Spain's Valderrama Golf Club - #3 of 6 Costa del Sol Golf Course Reviews by Golfer Today's Editor - Roger Morton

Make no mistake this is a very expensive place to play golf but it is also a class act!

The Valderrama Golf Club Course is listed amongst the top courses in the world and is compared as the “Augusta of Europe”. Make no mistake this is a very expensive place to play golf but it is also a class act.

It has that distinct aura you only feel when arriving at a great sporting venue. With a quickening of the pulse the moment you arrive in the car park you can almost feel the history of great tournament battles of the past. From the drama of hosting the Volvo Masters so many times over recent years with the 18th hole always featuring as the deciding play off hole in the fading evening light. To that most wonderfully competitive Ryder Cup held in 1997, where the 17th hole proved so dramatic in deciding the outcome of the event and those joyous scenes around the clubhouse by the European Team, captained by the inspirational Seve Ballesteros, that followed after they had won Samuel Ryder’s Trophy by one point from the American Team.

From the delightful clubhouse and well-stocked club shop, to the meticulously maintained practice ground invitingly positioned just in front, this undeniably beautiful golf course at Valderrama is quite superbly maintained.

The fairways here are the most immaculate that you will ever find and greens so slick and true that you just marvel at their fantastic condition. To score well at Valderrama you must be in control of your game together with the ability to work the ball both left and right through the avenue of cork trees that feature on almost every hole. The emphasis here is not to try and hit the ball as far as you can from the tee but to make sure you find the correct position in the fairway so that you have a clear shot to the green.

Whilst so much has been written about this course and many of the holes have been made famous by televised events there are parts of the course that seemed surprisingly fresh and undiscovered. You feel as though you are in golfing heaven by experiencing the sheer joy of playing such a magnificent golf course.

There is a plaque on the 17th Black tee on which is written, that in the 1994 Volvo Masters Miguel Angel Jimenez was the first, and to date, the only golfer to have achieved an albatross 2 at this hole, a 490-meter par 5, with a drive and no 3 iron. Looking at the hole from this very back tee your drive has to be hit left to right up an incline avoiding bunkers and trees on both sides of the fairway. Once at the crest of the hill you then see the most daunting of shots to this famous hole. Whilst the fairway slopes gently downhill the golfer has to carry the water in front of a wickedly sloping green. A weak shot finding the green will run back down into the water or if the shot is too strong will find, bunkers and a sloping grass bank at the back. One can only marvel at that wonderful feat!

Using a golf buggy to get around the course you find that most of the pathways that meander along side the fairways are give a cooling protection from the heat of the sun from the overhanging tree branches. So even in the hottest temperature you are kept cool to play your shots by this splendid feature that you will rarely come across at many courses.

So for a once in a lifetime experience visit:

Valderrama Golf Club's Website

Golfer-Today.co.uk

6 Broadway, Shifnal, Shropshire, TF11 8AZ

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