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In fact, we've planned to move closer to the area in order to enjoy the pleasures that the club provides. If you can expense the bill and want to impress you can't go wrong. It can also affect the quality of the playing surface. It was a good first step in acknowledging that golf was not the exclusive domain of Anglo-Saxons and some of the world’s best golfers were from European countries beyond the British Isles. Golf Courses Most Often Used for Ryder Cup In the history of the event, only four golf courses so far have been the site of multiple events.
Highlight for me was a birdie on the 10th and the view from the 11th tee box.Well worth a visitThe course was absolutely amazing and was in great condition. Can there be anything more exhilarating than following in the footsteps of your Ryder Cup heroes? Valderrama Golf Club, Spain's most famous golf course, is home to the Volvo Masters and has hosted World Golf Championships as well as, of course, the 1997 Ryder Cup. Designed by Robert Trent Jones Snr and opened in 1985, the golf course is an exacting examination of shotmaking, with tight tree-lined doglegs and adverse cambers. Mr. Patino, a perfectionist, an art collector, golf enthusiast and shrewd businessman in search of his own course, saw the potential in the layout and successfully negotiated the purchase of Sotogrande’s New Course for his investment group in 1985.Robert Trent Jones Sr. was immediately contacted and offered the assignment of bringing the course up to full championship standard. By 1990, the mission was accomplished, Trent Jones had completed the best design of his illustrious career, the name was changed to Valderrama and Mr. Patino was the father of a newborn super-star.Having already won his bid to host the 1997 Ryder Cup and with his penchant for perfection, Patino was still not completely satisfied with his course and called upon Seve Ballesteros to make further refinements. “Valderrama is an excellent golf course, and a test which we all enjoy returning to,” said the 15-time European Tour winner, who celebrated his 49 th birthday earlier this month.
Famous for the 1997 Ryder Cup and numerous Volvo Masters tournaments.When Felipe Ortiz Patino took over as Valderrama club president from his father Jaime in late 2007, he brought with him a vision for the future of the course. It is still held in great affection by almost all the panel, but with memories of Volvo Masters and a stirring Ryder Cup fading, its exacting challenge between the umbrella pines isn’t quite enough to save it from a small drop. Though my husband and I were unfortunate in the fact that we experienced rain, which nobody had control over, everything was simply spectacular. When Valderrama won its bid to host the 1997 Ryder Cup, Volvo took their tournament an hour’s drive north to the Jack Nicklaus layout at What makes this Robert Trent Jones Sr. layout special enough to be sought after by Volvo, selected by the Ryder Cup, chosen for the WGC-American Express World Championships and be a regularly featured course on The European Tour? There is a very strict dress code and maximum handicap requirements to be complied with, together with a serious respect for the traditions and etiquette of golf.Not surprisingly, the laws of supply and demand require a very early application to even have a chance of playing the finest golf course in Europe and perhaps, the world. Since then Robert Trent Jones Sr.’s associate of 34 years, Roger Rulewich, has taken up the baton and continues to fine-tune Valderrama further, whilst maintaining the integrity of the original, just as the Master had envisioned. In terms of playability, I really enjoyed the round at Valderrama but playing off 11 handicap I think that it was a tough test and probably not as much satisfaction for a 16+ handicapper who would find it possibly too tough. With a generous budget and his own basic design to work with, Jones quickly accepted the challenge, taking 5 years to complete the project. Trent Jones’ original philosophy for Valderrama was based around hole angles and obstacle positioning, and the changes will remain faithful to that. If you want a great challenge fused with beautiful scenery, then this is the resort to visit!Unbelievable course, pristine condition, great weather but terrible for the bank account!Simply the best! The Real Club Valderrama is one of the best known golf clubs in the world. “As such it is constantly growing and evolving; trees and bushes grow taller and wider, foliage becomes denser, and this gradually alters the shape of the holes, the width of the fairways, and the general playability of the course. At least then you can see the hazards.
— Plenty!Ranked at the very top of Golf World Magazine’s Top 20 Courses of Continental Europe for 20 consecutive years, Valderrama happens to be the most exclusive private golf club in all of Europe. The vision looked confidently forward to meeting the challenges created by advances in equipment; and affectionately backwards to Robert Trent Jones Snr’s 1984 revamp that turned Valderrama into the finest course in Europe.Thanks to the annual Volvo Masters, Ortiz Patino was ideally placed to see how technology was compromising the famous layout’s nature and test; but he had also noted time-lapse changes caused by day-to-day course maintenance and general growth that had perhaps taken something from the original challenge laid down by Jones.“A golf course is a living thing,” he announces.
Trent Jones’ original design was for a softer dog-leg, and the angle of play has now been modified to allow more options for the player off the tee.The second step, carried out this year, was based around restoring green shapes and reviving lost pin positions. But this is set to be the sum total of the lengthening. Greens were lightning fast and bunkers could've almost buried you alive with the soft sand - highlights for me were the 3rd and 17th, both of which were tough holes but highly rewarding (a par and a birdie were more than gratefully received! Perhaps designed by Robert Trent Jones Snr - but with help from above. It is located in the resort of Sotogrande, San Roque in the Andalusia region of southern Spain, a few miles from Gibraltar, and has a single 18-hole course, along with a 9-hole par 3 course.