Las Brisas golf club, located in Marbella, has expressed its pride because its member Des Smyth has been chosen by the captain of the European Ryder Cup team, Paul McGuinley, to act as vice-captain in the next edition of this biennial tournament, in Gleneagles, Scotland, from September 23 to 28. McGuinley has also appointed Sam Torrance of Scotland as vice-captain.
The director of Real Club de Golf Las Brisas, Paul Muñoz, has expressed the satisfaction of the entity for the election of Smyth as vice-captain of the Ryder Cup: “His appointment is a source of pride for all of us and we are sure he will do a great job”.
Smyth, a regular visitor to the Costa del Sol for more than a decade, has bought a house near the Real Club de Golf Las Brisas and resides in Marbella during the rest periods of his competition schedule in the senior circuits of Europe and the United States. His intention, as he has told his friends at RCG Las Brisas, is to live on the Costa del Sol when he retires from competition.
Smyth, 61, with twenty-five victories as a professional, eight of them on the European Tour, played in the 1979 and 1981 Ryder Cups, and in the 2006 edition, played at the Irish K Club, he was one of Ian Woosnam’s vice-captains.
His last victory on the European Tour came at the Madeira Open in 2001, when he was 48 years and 34 days old, a record that lasted more than a decade, until it was broken by Miguel Angel Jimenez from Malaga. Since 2003, Smyth has five victories on the Senior European Tour.
The Real Club de Golf Las Brisas is one of the most renowned golf courses in Spain. Designed by one of the most prolific and prestigious designers in the world, Robert Trent Jones, this Costa del Sol layout has been the scene of major international tournaments, including the 1973 World Cup, won by Jack Nikclaus and Johnny Miller, the 1970 Spanish Open (Angel Gallardo), 1983 (Eamonn Darcy) and 1987 (Nick Faldo), and the 1990 Mediterranean Open (Ian Woosnam).
“Las Brisas,” American Paul Azinger once said, “doesn’t have a bad hole. In fact, it is one of the best courses I have ever played”.
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