It was a great summer day for golf, and a wonderful sporting and social ambience for participants, when the latest leg of the Andalucía Golf Challenge was held at The San Roque Club’s Old Course. Inaugurated in 1990, the course was designed by Dave Thomas, with Severiano Ballesteros later overseeing a redesign of the bunkers. It has subsequently consolidated its reputation as one of Europe’s finest courses, and been the venue for (among other top competitions) the Spanish Open and several finals of the European Tour’s Qualifying School.

The tournament was the fourth event of this summer’s Andalucía Golf Challenge, a popular circuit of open amateur tournaments now in its seventh year and held at the Costa del Sol’s leading clubs. Previous legs had been held at Royal Guadalmina Golf Club, Royal Sotogrande Golf Club and La Reserva Club Sotogrande.

All the players – on this occasion mostly Spanish although they included many other nationalities – agreed that the course was in top-quality condition. They were also able to enjoy an added attraction: the presence of Swedish golfer Peter Gustafsson, who has collected eight international titles on various circuits around the world and was on the verge of winning the Spanish Open at San Roque’s Old Course in 2006, losing in a play-off against compatriot Peter Hanson.

Gustafsson, who was the leading player at the 2004 European Tour Qualifying School, took part in a “Beat the Pro” competition in which he challenged all the players to beat him on the third hole, where a marquee was installed for participants to enjoy a tasting of wines from WiGoGo (Wine, Golf & Gourmet).

The prize-giving ceremony was held in the elegant clubhouse, together with a cocktail reception including aperitifs and a delicious paella, and was presided over by Andalucía Golf co-publishers Antonio Sánchez and Stefan Tjellander (also managing director of Holiday Golf), accompanied by Peter Gustafsson and host club captain David Campbell. Also deserving a special mention for their excellent organisational work are The San Roque Club marketing director Lidia Muñoz and her team.

Apart from attractive perspex trophies for the winners, other great gifts included top-brand apparel from the fairway+blue boutique in Puerto Banús, wine from D.O. Somontano, €50 vouchers for purchases at fairway+blue, green fees for various golf courses, ball sets, caps, towels and additional products.

As for the results… Pedro Miguel Cevey Mendoza won category one with a total of 41 points, followed by Alberto Muñoz Sánchez (40) and David Steele (39).

The winner of category two was Ana Isabel Irimia Diéguez (40), with José María Caballero Gómez (39) second and Francisco Javier Salto González (38) third.

The scratch prize was won by David Steele, who received a magnificent painting by leading Marbella-based artist Alejandro Hermann.

Special prizes for ball closest to the pin and longest drive went to Javier Sierra, Juan Estaire and Garbiñe Mendizábal, respectively.

 

This year’s Andalucía Golf Challenge coincides with Andalucía Golf/España Golf’s 30th anniversary as Spain’s longest-running bilingual golf magazine.

Remaining tournament schedule for 2017 and entry details…

19 August – Flamingos (Villa Padierna): Tel. 952 889 157, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

2 September – Finca Cortesín: Tel. 952 937 883, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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