Valderrama: from Sotogrande New to the Ryder Cup

From Sotogrande New to Valderrama

Valderrama lies in Sotogrande, in the municipality of San Roque, up the coast a few miles from the Strait of Gibraltar. The American architect Robert Trent Jones Sr laid out the course, which began life as “Sotogrande New”. The club’s own history recalls a course owned by a former US Army officer, McMicking, and originally operated as a golf facility. In 1981 it was renamed “Las Aves”.

The turning point came in 1984, when Jaime Ortiz-Patiño bought the course and had Jones redesign and expand it. In September 1985, by the club’s own account, the new club became a reality, redesigned by Jones. From then on the name on the gate was Valderrama, and the ambition behind it was plain: to set a new benchmark for golf in Europe.

The big occasions

The Volvo Masters, the grand finale of the European Tour season, began its association with Valderrama in October 1988. The Ladies Spanish Open was played here in 1982, so the course was already a tournament venue before the Masters arrived. It was the first sign that this layout, set among cork oaks above the Mediterranean, could carry a major week.

The summit came in 1997, when Valderrama staged the 32nd Ryder Cup, the first to be held outside the British Isles. Europe won, with the late Seve Ballesteros as captain, by 14½ to 13½. Europeans led 10½–5½ going into the final day, and the Americans won the singles 8–4 but fell just short; Colin Montgomerie halved the last match with Scott Hoch to seal the victory.

Ballesteros chose Nick Faldo and Jesper Parnevik as his captain’s picks, and José María Olazábal took the place of Miguel Ángel Martín, who had been out with a wrist injury. Montgomerie conceded a 15-foot par putt on the last hole. It was the first of seven consecutive home victories for Europe, and the first Ryder Cup staged in continental Europe, a moment that belonged as much to the Andalusian setting as to the players.

After the Ryder Cup

Two years later the club hosted the opening editions of the World Golf Championships American Express Championship, in 1999 and 2000, which were won by Tiger Woods and Mike Weir respectively. The European Tour returned in 2010 with the Andalucía Valderrama Masters, which the club counts as eight editions, and in 2016 the Open de España came to the course.

Valderrama has also hosted several other professional tournaments on both the European Tour and the Ladies European Tour. In June 2023 the club welcomed LIV Golf, for the first LIV Golf Andalucía tournament, and the club describes its status today as that of a destination for the sport’s elite.

The course and the club today

The course is a single 18-hole layout, with a nine-hole par-three course alongside. Its signature is the fourth hole, La Cascada, a par five with a pond to the right of a two-tiered green. Before the 2016 Open de España, teams of four players raced to complete it in the fastest time, and the French team took four shots to finish the hole in 34.87 seconds.

In May 2011 the Visconde de Pereira Machado was elected president of the club, and Valderrama has since gone through a complete renovation, in the club’s words. Patrick Rambaud became president in October 2022, and Chantal Gut assumed the presidency in 2026.

Our advice: visitor times run from noon to 1pm, Monday to Thursday, so book well ahead; allow about an hour by road from Marbella, and keep time to stand on the fourth tee and look at La Cascada before you play it.