The Andalucía Valderrama Masters will be the last stop on European soil before the European Tour heads to China, Turkey, South Africa and Dubai. It is sponsored by the Junta de Andalucía (regional government), with the support of the Sergio García Foundation.
Sergio García also hosted the 2016 Spanish Open at Valderrama and he is one of the course’s greatest fans. “Valderrama is a very special place for me,” he said in an interview for the Tour, “full of good memories – obviously the best when I finally managed to win in 2011. It is one of my favourite courses, one of the best in the world, and I always enjoy playing there.
“I am delighted to support the Andalucía Valderrama Masters through my foundation. As the tournament host, I would love to see everyone come and enjoy a great event and a wonderful occasion for all the Spanish players.
“The course is always in top condition, with fast greens and superb maintenance. At last year’s Open de España we saw a big improvement in playability with the pruning of many cork trees, particularly on holes 8, 13 and 18.
“Each hole in Valderrama has its own attraction and I like them all, because they force you to keep thinking and stay focused from the first to the last shot. It is a very demanding course that doesn’t give you any breaks. You need to put the ball in the right places and keep the errors to the minimum, but you are bound to make errors, so patience is key at Valderrama. You must respect this course or it will turn against you at any moment. One of the things I like most is that it allows you to use all the clubs in the bag.”
Including his 2011 win, García has an outstanding record at Valderrama: seventh at the 1999 WGC-American Express; fifth at the 2000 WGC-American Express; seventh at the 2002 and 2003 Volvo Masters; runner-up at three consecutive Volvo Masters from 2004 to 2006; 34th at the 2007 Volvo Masters; fourth at the 2008 Volvo Masters; 11th at the inaugural Andalucía Masters in 2010; winner in 2011 and third at the 2016 Open de España.
“Last year I had another chance of winning at the Open de España,” recalled García. “In the end I didn't make it, but it was a positive week because I kept trying up to the last putt – I gave it my best shot. I enjoyed being the tournament host and felt proud every time I saw the name of my foundation on the course. We had a fairly good gallery and many visitors to our stand. I want to thank them all because we raised €65,480 for the Spanish Cancer Association of Castellón. The money was used to rent some apartments for the families of cancer patients who can’t afford them, so the family can be together during treatment.”
Supported by his family, Sergio García set up his charitable foundation in 2002 for the purpose of contributing to the social inclusion of economically deprived children and youth through social assistance benefits and the practice of sport as a free-time activity. The foundation supports, on a regular or occasional basis, a variety of initiatives in favour of people with disabilities.
The Sergio García Foundation and the Deporte y Desafío Foundation joined forces in 2003 with the objective of introducing adaptive golf in Spain. They developed together a two-fold programme aimed, firstly, at making golf accessible to people with disabilities, thus helping them to be socially integrated. The second aim was to promote adaptive golf throughout the whole of Spain by means of specific training courses directed at golf teaching professionals.
