The RCG Guadalmina, one of the most emblematic clubs in Spain, has been the standard bearer of golf since its opening in 1959, without losing any of its essence and stature.
The year in which President Eisenhower arrived in Madrid on an official visit was also the year in which Guadalmina Golf opened its doors. A careful design by Javier Arana, creator of the original course (South Course), which was followed in 1973 by Folco Nardi’s layout (North Course), has made this club, since its origins, to be considered as one of the greatest in Spain.
The demiurge of this club, dean of Marbella and only surpassed in antiquity on the Costa del Sol by the Club de Campo de Málaga (today Parador de Málaga Golf), was a Basque agricultural engineer Norberto Goizueta, who acquired in 1934 for 505,000 pesetas (about 3,000 euros) an agricultural estate of 400 hectares through which the Guadalmina River flowed.
For twenty-five years an intense activity linked to the land was developed, with a predominance of sugar cane harvesting, and the multiple possibilities of wealth that this generated for the area. It was a far cry from what would be the true and definitive use of that land, which five years later would change its earthy tones for green.
Goizueta was a regular at a Madrid social gathering where he shared conversation with Ricardo Soriano, Marquis of Ivanrey. The former had just bought a 22-hectare estate in Rodeo Alto and Rodeo Bajo, which he ceded to the Marquis as the deed had not yet been signed. Some time later, as the two discussed the divine and the human, the possibility arose of importing a model of tourist attraction for Marbella based on sports, and they found the perfect excuse to start the construction of the first nine holes of Guadalmina. In the middle of the last century, Marbella had barely 10,000 inhabitants (about 150,000 today).
At that time, talking about bermuda grass shaping the greens was laughable, so much so that in Seville there were courses based on sand and diesel oil, a completely inexportable model for a budding tourist area such as the Costa del Sol. At that time the only course that existed in the province was that of the Malaga Country Club, which was made of sand. It can be said that the first golf course on the Costa del Sol with modern standards was Guadalmina.
SORIANO, HOHENLOHE AND BANÚS
Ricardo Soriano was followed by Alfonso de Hohenloe, related to the nobility, and José Banús, linked to the political power in Spain due to his good relationship with Franco, based on the construction of the neighborhoods of El Pilar and La Concepción in Madrid. Golf and the inauguration of Puerto Banús would be key to the development of the Costa del Sol as the great tourist destination it is today.
All three are described as pioneers of Marbella, although, undoubtedly and in view of the above data, Norberto Goizueta should be assigned a stellar role in the discovery of one of the most important tourist areas on the European continent. Goizueta was a visionary and one of the pioneers of the sport of golf in our country. His love of travel and his passion for other cultures are key to understanding his entrepreneurial spirit.
Attracted by the golf resorts located in the United States and applying his knowledge as an agricultural engineer, he entrusted Javier Arana with the design of the first 9 holes of Guadalmina Golf (the course took its name from the river that surrounds part of its course), becoming one of the first courses in Andalusia and inaugurating its facilities in 1959. The rest of the holes, until completing the current layout, are the work of Folco Nardi. In 1964 the 18 holes of the south course were already a reality.
ROYAL TITLE
The club, which in 2008 was granted the title of Royal Golf Club by King Juan Carlos, treasures among its memories of almost six decades the presence in its facilities of illustrious personalities, who have contributed to reinforce an image of prestige and notoriety. In addition, since its origins it has marked a mark in the field of high competition, hosting important events organized by the Royal Spanish Golf Federation and the Royal Andalusian Golf Federation, as well as renowned events in the national and international golfing scene, among which include the Open de España Femenino del Circuito Europeo, played on the South Course last year, and the Qualifying School of the European Tour in 1995 and 1996.
Although if there is a differential factor in the evolution of Guadalmina during its long existence, this has been its unequivocal commitment to all those causes of solidarity that tried to alleviate the suffering of some with the support of many others. In this way, the Spanish Association Against Cancer, Nuevo Futuro, Spanish Red Cross and Manos Unidas, have managed, thanks to the sponsorship of Guadalmina, to undertake aid projects for Spain and different parts of the five continents.
PERIOD OF SPLENDOR
Fulfilling the predictions of Norberto Goizueta, it was from the 60’s onwards when the club began to experience its period of maximum splendor. People from all over Europe came to play golf in Guadalmina and many, attracted by the size of the plots in the area, some 5,000 meters in the southern part, bought and settled here. The northern part was offered in plots of 1,000 meters, which around 1986 would be sold in blocks. In the summer season there were frequent parties where the best of society gathered, the best families of the continent, which gave the club, Marbella and the Costa del Sol a great international projection.
King Juan Carlos, the Marquis of Nájera, or the Countess of Windsor, who presented the prizes of the Cup that bore her name and was played in Guadalmina, were some of the illustrious people who passed through here.
The Real Club de Golf Guadalmina treasures among its memories the presence in its facilities of illustrious personalities, who have contributed to reinforce an image of prestige and notoriety, such as Sean Connery, a great lover of golf, Ataulfo de Orleans y Borbón, Marisa de Borbón, Empress Soraya of Persia, Bessie Wallis Warfield, Duchess of Windsor, the Marquis of Viluma, the Count of Villapadierna or the former presidents of the Government of Spain, Adolfo Suárez and José María Aznar.
