The Solheim Cup Moves One Step Closer to Malaga
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Nº 280 - DECEMBER 2018 - FREE COPY The Solheim Cup The province LADIES EUROPEAN TOUR aspires to host the Muñoz comes moves one step world’s biggest second in the women’s golf Open de España closer to Malaga tournament in 2023 Anne van Dam denied the Malaga golfer the chance to win the tournament for the third time [P4] EUROPEAN TOUR Cañizares regains his Tour card The local star has fought back after a year blighted by injury and personal problems [P5] Golf tourist destination: Marbella This Malaga town is widely rec- ognised for the quality of its courses which cater for all lev- els, all year round [P6] :: GETTY 2 ANDALUCÍA December 2018 COSTA DEL GOLF Malaga, one step closer to hosting the Solheim Cup in 2023 The regional government, the Costa del Sol Tourist Board and the Mancomunidad are finalising an agreement to bring this women’s competition to Spain for the first time ALBERTO event of this type”, which is so- GÓMEZ mething the organisation of the La- dies European Tour (LET) insists upon for the Solheim Cup. Several courses in Malaga province, he says,“pass the cut demanded by the he Solheim Cup, the organisation in terms of competiti- women’s version of the Ry- ve level, length, expanse, mainte- der Cup, is gradually get- nance, equipment, machinery and T ting closer to the Costa del organisation of staff”. Sol. The Malaga provincial govern- Another requirement is that the ment is still trying to negotiate an courses have spacious areas for agreement with the European Tour stands and hospitality marquees, to host the competition in which because world-famous events of this the USA and Europe face each other type attract thousands of golf fans every two years, in 2023. Also at the during the competition. negotiating table are the Junta de Apart from meeting these condi- Andalucía, the Mancomunidad de tions, the destination also “easily Municipios of the Western Costa exceeds other requirements, such del Sol, the Royal Golf Federation as the capacity and quality of hotels of Andalucía (RFGA) and the Span- on the Costa del Sol, and the con- ish Royal Golf Federation (RFEG). nections between Malaga province If the attempt is successful, this will and the principal airports in Europe,” be the first time since its creation says Bendodo. in 1990 that the Solheim Cup has The Costa del Sol’s candidacy, an- taken place in Spain, and only the nounced during the World Travel fourth time outside Britain. Market in London after a meeting The president of the Costa del Sol with representatives of the Ladies Tourist Board, Elías Bendodo, says European Tour, “is a historic oppor- that Malaga province has all the te- tunity which we can’t afford to chnical requirements, tourist faci- miss,” he says. lities and infrastructure necessary The Malaga provincial govern- to host the Solheim Cup, which is ment considers that its application the biggest women’s golf event in to host the Solheim Cup “is unbeat- the world. able and would be a recognition of Bendodo points out that the wo- the effort we put in to promoting men’s Open de España was held at women’s golf. This is evident be- La Quinta Golf & Country Club in cause we have hosted the Open de Benahavís, something which “con- España for three years as well as 62 firms that the Costa del Sol is a lea- per cent of the biggest women’s ding destination” in this sector. He tournaments which have taken also insists that “the province ful- place in Andalucía, such as the An- fils all the technical characteristics dalucía Cup, the Interclub, the Irma and has all the tourist infrastructu- Stemmann Selections Trophy and re needed to host a world sporting The Solheim Cup was created in 1990 and is very similar in format to the Ryder Cup. :: GETTY the International Pitch and Putt tors, and although there is no ments after years of ‘drought’ SEARCHING FOR A information about the econo- because of the economic crisis. mic impact, the income from The Junta de Andalucía is SUITABLE the sale of tickets and mer- committed to promoting the SONDHEIM COURSE chandising would go directly to region’s golf facilities via ma- the organisers. The amount of jor tournaments, aware that the investment would be offset competitions like the Masters by the publicity for the desti- at Valderrama have a potential The course upon which the nation, thanks to international audience of more than 400 mi- Solheim Cup would be played coverage of the Solheim Cup. llion homes with 15 hours of has yet to be chosen, although The European Tour, however, live TV