The Real Club Valderrama Open de España-Fundación Sergio García will celebrate its 90th edition from April 14 to 17. The origin of this tournament, one of the oldest held in Europe, is linked to the appearance of the first Spanish professionals among the ranks of caddies, and its trajectory is a review of the development of golf in Spain during the last century.
The first edition of the tournament was played in 1912, 21 years after the first golf club in Spain was founded, the Real Club de Golf de Las Palmas (1891). At that time there were only five other clubs besides the Canary Islands, the North Lode Golf Club (Riotinto, Huelva), the RCG de la Puerta de Hierro, the RGC de San Sebastián, the Club de Golf de Pedralbes and RSG Neguri.
It was the Madrid club, then called the Madrid Polo Golf Club, the organizer of the event that was played in the Cuarenta Fanegas, the first 18-hole course designed in Spain. According to the club’s centenary book, the origin of the Spanish Open was closely linked to the French professional Claude Gassiat.
The club hired his services in view of the incipient development of golf in those early years of the 20th century. Gassiat had begun his golf career as a caddie and upon his arrival in Madrid, he organized and started the training of caddies at the club, which resulted in the appearance of the first professionals: Ángel de la Torre -who turned professional at the age of 14-, Emilio Cayarga el Hojalata, Saturnino Lascós and Joaquín Bernardino.
The development of this first group of professionals led to the celebration of the Spanish Open, which followed in the footsteps of other national Opens such as those of France (1906), Belgium (1910) and Holland (1912). The tournament was played over 72 holes in two days and the Frenchman Arnaud Massy, winner of the 1907 British Open, was the winner.
The Madrid Club, already known as RCG de la Puerta de Hierro, hosted all the editions held between 1912 and 1941, although, in its beginnings, the tournament had an intermittent development. It was not until 1916 that the second edition was held, which saw the first victory of Ángel de la Torre. The Cordovan, pioneer and precursor of the Spanish professionals, was the great protagonist of the first decades of the tournament, as he won the editions of 1916, 1917, 1919, 1923 and 1925. His five titles are still the record number of victories in the history of the Real Club Valderrama Open de España-Fundación Sergio García.
In 1942, the tournament left Madrid for the first time to be held in San Cugat. In the 1940s, the RG Pedreña and the RSG Neguri alternated as venues with the RCG de la Puerta de Hierro and in the sporting field there was a name of his own, that of Mariano Provencio, who won four titles in three decades: 1934, 1941, 1943 and 1951.
The Miguel brothers left their mark on the tournament during the 1950s and 1960s. Sebastian won in 1954, 1960 and 1967, while Angel took the title in 1955, 1961 and 1964. The first official data on golf licenses in Spain date back to the end of the 1960s and reflect the scarce but promising development of the sport at that time. In 1968 there were 3,094 amateur players and 109 professionals. The decade ended with a total of 36 federated clubs.
In 1972 the Spanish Open was included for the first time in the official calendar of the European Tour with a prize money of 14,084€. Antonio Garrido won this edition that marked the beginning of a new stage of the tournament, consolidated among the great professional events in Europe. From 1973 to 1977 it was held consecutively at La Manga Club and had among its winners Arnold Palmer (1975).
In the 1980s, the list of winners of the Real Club Valderrama Open de España-Fundación Sergio García included the two great Spanish golf references. Severiano Ballesteros won the 1981 edition at the RCG El Prat and the 1985 edition at Vallromanes. Ten years later, in 1995, he would win at the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, the last individual victory of his career. José Mari Olazábal was the best classified amateur in 1983 and 1984. In this decade, the victories of Bernhard Langer at the Parador de El Saler Golf Course in 1984 and Nick Faldo at RC Las Brisas in 1987 also stand out.
Sergio García burst into the Spanish Open in the 90s, was the best amateur in 1996, 1997 and 1998, pointing to what would soon become an extraordinary professional career. The Spaniard, who this year is hosting the Real Club Valderrama Open de España, won the event in 2002 at El Cortijo. It was in the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s that Spanish golf experienced its greatest growth. In 1989 there were 46,178 licenses between amateurs and professionals; in 1999, 137,752 and in 2010, 336,989, an all-time record.
Two moments stand out in a special way among the last editions of the tournament, the victories of Álvaro Quirós at the RCG de Sevilla (2010) and that of Miguel Ángel Jiménez, at the age of 50, at the PGA Catalunya Resort in 2012.
The arrival of the veteran tournament at Real Club Valderrama, considered one of the best courses in the world, will also mark a new milestone in its centenary history.
Tickets to attend the tournament are available at http://tickets.europeantour.com/event/real-club-valderrama-open-de-espana/real-club-valderrama/928215.
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