GOLF IN SPAIN

Since the golf boom of the 1980’s golf in Spain has never been more popular especially in the region of Andalucia in southern Spain where the growth has been staggering, starting from a base of just twenty five courses, Andalucia has taken giant strides on the way to becoming a golfing destination now offering eighty five golf courses. There are some forty courses on the Costa del Sol alone with the remainder distributed among Andalucia’s eight provinces, providing the perfect excuse to combine golf in Spain with visits to such historic cities as Cadiz, Huelva, Seville, Jaen, Cordoba, Almeria, Malaga and Granada.

Golf in Spain came to the fore in 1997 when the Ryder cup was hosted at Valderrama with Spain’s own son Seve Ballesteros as the European captain, U.S. Captain, Tom Kite, led one of the strongest American teams ever assembled. Superstars Tiger Woods, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III and Tom Lehman anchored a team that was as deep as it was talented. European Captain, Seve Ballesteros, countered with battle tested Ryder Cup veterans Nick Faldo, Jose Maria Olazabal and Bernhard Langer as well as the young lions of European golf, Lee Westwood, Darren Clarke and Thomas Bjorn, Europe won 14.5 to 13.5 points truly putting
Golf in Spain on the map.

In recent years Spain has produced some talented golfers non more so than Sergio Garcia who with his compatriots Miguel Angel Jimenez and Jose Maria Olazabal have all made an important contribution to recent Ryder cup success and with the Volvo Masters at Valderrama now established as one of the most important tournaments outside the Major’s golf in Spain has never been in a healthier position.

The outlook for golf in Spain is also very good with more courses planned in the south as well as in other regions, Madrid has 75,000 registered golfers but facilities for only 12,000 weekend players but it does not have the climate of the south but with improved train services between Madrid and Malaga a weekend break to the south will become more common for the Madrileons.