The Andalucía Golf story began in 1987 when two journalists, Antonio Sánchez and Rafael de Loma (the latter, previously editor of El Sol de España and Tribuna de Marbella), founded Interlinea Press with a view to publishing tourist-orientated publications. Joining them later was Jeff Kelly, who worked in advertising and was an editorial contributor to the Sur in English newspaper. It was Jeff who suggested, at the start of summer 1987, that they publish a special publication for the Ryder Cup, due to be held that year in Columbus (Ohio) at the Muirfield Village course designed by Jack Nicklaus (Europe went on to retain the Cup with a 15-13 victory).
“Neither Rafael nor I,” recalls Antonio Sánchez, “were very aware of the significance of the Ryder Cup, nor the world of golf in general, but we signed up for the adventure and produced the first publication, dedicated exclusively to the Cup.”
That first, embryonic edition of Andalucía Golf had the support of Turismo Andaluz, through Javier Baselga, at the time promotions director of the Junta de Andalucía (regional government) state-owned tourism body. He knew perfectly well what golf meant already, and how significant it would become for the regional tourism industry.
The then president of Valderrama, Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, also collaborated on the initiative. “Even though his course didn’t need any publicity, he decided to back us because, I believe, he already had in his mind the idea of trying to secure a Ryder Cup for his course,” recalls Antonio. The first edition was supported financially by many people in the Costa del Sol golf industry, including one of the area’s golf pioneers, Enrique Canales, as well as other Marbella “Golf Valley” golf club directors such as Pascal Bejarano.
Antonio, Jeff and Rafael arrived at Muirfield Village with 6,000 copies of the “baby”, in a tabloid format, newspaper print and full colour. “It really made an impact on the Americans,” says Antonio, “because no one had ever done anything like that; no one, and certainly no one from Spain, had turned up in the United States with 6,000 copies of a publication to distribute over there. They were so surprised they let us distribute the publication at the course, because they weren’t used to it. Those sorts of things weren’t done at the Ryder Cup – not stands or any promotions of that type. They were so amazed that some guys had come from Spain with this publication that they let us distribute it everywhere, in the clubhouse, in the hospitality area, in the car parks…”
As a result of that success, it was decided to continue with a golf publication that would be published on a regular basis. And that’s how the magazine was born: initially titled Interlinea Golf (based on the name of the company) and in a tabloid newspaper format.
Months later, it was decided to change the name to Andalucía Golf. Those first issues were published in newspaper print, but soon after this the printing was changed to glossy paper. Rafael de Loma left the project to run a newspaper, leaving Antonio and Jeff. Bilingual from the start, the magazine was what is known as “reversible”: i.e. with two covers, Spanish in one section and English in the other.
That first year, the magazine began collaborating with Volvo on the Volvo Masters Official Daily Bulletin. During that era, 30 years ago, such publications were in black and white for technical reasons, as computer technology was light years away from what it is today. The bulletin was something of a first in the world of golf. “We suggested it to Mel Pyatt (president and CEO of Volvo Event Management), he liked the idea… and it was right there till the end,” says Antonio.
Alberto Fernández Galindo joined the Andalucía Golf project as commercial manager from its early days and remained with the company for 12 years, until moving to Golfspain. Months later, Eduardo García Palacios came on board as editor.
When the publication was launched, Andalucía barely had 30 golf courses (today there are more than 100), most of them on the Costa del Sol. There were numerous golf projects on the drawing boards, although not all of them came to fruition. “We lived through the birth of many golf courses, the laying of their foundation stones,” recalls Antonio.
At the start of the 1990s, the company began publishing an annual pocket guide for the Junta de Andalucía; and also launched a series of international promotion initiatives with Turismo Andaluz – at the British Open, workshops, etc. “Our business was no longer limited to the editorial side – with the magazine, official daily bulletins and guides. We also began diversifying and promoting golf in Andalucía through international campaigns,” says Antonio.
In 1989, the company organised an exhibition in Hong Kong for Costa del Sol businesses, attended by leading business people from Andalucía. It was such a success that the initiative was repeated the following year.
Another business initiative organised by Andalucía Golf was Expo Golf Marbella, which – in 1989 – became the first trade fair of its kind in Spain (the Madrid and Barcelona golf fairs were launched later). It was held in Marbella’s Convention Centre and was a tremendous success, both for business exhibitors and the public. It also included a stunning “acrobatic” golf exhibition by Noel Hunt.
In the early 1990s, Jaime Ortiz Patiño decided to bid for the Ryder Cup. From the start, Andalucía Golf joined the campaign as the Valderrama president’s press department to help achieve his objective. “We worked with him, creating an image of Valderrama and Andalucía as the only places that could really hold this event, because – even though many people thought Valderrama was the only candidate for the Ryder Cup – the truth was that several other courses in Spain also wanted to host the event.
