The southernmost province of the Peninsula captured the world’s golfing attention thanks to the 1997 Ryder Cup, an event that meant the recognition of the great potential of Cadiz as one of the best year-round golf vacation destinations in Europe.
Much has been said about the world-famous Valderrama, which also hosts the World Championships and the Volvo Masters, among other major international tournaments, and even more will be said, always to the good.
But Cadiz is much more than this magnificent course. The province’s golf and tourism offer is an attraction that draws millions of visitors every year, eager to enjoy the well-kept greens and the fantastic beaches of the Cadiz coastline, which has four important holiday resorts designed especially for golfers: Sotogrande, Novo Sancti Petri and Costa Ballena, all of them on the coast, and the Montecastillo complex, which hosted five editions of the Volvo Masters and is located inland (Jerez) but with quick and easy access to the coast.
The golf offer in the province is completed with the courses of Vista Hermosa, in El Puerto de Santa María, Montenmedio, in Vejer de la Frontera, Benalup Golf, in the area known as Ruta del Toro, in the interior of the province, and the most recently inaugurated courses, opened in the present century, Arcos Gardens, Golf El Puerto, Sanlúcar Club de Campo, Sherry Golf Jerez, Villa Nueva, Golf Meliá Sancti Petri and Lomas de Sancti Petri.
LA TACITA DE PLATA
The capital of the province, popularly known as La Tacita de Plata, is the southernmost point of the continent. The city of Cadiz, bathed by the Atlantic Ocean, reflects in the urbanism of the old town the reminiscences of its multicultural past. Mythology attributes the founding of the city to Hercules, but in reality it was the Phoenicians who founded it under the name of Gadir in 1100 B.C., making it the oldest city in the western world. Cadiz, which played a major role in the discovery of America, keeps in its architecture the reflection of those overseas contacts.
SAN ROQUE
The most important golf core of the province is located in the municipality of San Roque, where the Sotogrande macro-urbanization is located, and includes the courses of Valderrama, Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, San Roque Club (two courses), Alcaidesa (two courses), La Cañada (municipal ownership), Almenara and La Reserva. This municipality can boast of being one of the most prestigious tournaments in Spain (Ryder Cup, AmEx World Championships, Volvo Masters, Open de España…). The construction of a golf course is planned in the neighboring municipality of Castellar.
Also noteworthy in the province is the Novo Sancti Petri tourist complex, which has, apart from five golf courses, a large hotel plant, with high quality establishments. This fantastic macro-urbanization, with velvety beaches of fine sand and crystalline waters, is located in the municipality of Chiclana de la Frontera.
A few kilometers inland is the municipality of Jerez, famous among other things for its wineries, its horses and its speed circuit, practically adjacent to the only golf course designed by the legendary Jack Nicklaus in Andalusia: Montecastillo. This course has been the scene of several tournaments of the European Tour, such as the Volvo Masters and the Turespaña Masters Open de Andalucía.
On the Atlantic coast, in the municipality of Rota, famous among other things for housing a U.S. military base, is the Costa Ballena tourist-sports macro-project, with a 27-hole course plus another 9 par 3 course. Its facilities were the headquarters of the European Tour Qualifying School between 2005 and 2010. Two-time Augusta Masters champion José María Olazábal is the course designer.
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