Valderrama’s signature 17th green (click above for video)
In most sports you do not get the opportunity of walking where the legends of their sport’s have walked in the past. You can’t play football at Wembley or Tennis at Wimbledon can you ? But golf is different. It is possible to walk on the magnificent turf of Valderrama where your vision of hitting that super drive on the signature 17th, hitting the green in two then holing the eagle putt like the pro’s just may be possible, or imagine walking in the footsteps of Nicolas Colsaerts where he won the Volvo Masters on the 18th green in 2012 at Finca Cortesin. Oh, the imagination runs wild !!! So we are offering a package that includes Valderrama, Sotogrande, La Reserva, Finca Cortesin and San Roque Old.
Real Sotogrande (click above for video)
La Reserva (Click above for video)
Finca Cortesin (Click above for video)
San Roque Old (Click above for video)
Play Four or all Five Courses
Play Valderrama and Sotogrande together with any two of La Reserva, Finca Cortesin or San Roque Old Course €1,182.00
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Or play all five for €1,383.00
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*Price per person including shared buggy in all the courses.
To reserve simply e mail at barry@golfinthesun.org or call on +34 661 297209/203
Booking Conditions
- 25% deposit must be paid for reservations to be confirmed (non-refundable). Balance payment 15/21 days before the first day of play.
- Cancellations or changes made less than 15/21 days beforehand will be charged in full.
- Special conditions for PGA Pros: 50% discount on the package, complimentary with groups of 7 or more amateurs. They have to send us a copy of their PGA card.
- We remind you that forecaddie will be mandatory for all our Valderrama bookings, the rate is 60€ + gratuity and must be paid the day of game directly to the forecaddie.
- Caddies should be reserved in advance. All cancellations made 24 hours before your day of play will be charge on full.
- Flights must be formed by four players. All threesomes, pairs or individual bookings may be reallocated to complete foursome.
- Non-playing guests are not permitted to accompany visitors on the course.
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About Valderrama
Real Club Valderrama is located in Sotogrande, Andalucia, the largest and southern-most region of Spain. A few miles north of Gibraltar, it is approximately one hour’s drive from Malaga International Airport. Valderrama is a private Members’ club with a limited number of starting times offered for visitors. The climate is ideal for year-round golf.
Valderrama has been consistently ranked as number 1 in Continental Europe since the late 80’s and has been included in the Top 100 in the World since 1999. The Par 71 Championship Course measures 6356 meters from the professional tees. The fairways have been described by top pros and leading golf writers as the best in Europe, if not the world. It is not an easy course – nor was it intended to be. It is designed so as to call forth thought and precision for every shot.
The course was designed in 1974 by Robert Trent Jones, Sr, one of the great golf course architects, and was originally known as Las Aves (Sotogrande New). In 1984, Mr. Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, acquired the golf course and committed to bringing the course to an extraordinary level, never seen before in Europe. Robert Trent Jones willingly agreed to come back and redesign his original layout of ten years earlier. Together the two men spent many hours walking around the course and discussing where and how improvements
should be made.
The course was renamed Valderrama, after the ancient estate on which the land is situated. The pair 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 2009. 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.
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”
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. Since 2010, Valderrama is home of the Andalucia Masters, one of the European Tour’s most prestigious tournaments.
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About Sotogrande
Officially opened in 1964 Sotogrande was the first course Trent Jones designed in Europe and is blessed with his design philosophy, which consists of building courses perfectly integrated with the natural surroundings which are a great challenge to the better players, but accessible and enjoyable for everyone.
The origin of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande is intimately bound to the creation of the urbanization of Sotogrande in the early 1960´s. Its founder, Joseph McMicking, chose this enclave in the South of Spain to develop the best residential area of the time and as the nucleus and backbone of this ambitious project, the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande was founded in 1964.
