SOTOGRANDE

Facilities:

18 hole Championship golf course, Par 3 9 hole course, Practice area, Gym, Swimming pool, Pro-Shop, Restaurant, Bar and Cafeteria

Course info:

PAR: 72 LENGTH:5,853

Buggy needed? (in our opinion): No

Sunshine Golf Pro says: "Very exclusive members club, book well in advance because of very limited non-members tee times"

How to get there:

Turn off the A7/N340 from Malaga or Cadiz at KM 131. Pass the security at the entrance of the urbanization and take the "Paseo del Parque" towards the sea. This will lead you directly to the golf course.

Founded in 1964, Real Club de Golf Sotogrande is located on prime golfing land close to the beachfront between the river Guadiaro and Sotogrande marina. Anyone lucky enough to have played at one of Spain’s foremost members’ clubs will be able to confirm Robert Trent Jones was right to take pride in what is an extraordinarily good design.

RCG Sotogrande is often voted to be among the top ten golf courses in Europe – and rightly so. “Sotogrande Old”, as it is called by the locals, boasts mature vegetation with pine, cork oaks, eucalyptus and giant palm trees enhancing the natural beauty of the surroundings.

The greens are large and the tees are very long, some would say excessively so, but they allow for variations in pin placement and the length of hole. The contours of the greens are typical Trent Jones and the bunkers were the first in Europe to be filled with brilliant white crushed marble. Another “first” at Sotogrande was the use of Bermuda grass on fairways.

It is an undeniable truth that the quality of a course is reflected in the calibre of the winners when a venue has occasion to host important tournaments. That being the case, RCG Sotogrande’s pedigree is nothing short of top-drawer. The first professional event to be played after Sotogrande’s inauguration was the 1966 Spanish Open won by Roberto de Vicenzo with 279 strokes; the clubhouse winner boards show Severiano Ballesteros made the same score twenty-one years later to win the Spanish PGA Championship.

Limited tee times are available and it is well worth booking early to play here.