broadcasts in source Marbella council has already would keep the TV rights. markets such as the UK, Fran- expressed an interest in parti- Sources consulted by this ce, Germany and the USA. cipating so it could well be pla- publication agree that the There are 102 golf courses in yed on one of the courses in three institutions are very Andalucía, of which approxi- that municipality. keen to organise the event, as mately half are in Malaga pro- The competition would part of the commitment to vince and just over 20 per cent attract around 70,000 specta- attract professional tourna- in Cadiz. The LET insists different technical requirements are met. :: GETTY December 2018 ANDALUCÍA 3 COSTA DEL GOLF M Championship”. major benefit for golf tourism, Costa del Sol still has a considerable Although he has not mentioned which is one of the most important margin for growth. specific dates, Elías Bendodo is con- sectors in the province, because “it Golf tourism in Malaga province fident that within a short time “we is an excellent way of attracting is led by players from the UK, fol- will be able to celebrate being the year-round tourism” to the area. lowed by Scandinavia, Norway, official host of the Solheim Cup, be- Although little information is France and Germany. This is an im- cause our proposal includes mak- available about the direct economic portant and strategic tourist pro- ing the Costa del Sol the mecca for impact of the Solheim Cup, the pro- file, because on average they spend women’s golf over ten years, with motors consider it “a tool of incal- 1,827 euros on their trip including the Solheim Cup taking place in the culable value for attracting Ameri- transport and accommodation, and years before and after the Spanish can visitors,” a market in which the about 148.46 euros a day on the golf Open”. course, which is far more than other types of tourist. Quality of the courses The promotors consider The biennial Solheim Cup is pla- Mark Lichtenhein, chairman of the that the tournament would yed by 12 teams representing Euro- Ladies European Tour, who attended pe and the USA and is one of the the Spanish Open, agrees that the be “ a tool of incalculable most popular sporting events in the Costa del Sol “is a prestigious des- value” in terms of publicity world. It takes place over three days, tination and is famous in the world for the Costa del Sol like the Ryder Cup, and numerous of golf for the number and quality activities are organised beforehand. of its golf courses”. He says “we must recognise the way the administra- tions have promoted women’s golf by hosting the final of the Women’s Open and, as it has more than 70 golf courses (67 per cent of all those in Andalucía), it is the European destination with the highest num- ber of facilities”. Bendodo stresses “the double im- portance” for the Costa del Sol in hosting the Solheim Cup in 2023, describing it as “a unique opportu- nity to showcase everything the whole province of Malaga has to of- fer in terms of tourism, and it will also reinforce our commitment to developing women’s golf, a field in which we have been working for years with the Royal Golf Federa- tion of Andalucía”. For the Costa del Sol Tourist Board, the Solheim Cup would be a The competition takes place every two years. :: GETTY The USA has dominated the competition in recent years. :: GETTY 4 ANDALUCÍA December 2018 COSTA DEL GOLF Azahara Muñoz, despite missing out on a treble, has ended the season strongly. :: JOSELE-LANZA Anne van Dam holds the Open de España trophy. :: JOSELE-LANZA Azahara Muñoz narrowly misses out on Open de España hat-trick don’t. So all that remains is for me Dutch player Anne Van Dam came out on top but the local star to congratulate Anne,” said Muñoz, who hadn’t conceded defeat and never gave up and fought right up to the final hole at La Quinta continued to fight the last two holes. Van Dam didn’t assume she had won until the 18th hole, when it was mathematically impossible for her to lose the tournament. That holes which were still pending from hesitant by then, barely managing was when she finally smiled. The ALEJANDRO the Saturday. That ended by two birdies throughout the whole tension had built up to an almost DÍAZ strengthening the position of Van course: a conservative strategy based unbearable level, and the young Dam, who then returned to the on pars which almost cost her the Dutch woman was aware that she course to play the definitive fourth victory. But at the aforementioned had been up against the ropes until round with a four-stroke advantage hole, just three away from the end just a few minutes earlier.