If something truly characterized McMicking it was his vision of the future and his desire that Sotogrande would last for many, many years. This was why he laid the foundations of his project in completely unknown parameters of quality in the Spain of those days. It is no wonder that he called in the most prestigious designer of the time, R. T. J. to design the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande course.
It was the express wish of McMicking that Trent Jones personally choose the land on which the golf course would be built within the enormous property in which the urbanization was located. Sotogrande was the first work of the designer in Europe and marked a landmark in the construction of courses on this side of the Atlantic, not only by the magnificent design which the master Trent Jones realized, but by the innovations that surrounded the project: it was the first course in Europe to be seeded with Bermuda 419 and first to install a totally automatic system of irrigation. In 1965 the Clubhouse was inaugurated having been built by the architect Luis Gutierrez Soto.
1966 – In 1966, the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande held its first great tournament with the best players in Europe in the Spanish Open Championship. This was won by Roberto de Vicenzo with 279 strokes. One year later at the age of 44 the Argentinean became the oldest player to win the British Open, after an exciting duel with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
The magnificent design of Robert Trent Jones was quickly appreciated so much by both amateurs and professionals, which turned Sotogrande into a prestigious venue for competitions.
The Course RSGC is considered as one of the masterpieces of Robert Trent Jones who chose this course as one of his five favorites from more than 500 courses he designed worldwide according to what he wrote in his book GOLF – THE MANIFICIENT CHALLENGE – published in 1988.
1970 – In 1970 the Sherry Cup was born, the original of the present European Championship of Nations Cup of Real Club de Golf Sotogrande which is presented every year to the best amateur from 20 European countries and gives a big boost to his C.V. to be alongside winners of the stature of Padraig Harrington, Sergio García or Rory McIlroy. In 1973 the VII Ladies European Championship was contested in Sotogrande. The winners were England followed by France, Sweden and Spain.
The Club remained part of the Sotogrande urbanization until 1979, the year in which the members acquired the course giving rise to a Members Club which is considered nowadays as one of the best Members´ Clubs in Europe.
Sotogrande was the venue for the Spanish Amateur Championship of 1983. The winner was a very youthful Jose Maria Olazabal who later won the Augusta Masters of 1994 and 1999.
Severiano Ballesteros, 1987
1987 – Five years later, the Club presided over the victory of the brilliant Severiano Ballesteros in the Spanish Professional Championship of 1987. Ballesteros was the number 2 in the world ranking and had won 4 Majors, the British Open in 1979 and 1982 and the Augusta Masters in 1980 and 1983. This did not prevent him having a heroic battle with Pepin Rivero to win the Championship. Seve left wonderful examples of his matchless talent with the shot he holed on the last day from a greenside bunker on hole 16 which virtually sealed his victory.
Between 1996 and 2001 the course of Trent Jones together with San Roque Club hosted the Qualifying School for the European Tour. On these 2 courses the European Tour Cards were obtained by players such as Ian Poulter, Geoff Ogilvy, Justin Rose, Niclas Fasth and Nicholas Colsaerts.
1994 – In 1994, His Majesty King Juan Carlos I granted to Sotogrande the title of Real. From its origin, the Club has had six presidents, D. Alfredo Melián, (1964 to 1979), Mrs. Emma Villacieros de García–Ogara (1979-1989), D. Walter Rodriguez Figueroa (1989–1997), D. José Antonio Polanco (1997–2005), D. Antonio Martín Urquijo (2005–2010) and the present president, D. Felipe Oriol Diaz de Bustamante.
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About La Reserva
La Reserva Golf Club has been recognised as one of Europe’s finest golf courses after being awarded a place in Golf World magazine’s prestigious list of the Top 100 Golf Courses in Continental Europe for 2017/18.
The Golf World Top 100 is widely regarded as a front-runner in golf course rankings and represents one of the most astute, impartial and thoroughly-researched lists in the golf tourism industry.
The list is compiled by a panel of golf travel experts who have many years’ experience of playing and reviewing the finest courses in the world, highlighting each course’s strengths and weaknesses.