Actors like Stanley Baker or Lily Palmer and great blues singers like Duke Ellington are also part of the history of those who made the club famous. Authorities of the time and powerful Spanish banking families, attracted by the tranquility of the place, made Guadalmina their second home.
When the then Minister of Tourism Manuel Fraga Iribarne inaugurated the golf course, he was presented with a bag of clubs and jokingly commented: “How satisfying it must be to give so many clubs to a minister!
THE BIG GUADALMINA FAMILY
Norberto Goizueta had a dream: to create a golf club, a project that brought prosperity to Marbella and San Pedro Alcántara. From the first day he had members who became great friends, family friends who became members, children who were trained in the caddy school and who carved a future for themselves thanks to the club, loyal workers, who after dozens of years are still part of the staff; all of them are part of the great family of the Real Club de Golf Guadalmina.
Even in difficult times, the Goizueta family and the workers remained united. Salaries were never not paid and it is difficult to remember any labor conflict with the staff.
Everyone is aware that golf never rests, 365 days a year. For a golfer, coming to play early on January 1st was the best way to start the New Year. In Guadalmina they could do it, start playing with the first rays of sunshine.
The success of Real Club de Golf Guadalmina lies in the fact that many generations of different strata have been intimately linked to the club at important moments of their lives and this is still felt by the current staff of the club, with Ignacio del Cuvillo at the helm as director and Juan Ramón Martínez Landazábal as president.
The RCG Guadalmina has been and continues to be a very cosmopolitan club, with a great variety of nationalities (about twenty at present) and a predominance of Spaniards, approximately half of the social mass. There is a large presence of British and Nordic golfers, and a significant number of Italians, Germans and French.
In addition to those made in the maintenance and improvement of the golf courses, in recent years considerable investments have been made in the renovation of various facilities of the club, highlighting the construction of a new maintenance shed, of the new building that houses the club room, store and caddie master, and a gymnasium.
NEW SPORTING CHALLENGES
It is from this remodeling when the sporting challenges were knocking at the door of the club: the European Senior Masters Championship, the Marissa Sgaravatti Trophy, the Spanish Pitch & Putt Championship, the Santi Ollé Memorial, the Absolute Interautonomous Championship, the Women’s Absolute Championships Putt, the Santi Ollé Memorial, the Interautonomic Absolute Championship, the Absolute Women’s Championships in all categories and the Men’s Andalusia Cup on four occasions, which together with the Norberto Goizueta Memorial provide two events valid for the World Ranking, as well as the Puerta de Hierro Cup which was played at the RCG Guadalmina thanks to the victory in the previous edition in La Cañada, of our member Ángel Hidalgo Portillo, current Spanish Absolute champion.
At the professional level, the club has hosted an Alps Tour event of the European Tour, the Spanish Women’s Championship and the Spanish Women’s Open, “the most demanding event for the organizational capacity of our club”, adds Cuvillo, “which ended with the greatest success imaginable, the victory of our Honorary Member and maximum exponent of our school until today, Azahara Muñoz Guijarro”.
NEW FACILITIES
Throughout the almost 30 years of existence since it changed hands in 1989, after the incorporation of Guadalmina Golf S.A., the club has seen how the number of shareholder members has been increasing, compared to the old subscribers of the time under the management of the Goizueta family.
In order to meet the needs of this social mass, several projects have been carried out, such as the expansion of the cafeteria and the surrounding terraces, the creation of a gym exclusively for members, and a children’s club.
A new store, which houses the caddy master and a new club room, has been built in a free-standing building, offering buggy storage and the fleet of electric trolleys.
“We have improved the practice facilities,” explains the club director, “with the construction of a putting green, chipping area and practice bunker, and a covered platform, and we will soon open a new area with identical facilities, which will serve to provide members with two options, and above all be the official headquarters of the Guadalmina School, which is undoubtedly the best example of the philosophy of the club that the Real Club de Golf Guadalmina aims to be.”
EXAMPLE OF SERIOUSNESS AND COMMITMENT
In the early 90’s the great teacher Francisco Hernández Núñez proposed to the then director of Guadalmina, Álvaro Beamonte, , that it would be convenient to promote the club through the creation of a school.
Guadalmina had been represented at the children’s level by players who mostly belonged to other clubs in Madrid, Bilbao, Seville, etc. But with the arrival of the new shareholders came the first child players forged and raised in Guadalmina with the help of Nina Digsmed. “And names like Ibáñez, Cabanillas, Osorio, Gutiérrez Oneto, Muñoz Guijarro, Holgado, Araujo, Ruiz, Peña, Mencía, Gómez, Hernández began to be heard,” says Cuvillo, and a long etcetera that gave prestige to the club and that over the years has been consolidating a training program for athletes and great colleagues, who have been able to represent us on golf courses throughout Spain, sometimes more successfully than others, but always being an example of behavior”.
Today the club allocates an important economic amount to guarantee that the new players will have the opportunity to develop their sporting career at the amateur level and, if destiny so decides, in the professional field. Proof of this is that every year a proam is held in which the 18 professionals are former students of the school and the amateurs are current students.
The school is currently directed by Casto Gómez – who himself has seen his two sons leave the school and today are promising young golfers – with the collaboration of Elena Peña, Salvador Ruiz and David Mencía.
In Guadalmina we take care of all aspects of the player’s training, including psychological, pedagogical and physical aspects.
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