The British Golf Monthly magazine has published their list of the 20 best golf courses in Europe based on the votes of senior staff, contributors and some well travelled members of their senior reader panel and there are four Spanish courses mentioned and two of those are located on the "Costa del Golf". The winner is the Club de Golf Valderrama in San Roque, province of Cádiz and fifth place was attributed to the Sotogrande Golf Club in the same province.
Valderrama is a 6356 metres par 71 course with no hole of less than championship quality, but it can be fully enjoyed by players of all handicaps, thanks to the genius of Robert Trent Jones, Senior, whom many consider the leading golf architect of his day.
The owners and the architect shared a common aim: to create a course that would present a test of golf to the everyday golfer and the first-class player alike, and would bring out the best golf that is in him.Valderrama has since risen in the Golf World rankings to become the No.1 golf course in mainland Europe, a position proudly held since 1989.
No championship course in modern times has so swiftly achieved such recognition. As early as 1988, Valderrama began to host the newly-launched Volvo Masters, the flagship tournament of the PGA European Tour, and continued to do so until 1996.In 1997 the Club hosted the 32nd Ryder Cup, won by Europe in a most thrilling finish. Valderrama remains today the only club ever to have hosted golf's pinnacle event outside its traditional homelands, USA and Britain.
Next, in 1999 and 2000, Valderrama went on to host the first two editions of the World Golf Championships - American Express Championship, which were won by Tiger Woods and Mike Weir respectively.The tone for the Ryder Cup event was set by Severiano Ballesteros, the Europe captain, when he walked the course with John Paramor, the chief tournament director. 'I found everything perfect,' he said. 'It's impossible to imagine a golf course in better condition.Valderrama is a private Members' club, but a limited number of starting times are offered for visitors most days of the year.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment