Global Golfing Pedigree on Show at Royal Valderrama
In 1966, the Costa del Sol was just starting to emerge as a fledgling tourist destination. Keen for foreign revenue to jumpstart Spain’s economy, the then regime successfully promoted Torremolinos as an attractive holiday resort for European families seeking sun, beach and sangria – although wearing bikinis and other “permissive” behaviour was frowned upon during this era, still nine years before General Franco’s death and the return to democracy and a liberal society.
At the other end of the Coast – in Sotogrande – another tourist-orientated revolution was taking place that would also take popular hold in the area, albeit on a different scale and for a distinctive kind of visitor.
At the time, there just a handful of golf courses on the Costa del Sol, including Sotogrande, where the first major professional golf tournament in Andalucía was held: the 1966 Spanish Open, won by Argentinean Roberto de Vicenzo.
Since then, 59 elite professional tournaments have been held in Andalucía (most of them on the Costa del Sol), including 21 Volvo Masters, 11 Andalucian Opens, 11 Spanish Opens, three Volvo World Match Play Championships, three Andalucía Valderrama Masters, three World Cups, two World Golf Championships and the 1997 Ryder Cup. The majority and most prominent of these events have been hosted by Royal Valderrama Club. In fact, Andalucía has hosted more tour events than any other region in continental Europe.
During this period, a veritable who’s who of golf have competed in Andalucía, including: Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Seve Ballesteros, Tiger Woods, Bernhard Langer, Nick Faldo, Ian Woosnam, Sergio García, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, José María Olazábal, Sandy Lyle, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, Graeme McDowell, Martin Kaymer, Justin Rose and Ernie Els.
Away from the global spotlight, the game – once derided as “elitist” in certain Spanish sectors – has also gained grassroots popularity.
Speaking in Madrid during the presentation of the Andalucía Valderrama Masters (currently being held at Valderrama), the national secretary of state for sport, José Ramón Lete, noted, “Golf is the fourth leading sport when it comes to players officially registered with the respective federations, after football, basketball and handball, in addition to being a sound barometer of the crisis. According to latest figures, a decline in the number of registered golfers has been contained, and one-third of these players are women – a good sign. Andalucía has 114 of the 438 golf courses in Spain… which highlights the excellent marriage between tourism and golf.”
So why do golfers choose Andalucía, and especially the Costa del Sol, to play the sport? The answer to this and other key questions are contained in an authoritative study carried out by the Costa del Sol Tourism governmental body, analysing the motives of this group of tourists and the economic repercussions of the golf industry.
The study highlighted the fact that golf tourism has become one of the Costa del Sol’s main “ambassadors”: the Costa del Sol has 67 per cent of the total number of courses in Andalucía and more courses than any other provincial area in Spain (69).
Among the report’s conclusions…
- Golf tourists had a high degree of satisfaction with their experience on the Costa del Sol/Costa del Golf, with more than nine out of 10 of those interviewed rating their stay on the Costa del Golf as “very satisfactory”.
- The respondents gave the Costa del Sol/Costa del Golf an average score of 9.2 out of 10.
- The most valued aspect was the service and treatment received, followed by personal safety, leisure and entertainment opportunities, beaches and their facilities, value for money and shopping.
Meanwhile, attention this week has been focused on the Andalucía Valderrama Masters, the only European Tour event being held in Spain in 2017, which continues over the weekend. Five Grand Slam champions are competing in the tournament (co-host and current U.S. Masters champion Sergio García, José María Olazábal, Martin Kaymer, Padraig Harrington and Danny Willet), as well as the world’s fifth-ranked golfer, Jon Rahm, and popular golfing personality “Andrew “Beef” Johnston, who won the Spanish Open when it was held at Valderrama last year.
Luxury Living
Also concluding this week is the San Pedro de Alcántara fair, so we head back to Marbella for our featured property: a frontline beach villa within walking distance of the popular residential-tourist village – priced at an excellent €I,950,000.
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