Five decades after its first visit to Andalusia, the Spanish Open returns to Andalusian lands from April 14 to 17. The Real Club Valderrama and the Sergio García Foundation have made possible the return of this historic tournament, which has only visited Andalusian courses in ten editions of its extensive and prestigious history.
The first time was in 1966 and was held at the nearby and then recently inaugurated RCG Sotogrande, where the Argentine Roberto de Vicenzo triumphed with 279 strokes. Four years later, at the Marbella course of the RCG Las Brisas, also designed by Robert Trent Jones, the title stayed at home when Ángel Gallardo, vice-president of the European Tour, was proclaimed champion.
Gallardo won with 284 strokes and two strokes ahead of England’s Neil Coles and Ireland’s Christy O’Connor Sr. “The last day the three of us played together and a lot of people followed us, Marbella was in fashion. We were very evenly matched throughout the round and we reached the 17th tied. I birdied, they bogeyed, and the three of us finished with a par on the 18th. I had previously won in Holland, Portugal and Mexico, but the victory in my country’s Open, which I had always dreamed of, was the most exciting of my career,” Gallardo recalls.
It took nine years for the Open to be held again in Andalusia, in 1979 at Torrequebrada (Benalmádena, Málaga), a course designed by the recently deceased genius from Málaga, Pepe Gancedo, the “Picasso” of golf, who was the best ranked amateur when Ángel Gallardo won at Las Bisas in 1970. The South African Dale Hayes won the trophy with 278 strokes, two less than the Scotsman Brian Barnes and three less than José María Cañizares and Bernard Gallacher. That was the first time that the Spanish Open had a title sponsor -Benson & Hedges-, something unthinkable until now; for the last ten years it has had the loyal support of Reale as its main sponsor.
In the years 83 and 87, Marbella, capital of the Costa del Sol, would again host the event at the Las Brisas course. In the 80’s, the Costa del Sol was already well known for having outstanding hotel and golf infrastructures throughout Europe, which attracted the best players and a large audience. With such elements, the tournament was a success on both occasions, projecting to the European continent the international importance of our country and Andalusia at the forefront of tourism.
Eamonn Darcy won in 1983 with 277 strokes, one less than Manolo Piñero and three strokes ahead of José María Cañizares and Manolo Montes, with the three Spaniards and the Irishman starring in a tense and exciting final. Sir Nick Faldo’s victory in 1987 -with 286 strokes, two less than Seve Ballesteros and South African Hugh Baiocchi- was essential for him to recover his confidence after three years of drought. Two months later he won the British Open, the first of his six majors.
Two anecdotes occurred in 1987 that attracted almost as much attention as Faldo’s victory: José Mari Olazábal (who had already won two titles in the year of his Ryder Cup debut) missed the cut and on Saturday went out on the course as a marker; for the first time what is now customary and was then a novelty was installed, a tent of large dimensions for the time, in which, during the Pro-Am prize-giving party, the very famous Lola Flores performed.
At the turn of the century, in 2005 and 2006, the Open traveled to the Atlantic side of Andalusia, to The San Roque Club in Cadiz, where the Swedes Peter Hanson and Niclas Fasth won, as a manifestation of the Nordic air that was already invading European golf, after beating Peter Gustafsson and John Bickerton respectively in play-offs.
Finally Seville, the capital of Andalusia, would host the Open de España in 2008, 2010 and 2012, celebrating the three editions in the course of the Real Club de Golf de Sevilla, praised and recognized by all participants not only for its design, designed by José Mari Olazábal, but also for its quality and magnificent conditions. The winners were: Peter Lawrie -won over Nacho Garrido in play-off after tying at 273 strokes-, Álvaro Quirós -also won in play-off over James Morrison with 277 strokes- and Francesco Molinari with a cumulative score of 280, three strokes less than Alejandro Cañizares, Søren Kjeldsen and Pablo Larrazábal.
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