Posted May 7th, 2009 by admin
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 [...]
Tags: Costa del Sol, Golf Courses, Ryder Cup, Services of Golf, Spain, Valderrama Golf
Posted February 27th, 2009 by admin
As an important industry, golf tourism on the Costa del Sol is still in its infancy. Born in the late eighties, it has already displayed a cyclic tendency, struggling during the oil crisis brought on by the Iraq war, then enjoying enormous success in 1997, when Valderrama hosted the Ryder Cup. The period from 1997 could [...]
Tags: Aymerich, Costa del Golf, Costa del Sol, Ryder Cup, Valderrama Golf
Posted September 26th, 2008 by admin
Those who predicted an American victory got it right – but not for the right reasons. The captain’s picks performed well, Poulter even being Europe’s top score with four wins, while Europe’s “bankers”, Harrington, Westwood and Garcia couldn’t manage a single win. Although the team were publicly supportive of Nick Faldo after the event, there [...]
Tags: Ryder Cup
Posted September 12th, 2008 by admin
The selection of Ian Poulter rather than Darren Clarke as Nick Faldo’s pick was always bound to be unpopular with golf fans and the media, but the criticism and cynicism heaped on Faldo by his peers has ensured that European team spirit cannot be as strong as in previous successful matches. Sky Sports’ golf pundit [...]
Tags: Captain, Europe, Ryder Cup
Posted September 5th, 2008 by admin
Sunday 31st August was Decision Day for Nick Faldo and a big day for at least seven contenders for places in the European team. At the start of the Johnnie Walker Classic at Gleneagles, the last three automatic places were held by Justin Rose, Sören Hansen and Oliver Wilson. All three knew a poor performance [...]
Tags: Ryder Cup
Posted August 1st, 2008 by admin
On Sunday 31st August, Nick Faldo will have the unenviable task of selecting two players to complete his team for the Ryder Cup match in September. The team as it stands now would be: Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Henrik Stenson, Robert Karlsson. Miguel Angel Jimenez, Graeme McDowell, Soren Hansen, Oliver Wilson, Martin Kaymer and Justin [...]
Tags: Miguel Angel Jimenez, Nick Faldo, Ryder Cup
Posted July 11th, 2008 by admin
As the latest Ryder Cup clash looms ever nearer – just over a couple of months to go, in fact – the U.S. and European teams seem to be taking shape. But with eight more big money tournaments to be played, with about 20 million Euros at stake, it’s just possible that the ten present [...]
Tags: Ryder Cup, Valhalla
Posted July 4th, 2008 by admin
Well the new tournament brings ever nearer Greg Norman’s original concept of a world tour, as it will be sanctioned by tours representing all five continents. This means that the sixteen best golfers in the world will visit our shores each year, whereas the Volvo Masters was restricted to members of the European Tour. They [...]
Tags: European Tour, Greg Norman, Ryder Cup, volvo masters
Posted June 13th, 2008 by admin
Having written often (along with others) about the curse of slow play, I’ve decided on a more positive tack. Recently, I joined 3 friends for a fourball at the Parador course. Having agreed to a modest bet, we decided that instead of matchplay (Ryder Cup style), the result would be decided on aggregate stableford scores, [...]
Tags: Quick Play, Ryder Cup
Posted March 28th, 2008 by admin
As an avid fan of Tiger Woods, I spent Sunday evening glued to the TV, fully expecting Woods to overcome the weather and a five shot deficit to continue his unbeaten run of seven tournaments. The fact that I and millions of other golfaholics were surprised that he didn’t succeed illustrates the strength of the [...]
Tags: Geoff Ogilvy, Grand Slam, Ryder Cup, Tiger Woods, US Open
