American Express Invitational
American Express Invitational
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Valderrama

The world is in for a treat when the American Express Championship comes to the Valderrama Golf Club next November. The course is a 6791-yard, par-70 gem that has proven itself as a world-class venue.

It can be fully enjoyed by players of all handicaps, thanks to Robert Trent Jones, Sr., who designed the course in 1974 and came back to redesign it with additional land when the new Club was formed in 1985. Thereafter, it took only a few years to win recognition in the Golf World rankings as the best golf course in mainland Europe, a position it has held ever since.

The amenability of the golf course to the weekend golfer and its deliberate difficulty to the championship player owe much to the extensive range of tees. Each hole has a Professional tee, a Club Championship tee, an Executive tee and a Seniors' tee, as well as a ladies Professional tee and a ladies Club tee. The tees are differentiated not just by distance but by careful siting. The fairways are widely considered the best in Europe, while the greens have been compared to Augusta National by Davis Love III and many other players.

Valderrama has two prevailing winds: the poniente from the land, which in summer can be very hot, and the levante from the Mediterranean, which brings a cooler sea breeze. The conditions add variety to a golf course that is already rich in shot values.

Valderrama has a worldwide reputation as one of the best-maintained of all golf courses. No other course in Europe makes such extensive use of walk-behind mowers. Each day nine different cutting heights are used from greens to rough. The main grasses are Bentgrass Penncross on the fast and firm greens, Bermuda 419 on the fairways, roughs and tees and creeping bentgrass with rye around the greens.

The annual flagship event of the PGA European Tour, the Volvo Masters, was inaugurated at Valderrama in 1988 and was held annually through 1996. Winners such as Nick Faldo, Sandy Lyle, Colin Montgomerie, Bernhard Langer and Mark McNulty testify to the championship qualities of the course.

A nine-hole par-3 course is close to the clubhouse in a setting of wild flowers and shrubs. Each green was constructed strictly according to USGA specifications under the personal supervision of the Club president. When Jeffrey Perris of the authoritative Sports Turf Research Institute of Yorkshire visited the course he said: "In 25 years of studying turf grass around the world I have never seen such greens. Now I know what a green should really be like."

The Par-3 course has cart paths all the way around and has been described by Golf Monthly as the finest-conditioned short course in the world. The Practice Ground near the Clubhousehas been described by Nick Faldo as the best in Europe. 

 
Site: Valderrama Golf Club, Sotogrande, Andalucia, Spain Course Architect: Robert 
Trent Jones (1974) Par: 71 Yardage: 6,830 Hole-By-Hole: 1 - Par 4 389 yds 10 - 
Par 4 390 yds 2 - Par 4 399 yds 11 - Par 5 547 yds 3 - Par 3 173 yds 12 - Par 
3 197 yds 4 - Par 5 535 yds 13 - Par 4 403 yds 5 - Par 4 381 yds 14 - Par 4 370 
yds 6 - Par 3 163 yds 15 - Par 3 225 yds 7 - Par 4 460 yds 16 - Par 4 422 yds 
8 - Par 4 345 yds 17 - Par 5 536 yds 9 - Par 4 441 yds 18 - Par 4 454 yds ------------- 
------------- 35 3,286 yds 36 3,544 yds Course Record: 62 (Bernhard Langer, 1994)

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