Thanks to the vision of a great businessman, Jaime Moll, and a mayor, José de Mier, a great project was born three decades ago that in a short period of time turned an enclave of the Costa de la Luz in Cadiz into one of the most important tourist destinations with golf in the country and in all of Europe: Novo Sancti Petri.
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At that time, at the dawn of the 90’s, nobody could have imagined that those lands without any buildings by the sea in the municipality of Chiclana would eventually become the great reality it is today: a resort of 4 million square meters with more than 14.14,000 accommodation places, high standing hotels (there are a dozen four-star hotels and two five-star luxury hotels), tourist apartments, residential, commercial, sports and leisure areas, an exceptional beach and lots of good golf, with half a dozen courses and the Iberostar Real Club de Golf Novo Sancti Petri at the forefront.
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On December 12, 1990, in a ceremony attended by Don Juan de Borbón, the current king’s grandfather, Severiano Ballesteros proceeded to inaugurate the course he himself had designed. It was the first that the great player from Predreña had designed in Europe.
A few months later, on May 1, 1991, the first hotel in Novo Sancti Petri was inaugurated, the now called Iberostar Royal Andalus. And from then on, the opening of hotel establishments and golf courses would follow.
Novo Sancti Petri was born with 27 holes, to which in 2001 another 9 were added in order to have two 18-hole courses. In 2015, the club received the title of Royal awarded by the House of H.M. The King.
The golf club is owned by Iberostar Hotels & Resorts, a leading Spanish multinational company in the tourism sector, which also has in Novo Sancti Petri the Iberostar Royal Andalus and Iberostar Selection Andalucía Playa hotels, with four and five stars respectively.
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Destination reference
“Our club,” says Rafael Hernandez, “director of the Iberostar Real Club de Golf Novo Sancti Petri, “is undoubtedly the benchmark of this tourist destination. It was not only the first golf course, but was part of what was the development of the destination, which was conceived with the aim of trying to end the seasonality based on sun and beach by offering the alternative of golf”.
When referring to the most outstanding aspects of his golf club, Hernandez does not hesitate to point out “the first thing, as Mr. Nicklaus would say, the location”.
“We are”, he explains, “in a privileged enclave of nature, next to the famous beach of La Barrosa, where biodiversity and the natural environment have been magnificently respected”.
“We have,” he continues, “two magnificent 18-hole layouts, Campo Mar y Pinos and Campo Centro, absolutely different, both designed by Severiano Ballesteros. One is a 6×3, that is, with the same number of pars 3, 4 and 5, and the other is a classic par 72”.
To emphasize the quality of the club he manages, Hernandez points out that “La Moraleja, Valderrama and Real Club de Golf Novo Sancti Petri were the three options for the 1997 Ryder Cup, which was finally played at Valderrama. With this I mean that for high level golf, magnificent players, it is a challenge, but at the same time it has a perfect adaptability to be enjoyed by players of any handicap level, including beginners, of course. And this conjunction is so thanks to Seve’s magnificent design.”
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30th anniversary
On the occasion of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the beginning of tourism in Novo Sancti Petri, the City Council of Chiclana de la Frontera has organized and promoted a series of events to commemorate the event. Among them are the Challenge of Cadiz and the Challenge of Spain, both of the European Challenge Tour, played at Iberostar Real Club de Golf Novo Sancti Petri. Hernandez is confident that, with the support of public and private initiative, this destination will host these competitions again next year and consolidate itself as a permanent venue on the European Challenge Tour calendar. “These events are very important, especially at this time, to transmit to the national and international client an image of safety, freedom and sustainability that this destination has.”
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Because last year, due to the pandemic situation, the club was unable to celebrate its thirtieth anniversary as it would have liked, this year it will hold several activities, including major golf and croquet competitions (the club has excellent facilities for this sport, as well as tennis and paddle tennis, with 17 courts in total) and social events, such as a gala dinner for all club members.
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Sustainability
Hernández wants to emphasize the importance that Iberostar attaches to sustainable tourism. “The Wave of Change strategy is implemented in all the Iberostar Group’s business units, both in the hotels and in our golf courses. We understand that respect for nature, for the sea -our hotels are by the sea-, for sustainable fishing, for coral reefs, zero plastics… sustainability in short, is something we carry in our DNA, and these are not empty words. It is an active company strategy, which we develop because we understand that we must give back to nature what nature gives us.
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