Chris Bertram, Top 100 Editor commented: “This ranking of the Top 100 Continental courses thoroughly represents the changing landscape in golf tourism.
“Helping us to feel confident about the ranking’s merit is our most widely-travelled panel ever.
“The ability to compare courses across so many different countries is what makes me believe this ranking is the most accurate representation to date of what are the best golf courses on the continent.”
La Reserva was awarded an impressive 76.7 marks from a possible 100, representing Golf World’s six ranking categories of design, setting, presentation, playability, memorability and consistency.
Carved into the hillside with natural vistas in every direction, La Reserva Club’s 18-hole championship course was designed in 2003 by American architect and course designer Cabell B. Robinson.
Golf World were highly complementary of the club, highlighting the “beautiful views of the Mediterranean from a well-designed course on a difficult site.”
Top 100 panel member Hans-Joachim Walter, who has played 94 of the 100 clubs listed, was impressed by the club’s “large golf course with 16 downhill drives and enormous differences in elevation,” while Alfonso Erdhardt described the course as “a showcase of modern Spanish Golf.”
La Reserva Club prides itself on continuing a long-standing golfing legacy while creating a contemporary leisure experience that defines modern Sotogrande; a result of the ever-growing repertoire of facilities on offer.
This follows a significant investment phase, culminating in a complete renovation of the clubhouse which is now a stand-out feature of the resort.
Progress is also being made on a new beach club, sandy pool and sports lagoon as La Reserva Club continues to enhance its reputation as one of the very finest golf and leisure resorts in Europe as a whole.
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About Finca Cortesin
A demanding par 72, measuring 6,802 metres from the back tees, and with more than 100 bunkers, Finca Cortesin is ranked one of Spain’s best golf courses by the prestigious Golf Digest Magazine.
Finca Cortesin hosted the Volvo World Match Play Championship in 2009, 2011 & 2012 and is the venue for the Solheim Cup in 2023.
The quality of the course maintenance and condition is Finca’s number one priority. US Masters champion Sergio Garcia compared the greens with those at Augusta National for their quality and speed when he played here.
Cabell Robinson´s course design and Gerald Huggan´s impressive landscaping encapsulate the pure natural essence of the surrounding area.
With a choice of 5 different tees, the course is appealing to all levels; 5,884 metres for men and 4,840 metres for ladies, as well as an “executive gold tee” measuring 5,215 metres.
Every player benefits from an exclusive bag drop service, fully-equipped buggies with the latest GPS technology, complimentary practice balls before playing, complimentary fruit and cold water service on the course, as well as a chilled towel service during the summer season.
During the Summer of 2017, Finca Cortesin Golf Course underwent significant works, including the updating of all 18 greens, to improve the overall quality of the playing conditions.
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About San Roque Old
The legendary Old Course at The San Roque Club is steeped in history, hosting 15 consecutive European Tour Schools from 1993-2007 and the Spanish Open in 2005. Some of the greats of the game ignited their careers here and have gone on to win major championships.
However, it is the future that is the most exciting. With a multi-million euro renovation of all the club facilities now completed, The San Roque Club once again can be considered one of the best golf resorts in Europe.
6.311 Metres Par 72
Surrounded by lush hills and historic cork oak woods, the picturesque San Roque Golf Old Course offers golfers challenging yet enjoyable round. This exclusive venue opened its doors back in 1991 and was designed by the legendary Dave Thomas, whose Old Course has been named as one of the top 5 courses in Spain numerous times over the years. The club was formerly the summer residence of the Domecq sherry-making family and has since played host to the Spanish Open in 2005 and 2006 as well as the European Tour Qualifying School Finals from 1993 to 2007.
The first nine holes wind through cork oaks while the back nine are dominated by water hazards.
The 18th hole can either make or break your game, adding a memorable finish to what could be some of the most beautiful 18 holes you will ever play.
