“THE LET HAS APPRECIATED OUR VALUES AND THAT IS WHY THEY HAVE CHOSEN US”.
It was a long time coming, but it was finally announced that the 2023 Solheim Cup will be held on the Costa del Sol, in Casares, and that the Finca Cortesin complex will host this historic event. The course of this resort, designed by Cabell B. Robinson, one of the favorite disciples of the legendary American architect Robert T. Jones, has already hosted three editions of the Volvo World Match Play Championship, in 2009, 2011, and 2012, and proved to be one of the best possible venues to host an event like this in our country.
“I know,” says Vicente Rubio, general manager of Finca Cortesín, “that in some areas of the golf world our choice as host of the 2023 Solheim Cup may have come as a surprise, because other options were being considered and our candidacy has always been handled with the discretion that characterizes us”.
“We are very pleased with our appointment and I would like to thank the Ladies European Tour,” he continues, “for the trust they have placed in us. I am sure they have been able to see and appreciate our values. And I am also very grateful to Sports & Business, who gave us the opportunity to opt to host the 2023 Solheim Cup.”
“They have also been able to see,” Rubio continues, “the qualities that this project has, which we have been working on and improving for years with the efforts of a great team of professionals and the constant support of a very involved ownership, and they have given us the opportunity, as I have already said, to host the most important women’s golf event in the world.”
“Having a Solheim Cup in our country,” she says, “is going to be a milestone like the 1997 Ryder Cup, which will mark a before and after, especially in terms of women’s golf. For us it has not been a surprise to be chosen as the venue because we know what we have created here and what we have, and the work we have done for many years”.
“We have had three Volvo World Match Play tournaments, which probably, after the Ryder Cup, are the three best tournaments ever played in Spain, due to the quality of the players and the prize money, which gives us the necessary experience to successfully carry out an event of these characteristics, and we have to add that we are the best hotel in Spain and Portugal for Travel and Leisure and for Condé Nast Traveler UK and USA”.
“We have always worked for excellence, to have a project capable of hosting events like the Solheim Cup. It is true that there has been talk of other destinations on the Costa del Sol, but in the end we are all Costa del Sol. We should not be so short-sighted as to think that if it is held here or there it benefits one or the other. It is an event that will benefit the whole Costa del Sol, the whole world of golf in Andalusia and Spain”.
-Evidently there was a negotiation to become the venue. Was it complicated?
-Not particularly. I believe, as I have stated, that our values are evident and that we have always been a good candidate to host major events. We’ve worked long and hard over the years to be that and we’ve proven it with the support of our suppliers and the ongoing support and commitment of ownership.
The Solheim Cup has given us the opportunity to host it in 2023 and we are poised to do so successfully.
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-What do you consider to be the key points or elements that have inclined the organization of the tournament for your resort?
-This is something they should answer. They have not told us that we have chosen you for this or that. What I can say is that we don’t have to do practically anything in the field, because we have one of the best maintenance systems in Spain and it is always in perfect condition.
It may have weighed in their decision to know that we are committed to sustainability and care for the environment. We are a course that is one hundred percent irrigated with reclaimed water provided by Acosol, and we have carried out reforms to bring our commitment to fruition such as the change of the greens in 2017 to a variety of bermuda ultra dwarf. This change makes our greens unique and has surprised everyone very positively for its quality of play.
We have always tried to be at the forefront when it comes to maintenance and I think that has been one of the reasons for our choice of location.
On the other hand, we do not consider golf as something isolated from the rest of the resort. We are a complete destination, with hotel, golf, low density residential… a whole always committed to quality and excellence.
Right now it is not enough to have a good course design, you have to give something more, and that something more is five-star service and exceptional maintenance, to generate a unique experience to those who visit our courses.
I think that all this together is what they have been able to value the LET and Sport & Business. I would also like to highlight our willingness not to miss the opportunity to show the world that the Costa del Sol has emblematic projects such as Finca Cortesin.
-Haven’t you been asked to make any reforms in the field…?
-So far we haven’t been asked to do anything we weren’t going to do. There is one hole that we may convert from par 5 to par 4…. As I said, the greens are impeccable, the bunkers, which we have changed twice since 2006, are also impeccable, as well as the antegreens, which have been reformed three times, etc…. We consider the course as a living being in constant transformation, so it needs reforms and investments from time to time. Nothing lasts thirty or forty years, every element in the field has a useful life and everything has to be updated after that time. That is why we are ready to host a major event at any time. Tomorrow we could host the most demanding tournament.
-Was the hotel a key factor in choosing Finca Cortesín as a venue?
-Obviously the hotel has been a very important element to take into account both for its facilities and its operation. The fact that the players do not have to travel, that they can walk to the driving range, etc. is something that has weighed a lot, although the real determining factor has been the course.
“I would like to add,” Rubio concludes, “that we are very, very proud that they have allowed us to participate in writing a new chapter in the history of golf in Spain. What was achieved with the Ryder Cup in 1997 will now be reinforced and consolidated. It is a great event that will not only benefit us as a venue and Casares, but it will benefit the entire Costa del Sol, because from the moment the venue was announced, the entire Costa del Sol “is a Solheim destination.
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