“LA CAÑADA HAS ALWAYS BEEN AN ACADEMY FOR CHAMPIONS”
The same as everyone born in Guadiaro, a town at the eastern end of Cádiz province, he has a long-standing link with the world of golf – “some here almost since we were born”, he says.
And, even though in his case an interest in golf came “latish”, at 25 years of age, he has never since then stopped playing a sport that now takes up even more of his free time after his election as president of La Cañada Golf.
- New president of your club… new challenges or continuity?
- I want to write a new paragraph, for change above all else to entail me throwing myself into the development of golf at the club, especially at the children’s academy, where we have 300 students of different categories and ages. I also want to strengthen golf for disabled people. In short, I plan to focus my activities essentially on our club.
- Do you have any immediate or medium-term projects?
- Yes, I plan to create an additional hole at the course, 19 in total, with the idea that – because in winter we operate through tour operators – when we sell an 18-hole round, it is 18 holes, and when we undertake any renovation here we can close at least one hole and still maintain 18 without any problems.
- More rounds are played at La Cañada per year than any other course on the Costa del Sol...
- Yes, that’s the case; last year 68,000 rounds were played.
- Does that mean it is also the most profitable club on the Coast?
- No, that’s not the case, because many of those rounds are by our members, not green fee sales. Twenty-four per cent of the budget is provided by members, and the other 76 per cent by visitors. What contributes to that total of 68,000, apart from our very competitive prices, is above all else the quality and maintenance of the course.
- Will the High Performance Centre continue or how will that end up?
- In principle, this subject is on stand by, because we need funding and I don’t want to use the members’ funds for a project that will benefit all children in Andalucía, as well as our own. Obviously, the funding cannot be ours; it has to come from whatever institution or institutions, so that we aren’t the only ones supporting it.
- La Cañada has always been an academy for champions, with great amateur and professional players coming out of the club...
- We’re very proud of that. We have always been an academy for champions and we will continue to provide magnificent players such as Mario Galiano most recently, or previously the Quirós dynasty...
