Valderrama Golf Club on Spain’s Costa Del Sol is the parkland jewel of Europe

Head just off the coast into the foothills of Spain’s Costa Del Sol, and you’ll encounter Valderrama Golf Club.

Navigating subtle doglegs on gently undulating parkland terrain through a cork forest, the Robert Trent Jones Sr. design in so many places seems so simple and effortless, one wonders why every golf course can’t be this good.

Of course, Valderrama has been anything but stagnant over the last two decades, transitioning from an also-ran club to one of the world’s most famous. Few golf courses have received the kind of T.L.C., thanks to a very hands-on, golf-obsessed owner, James Ortiz-Patino.

Once an understated, daily-fee course named “Sotogrande New,” Ortiz-Patino saw the course’s untapped potential and bought it. From 1987 to the present, not a single hole hasn’t been altered, ranging from rebuilt bunkers to complete overhauls full of heavy land shaping.

As it stands today, Valderrama is widely considered continental Europe’s finest, regularly hosts the Volvo Masters and was continental Europe’s first Ryder Cup venue in 1997. Pros aside, for the common golfer, Valderrama is a chance to play an already classic-RTJ masterpiece that will stand the test of time.

Tags: Costa del Sol, Golf Courses, Ryder Cup, Services of Golf, Spain, Valderrama Golf