“Our work involved convincing the European PGA – at the time, the ones who decided where the Ryder Cup was held – that Valderrama had the official support of Andalucía, that it was the best course possible and that it had shown with the Volvo Masters that it had the organisational capability.”
In the 1990s there was a boom in golf course construction on the Costa del Sol, and also in the number of major tournaments being held in the region, not only the Ryder Cup, Volvo Masters and Open de Andalucía, but also the American Express World Golf Championships, which were held at Valderrama in 1999 and 2000, after the Ryder Cup.
At all these tournaments, Andalucía Golf was commissioned to publish the official daily bulletins, as well as for the Spanish Opens held at San Roque Club, and the Volvo World Golf Match Play Championships at Finca Cortesín.
American Adventure
An extremely satisfying experience, though not without complications, was publishing the official Ryder Cup bulletin at Oak Hill, Rochester, in 1995. That American adventure was a complete success and caused a sensation among U.S. golf fans, as it was the first time a full-colour daily bulletin for the tournament had been produced at the same club where the Ryder Cup was being held.
Another important publication in the life of this company was the Golf in Andalucía guide, which included extensive and detailed information about the region’s golf amenities, with full descriptions of the courses, prices, how to get there, etc., as well as tourist information and details about hotels that had agreements with golf courses.
The guide was launched at the start of the 1990s “to counteract, a little bit, the crisis being suffered by golf at the time”, explains Antonio, “because there was a perception among tour operators and European golfers that Andalucian golf courses had increased their prices considerably, that courses were overcrowded, etc. We produced the guide with full information about prices to show that this image wasn’t correct, and that the relationship between price and quality was not as negative as was being painted.” Apart from the usual editions in English-Spanish, there were also some editions in German-Swedish.
Andalucía Golf has been present at nearly all the main international golf tournaments, on many occasions with tourist promotion stands. “We have been to tournaments in the U.S., Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland… We were the only Spanish golf magazine to cover all these major international events,” notes Antonio.
The publication has evolved over time and went from a tabloid format to the current magazine style, modernising the design and increasing the number of pages. Andalucía Golf is now the oldest currently published golf magazine in Spain.
Throughout Spain
In the mid-1990s it was decided to launch a national edition, España Golf, because at many of the courses outside Andalucía where the magazine was distributed people thought it was a purely regional publication.
As a publishing company – and apart from the magazine editions, aforementioned official daily bulletins at major tournaments, and golf guides for the Andalucian regional government, Costa del Sol Tourism Board, Costa del Sol Association of Municipalities, Marbella Town Hall, Benahavís Town Hall, etc. – Andalucía Golf has published and continues to publish books, informative bulletins and newsletters, diaries and personalised calendars for golf clubs, brochures and advertising designs, golf maps, etc.
Jeff Kelly, one of the mainstays of the company, sadly died on 15 May 2003 from a serious illness.
Two years ago, Stefan Tjellander, a successful Swedish businessman based in Spain for the past three decades and owner and managing director of Holiday Golf, joined the Andalucía Golf/España Golf company as a business partner and co-publisher (with Antonio Sánchez).
Operating from a head office and main warehouse in Marbella, Holiday Golf is the leading wholesale distributor of golf products (apparel, footwear, clubs, balls, carts, bags, accessories…) to golf shops and clubs in Spain. It is also the market leader in Portugal, and distributes in Italy, Turkey, Morocco and Bulgaria. The company celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2016.
Constant Update
Today, as Spain seems to be leaving behind its recent times of economic tribulation and uncertainty, Andalucía Golf – as a business group – is immersed in an ongoing process of updating and adapting its practices in accordance with clients’ changing demands and requirements. Not only does it offer advertising support in the magazine but also a recently revamped internet portal (andaluciagolf.com), social media networking, and newsletters in English and Spanish that reach tens of thousands of European golfers.
In fact, Andalucía Golf/España Golf was the first magazine in Spain to be granted Approved Media status by the IAGTO (International Association of Golf Tour Operators).
Another key facet of the company is organising tournaments. In that respect, the Andalucía Golf Challenge has been held during summer for the past seven years, at the Costa del Sol’s finest courses (Royal Sotogrande, La Reserva Club Sotogrande, Valderrama, San Roque Old, Royal Guadalmina, Flamingos)
Finally, Antonio expresses his deep appreciation to all those who have had faith and confidence in the magazine as an effective advertising tool to promote their products or businesses.
“Right from the start we have been able to draw on wonderful support, without which a magazine like this would not have been able to survive. To our older clients, who supported us from the start, like Valderrama or San Roque Club, and others who have come on board over the years, such as Sotogrande S.A. and Finca Cortesín – to name just a few – I give my sincerest and warmest thanks.”
