It is not necessary to resort to many similes to define the quality, beauty and difficulty of Real Club Valderrama, but the one used by Pablo Larrazábal in the press conference prior to the start of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters could not be more explanatory: “Valderrama is the European Augusta”. Shortly before the competition begins in the only European Tour event to be played in Spain in the 2020 season, Larrazábal gave shape with his statements to a common feeling among the 21 Spanish players: victories at Valderrama taste like glory.
“What happens to me with Valderrama is what happens to Fred Couples or José María Olazábal with Augusta National. The course gives them something that makes them raise their level and play well. Valderrama gives me that, when you see this perfection of the course, the best greens on the European Tour, no matter how bad you are playing,” summed up the player from Barcelona. “This is a course where I’ve done well in the past and I’m looking forward to it, I could retire after winning at Valderrama. Winning here with my people would be a dream. This is the Augusta National of Europe, who doesn’t want to win at Augusta?”.
Even if the beautiful postcards offered by the Real Club Valderrama lack the public’s finishing touch, they will continue to pose a challenge to the players congregated in the San Roque course. Pablo Larrazábal is motivated by the challenge.
“Everything changes when you play a course where you don’t have to hit it very hard, but put it in the fairway. That’s where I feel comfortable, not when you have to hit the ball 300 meters because I don’t hit it. I don’t feel comfortable when the fairways are 50 meters wide because you don’t concentrate on what you have to do, but on hitting it hard, and that’s not my game,” explained the winner of this season’s Alfred Dunhill Championship. “At Valderrama you have to place the ball, you have to play very good medium and short irons. If you miss the shot you have to be imaginative to be able to leave it close, you have to fight every shot and be focused from start to finish.”
When asked by the press, Larrazábal also took the opportunity to remember the groups he has been honoring for some weeks with his attire on the first day of each tournament.
“We are privileged, but in our country there are many people who have had a very bad time. Many people have lost loved ones to the pandemic and a few weeks ago I decided to wear black for the first rounds of tournaments until the end of the year. And it’s not only pandemic, I have many black, Japanese, Chinese friends, who with everything that has happened in the United States are having a very bad time. This is a little something for them.
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Common objective for Spanish golfers
Once again, and following the tradition established by María Acacia López Bachiller, press officer of the European Tour in Spain for forty years, the Spanish golfers present at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters took a group photo in which they wanted to show their commitment to the health measures established by the European Tour. Wearing masks and keeping their distance, the Spaniards transmitted responsibility and unity.
They are also united, as is logical, by the ambition to win the title among the beautiful cork oaks of the San Roque course. Last year five Spaniards finished in the top seven of the tournament (four of them tied for second place), and the goal is to improve on that great result. The desire is building, although for some the UK tour has been an intense marathon after such a long time without competing.
“The last two weeks I have played quite well. This is my fifth consecutive week of competition, but I feel like it, to see if I can do a good job,” said Jorge Campillo from Extremadura. “The course is in great condition, as always. The greens are harder than at other times of the year and the rough is not very high, but if it is windy, it will be complicated,” concluded the winner of this season’s CommercialBank Qatar Masters.
For his part, Álvaro Quirós, from Guadiare, assigned the responsibility for much of his luck in the tournament to his performance with the shortest club in the bag. His second place in last year’s edition should be a reinforcement.
“I’m not making good scores, the game is not far from being good enough to make decent scores, but it always takes a bit of luck with the putt which is the club that is weighing me down the most at the moment, so let’s see if this week I’m able to turn the putting around.”
Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, on the other hand, also returns to a beloved stage where he treasures great memories.
“It’s going to be a fun week, it’s always exciting to play in Spain and even more so at Valderrama. Two years ago I finished in the top five,” recalled the Spaniard. “It looks like it’s going to be a windy week and those of us who know the course may have a bit of an advantage. Valderrama is always an important test, a test of patience and knowing how to wait because birdies are scarce and bogeys come very easily”.
José María Olazábal, Pablo Larrazábal, Jorge Campillo, Álvaro Quirós, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Nacho Elvira, Alejandro Cañizares, Adrián Otaegui, Sebastián García Rodríguez, Eduardo de la Riva, Pedro Oriol, Emilio Cuartero, Borja Virto, Álex del Rey, Pep Angles, Carlos Pigem, Samuel del Val, Iván Cantero and Alfredo García-Heredia are the 19 Spanish professionals present at Valderrama, who will be joined by two top amateurs, Eduard Rousaud and Álvaro Mueller-Baumgart, fifth and thirteenth respectively in the world amateur ranking.
“It is the first time I play at Valderrama. I expected it to be of a very high quality and yet I was pleasantly surprised, it is a spectacular course, a garden,” summed up Rousaud. “Valderrama is really demanding and even more so in windy conditions. The greens are surprisingly hard, very fast and you have to go very straight. This course asks for very demanding shots”.
The Catalan will make his professional debut at the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, a litmus test before playing the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, another course renowned for its demanding nature.
“Playing the U. S. Open is a great opportunity to learn from the best. I’m really looking forward to it, I know my game is not at the same level, but it’s a good way to know where it is. I’m going to learn and enjoy it.”
Undoubtedly, a remarkable touchstone for amateur golfers, one of the first steps in a long and extensive career.
The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, a European Tour tournament valid for the Race to Dubai and held thanks to the essential collaboration of Real Club Valderrama, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Ministry of Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration of the Junta de Andalucía, as well as being co-financed with European funds and declared an event of exceptional public interest by the Government of Spain. The tournament is also supported by Rolex, Exterior Plus, Santander Private Banking and Shell. Callaway, Coca-Cola, Enterprise, Grupo Raga, Kyocera, Marca, Maui Jim, the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation, Riversa, Varma and Volvo are official suppliers.
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