The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, which was scheduled to be held from April 30 to May 3 and had to be postponed due to the global coronavirus pandemic, will finally be held from September 3 to 6 at the Real Club Valderrama (San Roque, Sotogrande) and will be part of the remodeled Race to Dubai 2020.
The European Tour returns to action this week in Austria, where two tournaments will also be played for the Challenge Tour – the Austrian Open and the Euram Bank Open – and will continue its journey with a six-week tour of the United Kingdom before the action reaches Spain and Portugal, where the Portugal Masters will be played from September 10 to 13 at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course.
The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters will be the 25th European Tour tournament to take place at the prestigious Real Club Valderrama, the first course in continental Europe to host the Ryder Cup in 1997, an edition in which the great Seve Ballesteros led the European team to victory.
The tournament will be governed by the circuit’s comprehensive health strategy, developed by Dr. Andrew Murray, its medical director, in collaboration with Cignpost, a company specializing in health care, and consultants from many of the 30 countries through which the European Tour passes.
The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters also comes on the back of the innovative “Golf for Good” initiative, which aims to support the communities through which the European Tour passes, reward real heroes (such as the staff tackling the fight against covid on the front line) and promote the many health benefits of golf.
“We are very much looking forward to returning to Valderrama to host the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters,” said Peter Adams, tournament director. “I have to extend my sincere thanks to our main sponsors: to Estrella Damm, in the second year of our agreement, to our hosts Real Club Valderrama and to the Junta de Andalucía for their commitment and support at a difficult time for all parties involved. Our Golf for Good initiative gives us the opportunity to support good causes in the area and help those who have suffered the most during this pandemic”.
“We are delighted to showcase one of the best courses in Europe to fans from around the world thanks to the live television coverage. I must also thank the Royal Spanish Golf Federation and the local health authorities for making the tournament possible,” Adams added. “The safety of the players, our staff and everyone involved in the staging of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters remains a priority and this tournament, like the others on the 2020 calendar, will be governed by the circuit’s detailed health strategy.”
Gonzaga Escauriaza, president of the RFEG, has also offered his point of view on the matter: “This is splendid news for European golf. Valderrama recovers the prominence it deserves and it will be fantastic to see once again a luxury team facing the challenge posed by this emblematic golf course”.
Last year, Christiaan Bezuidenhout won his first European Tour title on a course that is always a great challenge, winning by six strokes over a chasing pack that included four Spaniards, including Jon Rahm, the current world number two.
The European Tour’s revamped 2020 season also includes four Rolex Series tournaments: the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open and BMW PGA Championship in October, the Nedbank Golf Challenge hosted by Gary Player from December 3-6 and the DP World Tour Championship, the year-end tournament where the 2020 Race to Dubai champion will be crowned, from December 10-13.
Further details of other European Tour tournaments taking place in September and November will be forthcoming, as the various options on the calendar continue to be explored as the world situation evolves.
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 the Real Club Valderrama, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Regeneración, Justicia y Administración Local de la Junta de Andalucía, as well as being co-financed with European funds and declared an Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Spanish Government.
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