PGA Golf De Catalunya - Spain

PGA Golf de Catalunya is one of the newer and better courses in Spain, adding to the superb cadre of courses around the Costa Brava that includes Masia Bach, Mas Nou, and Pals. Situated at Caldes de Malavella, the course is inland, with greens guarded by ponds,and fairways shorn from pines,cork oaks, and olives, framed by the Montseny Mountains. Designed by European Senior Tour veterans Neil Coles and Angel Gallardo, the course was developed by the PGA European Tour and opened in 1999. Golf de Catalunya hosted the Gene Sarazen World Open in 1999, won by Thomas Bjorn, and the 2000 Spanish Open. The course is 10 miles from the ancient walled city of Girona dominated by the cathedral tower overlooking the River Onyar.

Real Golf Club De Pedrena - Spain

Real Golf Club de Pedreiia is where Seve Ballesteros, Spain's conquering hero, learned the game as a caddie and honed his short-game legerdemain, hitting rocks on the beach with a hand-me-down three-iron. While golf has boomed in the Costa del Sol to the south, the roots of the game in Spain are in the royal courses of the north, with Pedreiia having been bestowed with its royal title by King Alfonso XIII, himself a dedicated golfer, shortly after it opened in 1928. Designed by the preeminent English architect Harry Colt, the course occupies a small, wooded peninsula that unfurls into the Bay of Santander, with the Cubas River estuary flanking both sides of the peninsula. The course is typically reached by ferry and provides fine views across the bay to the town of Santander, with the mountains beyond. In 1991, the members engaged Ballesteros to design an additional, and very challenging, nine holes that run around the hilly terrain with the estuary coming into play on seven of the nine holes. The clubhouse was originally a summer home for Alfonso XIII's wife, Queen Victoria Eugenia; Ballesteros's new home overlooks the course.