Repeatedly ranked in international rankings as one of the best golf courses in Spain, the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande celebrates its successful golden anniversary this year.
Founded in 1964, the origin of this club is closely linked to the creation of the urbanization of Sotogrande in the early 60s. Its founder, Joseph McMicking chose this enclave in southern Spain to develop the best residential area of the time and as the core and backbone of this ambitious project.
If anything characterized McMicking was his vision of the future and his desire for Sotogrande to last over time, so he cemented his project in quality parameters completely unprecedented in Spain at that time. It is not surprising that he then called the most prestigious designer of the time, Robert Trent Jones, to draw the course of the RCG Sotogrande.
At McMicking’s express wish, Trent Jones personally chose the land on which the golf course was located within the huge estate where the development was planned. Sotogrande was the designer’s first work in Europe and marked a milestone in the construction of courses on this side of the Atlantic, not only because of the superb design by the master Trent Jones, but also because of the innovations that surrounded the project: it was the first course in Europe to be planted with Bermuda 419 and the first to install a fully automated irrigation system.
In 1965 the clubhouse was inaugurated, designed by the architect Luis Gutiérrez Soto, and in 1966 the RCG Sotogrande experienced its first great appointment with the best players in Europe in the Spanish Open, won by Roberto de Vicenzo with 279 strokes. Only one year later and at the age of 44, the Argentinean became the oldest player to win the British Open, after an exciting duel with Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player.
The magnificent design by Robert Trent Jones was quickly appreciated by both amateur and professional players, which turned Sotogrande into a prestigious venue for competitions. In 1970 the Jerez Cup was born, the origin of the current European Championship of Nations RCG Sotogrande Cup, which receives every year the best amateurs from twenty European countries and has in its list of winners the likes of Padraig Harrington, Sergio Garcia, or Rory McIlroy. In 1973 the VII European Women’s Amateur Championship was held in Sotogrande, where the English team was proclaimed winner, followed by France, Sweden and Spain.
The Club was part of the Sotogrande Urbanization until 1979, when the members acquired the course, giving rise to what is considered today as one of the best members’ clubs in Europe.
Sotogrande was the scene of the 1983 Spanish Amateur Championship, which was won by a very young José María Olazábal, winner of the 1994 and 1999 Augusta Masters. Five years later, the Club witnessed the victory of the brilliant Severiano Ballesteros in the 1987 Spanish Professional Championship. Ballesteros was then number two in the world ranking and had four majors under his belt: British Open in 1979 and 1982 and Augusta Masters in 1980 and 1983, which did not prevent him from fighting a hard-fought duel with Pepín Rivero to win the Championship. Seve left good examples of his unequalled talent, such as the shot he hit on the 16th hole on the last day, holing from the bunker to practically seal the victory.
Between 1996 and 2001, the Trent Jones course, together with San Roque, hosted the final of the Qualifying School for the European Tour. Players such as Ian Poulter, Geoff Ogilvy, Justin Rose, Niclas Fasth or Nicolas Colsaerts obtained the card in this course.
In 1994, King Juan Carlos I granted Sotogrande the title of Royal. Since its origin, the Club has had six presidents, Alfredo Melián, (1964 to 1979), Emma Villacieros de García-Ogara (1979 – 1989), Walter Rodríguez Figueroa (1989 – 1997), José Antonio Polanco (1997 – 2005), Antonio Martín Urquijo (2005-2010) and the current president, Felipe Oriol Díaz de Bustamante.
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