What a triumph for Spain at the Valderrama Masters and at the Acciona Open de España
The top-level competitions returned to Spain during the month of October. The two major tournaments, the Valderrama Masters and the Acciona Open de España, part of the Dp World Tour, were played on two of the most renowned and famous golf courses in Spain.
The Acciona Open de España, which was played at the fantastic Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, had the pleasure of seeing Jon Rahm match the best Spanish player of all time, Severiano Ballesteros. Jon won his third Spanish Open after 4 days of absolute domination of the game and the rest of his rivals on this championship course designed by Javier Arana. With an advantage of 6 shots over the Australian Min Woo Lee and with a total of 25 shots under par, Jon made history and won the prize that last year he sought but did not get. After his victory, Jon Rahm shared his reflections; “Last year I came with certain expectations that I physically couldn’t meet. This year I arrived with less public and personal expectations, and everything has turned out better. There hasn’t been a more fun week for me than this one”
Once again a historic week for Spanish golf, where more than 360,000 people enjoyed the triumph of the best Spanish player of the moment. Congratulations Jon!
With hardly any time to rest, the Spanish fans traveled to the best golf course in the national territory, the Real Club Valderrama, where the eighth edition of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalusia Masters was being held.
If the previous week in Madrid there was Spanish dominance at the top of the classification, it was not going to be less in Valderrama, where two names stood out to a great extent over the rest of the players, Adrián Otaegui and Ángel Hidalgo made the public vibrate during the four days of the tournament. The impeccable Valderrama course once again looked spectacular, where the absence of the traditional wind allowed great results. Ángel Hidalgo, from Marbella, achieved one of his most cherished dreams since he was a child, the DP World Tour card for the year 2023. At the end of the tournament, Ángel left these emotional words; “Since the 16th green I have been crying… we deserved it. I’ve been fighting to play here for 20 years and the first years as a professional were tough. In the Alps I had to finish fifth in the last tournament to keep the card and in the second year, with the Covid, only three players went up to the Challenge instead of five, I was fifth. I saw myself capable of aspiring to much more. Last year I was one shot away from getting the Tour card. It has been a series of moments, circumstances, a lot of work and finally we have achieved it”.
For his part, the Basque Adrián Otaegui managed to touch the sky in Sotogrande and this way ahieve the victory with the lowest result in the history of Valderrama. Nothing more and nothing less than 19 shots under par resulted in Otaegui winning one of the most coveted trophies in the world of golf.
After his triumph and still in a cloud Adrián Otaegui commented; “I don’t know how I did it, the week has gone well. Perhaps it is the year that there has been less wind, the greens were more receptive and the course was more accessible. When you play well it seems easier. I felt very good on the greens, visualizing the slopes very well”
In conclusion, Spanish golf is in luck after these two great weeks, the public has once again been able to enjoy its players and see them lift the two most important titles of the year in national territory.
Chaparral Golf Club would like to congratulate both Club de Campo Villa de Madrid and Real Club Valderrama for their excellent organization once again, and especially Adrián Otaegui and Jon Rahm for once again placing the Spanish flag at the top of world golf.
