How PGA Catalunya became Spain’s No.1 golf resort
The Stadium course at PGA Catalunya is one of the very best in Spain and also part of our very first Golf & Gastronomy experience. Chris Bertram explains what makes PGA Catalunya so special.
The vast tract of undulating, forested land on which Spain’s leading golf resort sits was originally earmarked as a Formula One racetrack. Discerning golfers can be glad that it was instead developed into a resort of world-class calibre, built by the European Tour as a flagship venue to rival the PGA Tour’s iconic Sawgrass in Florida and as a potential host of the 1997 Ryder Cup. Valderrama got those matches and PGA Catalunya is still waiting for the biennial contest – but it is established as one of the world’s finest golf resorts.
Next door to the sleepy village of Caldes de Malvella, and only 15 minutes from the Catalonia city of Girona. It’s barely an hour’s drive to Barcelona, but feels a world away as you stroll down the fairways of two courses lined by pines, firs, bent cork oaks and heather. PGA Catalunya is vibrant and always developing but once through the gates, you are in your own private haven.
There’s 36 holes here, but the Stadium course is the No.1. It was laid out by eight-time Ryder Cup player Neil Coles along with Angel Gallardo, also a former Tour player and Ryder Cup assistant captain. With the 1997 matches in mind, they routed it with space between the holes and high-sided banking that would be perfect viewing platforms for more than 30,000 spectators. It is aptly named.
Originally called the Green Course it was instantly acclaimed when it opened in 1998, as one well-crafted strategic hole followed another as it meanders between the kaleidoscope of trees.
Thomas Levet is soaked in champagne by fellow French golfers after winning the Spanish Open in 2009 at PGA Catalunya
Thomas Bjorn won here within a year of the course opening when it hosted the 1999 Sarazen World Open. The following year the Spanish Open arrived, and Jarmo Sandelin cruised to victory. Thomas Levet won when it returned in 2009 and Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez did so five years later. Appropriately, all four are Ryder Cup players.
Water comes into play on seven holes and while it is window dressing for the better player, it is a thrilling and genuine hazard for most. Yet the course might be characterised even more deeply by dramatic elevation changes, which Coles and Gallarado have skilfully almost always made in favour of the golfer. The dogleg 6th is the only notable blind tee shot and instead the elevation changes instead add yards to your drives and enhance your view of the features.
Amphitheatre greens frequently wait at the end of the fairways, usually framed by several bunkers.
The 7th is a meaty par 5 that makes you think strategically on all three shots that will for most be required to get home. In the 2009 Spanish Open, John Daly found the green in two with a driver and a 7-iron! The 11th boasts a semi-island green on a medium-length par 3 that tempts players to go for the pin. The 13th is regarded as the signature, a par 4 that offers wonderful views from the tee and features water in front of and behind the green.
Many greens are crafted into the natural cambers of the terrain, the Stadium places a heavy premium on ball-striking and good distance control. Fail on either count and you will often face an awkward uphill pitch or bunker shot, or having to scramble out of lush fringe grass or gnarly rough. Fairways have the same drought-resistant grass as Augusta National, so find them off the tee, and you’re hitting off gorgeous springy turf.
The practice facilities are among the best in Europe. The complex includes a 2,200 square-yard putting green and chipping area with five bunkers each containing different sand types. The area also includes a grass bunker for practising. The driving range features a private tee for groups, target greens, bunkers and distance markers. There are also four practice greens with different types of grasses, including Bermuda, Bent, Paspalum and Poa.
The greens are immaculate. Each morning, the greenkeeping team checks every putting surface to ensure it’s rolling at between 10 and 10.5 on the stimpmeter. Humidity is managed by underground radio sensors that alert the maintenance teams when the root zones are too dry and in need of watering. This attention to detail keeps greens firm and footprint-free.
PGA Catalunya has plenty for the non-golfer, led by a new €5m Wellness Centre that boasts an array of physical and emotional wellbeing experiences. The centre offers both traditional and cutting-edge therapies and expertise.
There is a kid’s club (located right next to the pool area, so both parents and kids have the peace of mind) at Hotel Camiral and you can also play padel and tennis, go cycling and running, do yoga and pilates or simply eat your way round the resort’s restaurants.
It’s a future Ryder Cup host. It missed out in 1997 and it missed out again for next year’s matches when Italy, and Marco Simone, got the nod. But PGA Catalunya has been a Ryder Cup host in waiting for 25 years and is slated to try again for the 2031 matches. The Catalan authorities are fully behind the bid and it would be a brave person to bet against it finally going to the Stadium; a round here is very likely to be a round on a future Ryder Cup host.