The Valderrama Royal Club (Spanish: Real Club Valderrama) is one of the best known golf clubs in Europe. 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.
Valderrama was constructed in 1974 as "Sotogrande New," to the designs of leading American golf course architect Robert Trent Jones. Renamed "Las Aves" in 1981, it was acquired by Jaime Ortiz-Patiño in 1984. The golf course was redesigned and expanded by the original architect and became "Valderrama."
By 1999, Valderrama was rated the top course in mainland Europe by Golf World magazine. The practice ground was called the best in Europe by Nick Faldo.
The fourth hole, La Cascada, is the course's signature hole. It is a par 5 with a pond to the right of the two-tiered green. Before the 2016 Open de España, three national teams of four players tried to complete La Cascada in the fastest time. The French team of Raphaël Jacquelin, Alexander Lévy, Grégory Havret and Romain Wattel took four shots to complete the hole in 34.87 seconds, breaking the previous Guinness world record by half.
The club's course was the traditional host of the now defunct Volvo Masters, hosting the event from 1988 to 2008, with a five-year break when the event was moved to the Montecastillo Golf Club.
Events staged
- Ladies Spanish Open: 1982
- Volvo Masters: 1988â€"1996; 2002â€"2008
- Ryder Cup: 1997 (the first ever held in Continental Europe)
- WGC-American Express Championship: 1999, 2000
- AndalucÃa Masters: 2010â€"2011
- Open de España: 2016
References
External links
- Official website
