plus some atmospheric bars and restaurants and a supermarket for those taking the self catering option.

If you don't fancy the hotel – complete with its own outdoor pool exclusively reserved for those staying at the hotel – how about the self catering accommodation?

Las Lomas village - designed in true Mediterranean style - boasts its own facilities including an outdoor swimming pool and the heavenly spa is just walking distance with its fantastic views over the Resort and towards the strip and its accompanying high rises (though nothing like the worst excesses of 1960s and 1970s found elsewhere up the coast).

Feeling flush? You could always splash out a bit more and hire one of the many immense privately-owned apartments or villas that take up a huge part of the Resort.

We had a drive around one evening and the owners of some of these fantastic homes must be seriously wealthy. You could pay around £1,500 a week for one of the top villas, and it's not hard to see why.

They have probably thought of most things at the Resort.

Hungry? Again, you are spoilt for choice. Spanish tapas, Asian, Chinese, American, Italian and Mexican restaurants cater for most tastebuds, while there are bars and other eateries at the Resort which are privately-owned and run.

You won't have to leave the Resort if you don't want to, but parts of the region are worth exploring if you can drag your partner away from the golf course/tennis course/spa (delete as appropriate).

Looking across one of the golf courses to the La Manga strip

The city of Cartegena is a 20-minute journey away, and well worth a visit for some superb Roman ruins and other grand architecture. A once mighty Naval port, it now regularly hosts cruise ships from around the world - indeed, P & O's Ventura was in dock when we arrived.

You have to swim in the Mar Menor lagoon. It would be criminal not too. Warmer than the Med, it's just a 10-minute drive from the Resort.

At the head of the strip is the little coastal resort of Cabo De Palos with its surfeit of fish restaurants.

World class weather, world class sporting facilities - whether your energy levels are high or sloth-like - and a great variety of eating and drinking establishments.

The likes of Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros - a regular on the golf courses at La Manga in the late 70s and 80s - Glenn Hoddle, Sir Bobby Robson, Louis Van Gaal cannot all be wrong. Can they?

Simple Minds have stayed there. Dennis Thatcher was a regular in the 1980s. Juliette Binoche and Rudolph Nureyev have also visited.

Any more names? Well, Hale and Pace were there in 1992 to play golf. What more celebrity endorsement do you need?

In a nutshell, if you like golf, or football, or even tennis, La Manga Resort is the place for you.

If you don't like any of those three, how about mountain biking, cycling, hiking, walking, bowls, cricket, horse riding, paddle tennis, petanque, or a multitude of water sports on the Mar Menor or the Med?

There is even a dance academy at the Resort.

If they haven't thought of everything, they're not far away.

Four nights bed and breakfast at 5 star Principe Felipe Hotel Includes flights from Bournemouth to Murcia and return transfers from airport to hotel Price from £389 pp, based on 2 sharing, departing 19th October 2015 Average temperature in October is 20 degrees C Contact Prestige Holidays, who have been trading for 25 years in Ringwood, for further details on 01425 480600.

Prestige will also provide tailor-made itineraries for anywhere in the world.