He sailed in the 6-metre class at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics and shortly thereafter he started a career in golf, which included multiple wins in Spanish amateur tournaments.

[3] Luis was a successful businessman who was deeply involved with the introduction of sports to Bilbao at the beginning of the 20th century, practicing football, athletics, sailing and golf.

The Spanish War brought national golf competitions to a halt until the autumn of 1939, interrupting a promising career in the international amateur scene.

Following the war hiatus, Javier gradually abandoned competitive golf, although he still had time to win his last Copa Nacional Puerta de Hierro (1939) and the Portuguese International Amateur Championship (1940).

[1][3] Although he started working in 1940 in Club de Campo, it was the arrival in Madrid in 1946 of English golf course architect Tom Simpson, which ignited Javier's professional career.

The main project of this time was the construction of the first 9 holes of the Real Club de Golf Cerdaña, in Puigcerdá, Javier's first solo design.

Other personal treats were his ability to adapt the routing of his golf courses to the available land, always perfectly integrated with the natural surrounds and that the 17th hole should always be a par 3.

Coupled with his design career, Arana performed a very important function in the area of greenkeeping and for many years was the main advocate for proper maintenance as a key element to foster the growth of golf and golfers' enjoyment.