The Real Club Valderrama has once again revived the atmosphere of the great tournaments that have made this Costa del Sol club famous. Numerous media, large presence of political and sports authorities, including the Minister of Tourism and Sport of the Junta de Andalucía, Francisco Javier Fernández, and the Vice President of the European Tour, Ángel Gallardo, have contributed to recreate those longed times when year after year the tournaments that brought together the elite of world golf took place at the now called Real Club Valderrama: the Ryder Cup, the AmEx World Championships, the Volvo Masters…
Now it is the turn of the Real Valderrama Open de España-Fundación Sergio García, the second oldest professional golf tournament on the continent, which will be played between the 14th and 17th of April and will distribute two million euros in prize money. The official presentation of this European Tour event, the only one to be played this season in Spain, took place today.
The presentation was attended by Fernández and Gallardo; the general manager of the Real Club Valderrama, Javier Reviriego; the president of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation (RFEG), Gonzaga Escuriaza; and the mayor of San Roque, the municipality where Valderrama is located, Juan Carlos Ruiz Boix.
Javier Reviriego said that the club has been preparing the course for months and stressed that in the last four years it has invested millions of dollars. “The players are going to like the changes”, he assured, especially with regard to the influence on the game of the leafy cork oaks that flank the fairways of the course, now with a greater pruning of the lower branches, which will facilitate a more risky and colorful game from the rough.
The general manager of the Real Club Valderrama said that the best Spanish golfers of the moment will participate and that the presence of the German Martin Kaymer has already been confirmed.
As for the improvements to the course, he specified that the irrigation system has been restructured, the bunkers and tees have been renovated, and playability has been increased with the aforementioned pruning of the lower branches. “Jaime Ortiz Patiño,” he assured, “left the level of excellence very high, which we are trying to match and even increase.” As for public attendance, he recalled that “if the weather respects us”, they expect to exceed the 45,000 spectators of the last Andalucía Master.
Gonzaga Escuriaza, for his part, stressed that “if Spain represents tourism in Europe, Andalusia represents it even more”, and considered that the golf sector “still has room for growth. This Open should give a good push in this sense”. He recalled the president of the RFEG that “Valderrama is the great icon of golf on the European continent”, although “he was missing to hold the Open de España in this field. He concluded by stating that “Spanish members will be able to enter free of charge”.
For his part, the vice president of the European Tour has stressed that “without the contribution of the great Spanish players the tournament would not be held here. They have made a lot of strength, especially the Sergio García Foundation”.
The Minister of Tourism and Sports of the Junta de Andalucía has said that “golf is a first class resource in terms of tourism and sports”, and that hosting this type of tournaments “provokes excellence in sports”. Francisco Javier Fernandez added that from the Board “we have made a substantial change in the policy of promoting golf”, reducing advertising in the tests that take place abroad to invest in the organization of the same on Andalusian soil.
Also, said the counselor, the aim is to “remove the brand of golf as a minority sport”, through the creation of sports schools that serve “to popularize the game and that children start practicing it”. As for the support to this Spanish Open, he indicated that “we are closing the sponsorship contract”.
For his part, the mayor of San Roque thanked the European Tour, the RFEG and the Sergio Garcia Foundation “have made it possible for the Open de España de Golf 2016 is held in this field San Roque, one of the most emblematic courses in the world of golf. He explained that “as mayor of San Roque is especially proud, and I would say excited, because the Real Club Valderrama is again the scene of a tournament of the European Tour that will generate a strong economic impact”.
It will be the first time,” said Ruiz Boix, “in its more than one hundred years of history and in its ninety editions that the Open of Spain is played in Valderrama, which during the four days of competition will bring together thousands of spectators on the course and millions of television viewers to enjoy a sporting event that will not miss the big names in world golf. We are facing a magnificent showcase for San Roque to show the whole world our environment and promote our tourist, gastronomic and cultural offer.”
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