About The Course

Real Club Valderrama, Sotogrande, Andalucía, Spain

Key Facts

• Ranked among the top courses in the world, Real Club Valderrama has hosted numerous professional events, including the legendary 1997 Ryder Cup.
• Valderrama was originally designed by famed golf architect Robert Trent Jones in 1974. Jones was brought back to work on the course when Jaime Ortiz-Patiño bought the course in the mid-1980s.
• Valderrama is widely considered to be the “Augusta of Europe” for its championship pedigree, and is home to several iconic holes, notably the natural ampitheater on 17.
• Sergio García produced one of the most memorable moments in LIV Golf history by winning the individual event here in 2024, while Talor Gooch has won the solo prize on both our other two visits.

Full Story

This is the one they all want to win. The course that breaks hearts and makes greatness, where every single hole is a signature in itself.

Valderrama is known as the ‘Augusta of Europe’ and if you’ve ever strolled beneath its famous cork trees, you’ll understand why. But even if you know Valderrama like the back of your hand, come take a tour with us anyway. Who knows... maybe you'll discover something new along the way.

What happened before we got here?

Valderrama isn’t as old as you might think. In fact, it’s only just turned 50. But boy, has it packed a lot into its first half-century.

The course was built for championship golf, having been designed by the legendary Robert Trent Jones (whose signature course in Virginia also featured on the 2025 LIV Golf schedule). Then, in 1984, it was taken over by Spanish magnate Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, who called Jones back to southern Spain and asked him to make it even better.

Jones's redesign transformed Valderrama from a good course into a great one; his most famous feature, the natural grass bowl over the 17th green, has become one of the most recognizable images in golf.

The pro tournaments began to roll in the late 1980s, and then, in 1997, came that Ryder Cup showdown, arguably the greatest of all time. No one who saw that epic duel, either on the course or on TV, will forget the US charge on Sunday, with a young Phil Mickelson in the lineup.

The US couldn’t quite pull off the heist that day, but their heroic comeback set the tone. Valderrama became a place of miracles, a place that brought the best from the best. Just ask our Smash GC star Graeme McDowell, who produced an albatross here in 2007.

What's happened since LIV Golf arrived?

No one, no one, is bound to Valderrama more closely than Fireballs GC captain Sergio García. El Niño has claimed four (yep, four!) victories beneath the cork trees, and at LIV Golf Andalucía 2024, he produced arguably his greatest feat yet.

In front of an electric home crowd shouting 'Vamos Sergio!' and waving red and yellow flags, García roared back on Sunday to pip Anirban Lahiri to the individual title in a play-off. And to top things off, his Fireballs then claimed the team title, again in a play-off - the first and only time golf has witnessed two tie-breakers on the same day.

In 2025 Sergio's fellow Spaniard, Jon Rahm, nearly produced his own coemback win in the individual stakes. On Championship Sunday he reeled off six birdies in a round of -6, pulling in the runaway leader Talor Gooch. But the American held his nerve however, securing a par on the 18th to win by a single stroke and secure his second LIV Golf Andalucía title, having won on our first visit in 2023.

How does it play?

As Rahm, who has suffered an agonising string of near-misses at Valderrama says, there’s no luck here This is a course with no gimme holes, and you have to really think your way around the course rather than just bashing the rubber out the ball.

Look at the scores from our previous events. Of our three visits so far, the best winning score has been -12 over three days. You're not going to shoot 10 under in a day too often at Valderrama; simply finishing under par is often a good result.

Who does it favor?

Well, we gotta say Sergio, right? He's played this course a million times, won a bunch here and he's got the perfect game to do well. But really, any player has a shot here, provided they do the basics well and stay consistent.

Look at Talor Gooch. He's won two of the three individual titles at LIV Golf Andalucía thus far, and his game is all about doing the simple things well. His 2025 season stats put him top 10 for greens in regulation, fairways hit and scrambling, and that tells you all you need to know, really.

This may be one of the most beautiful courses in Europe, but the secret to success isn't flash or pretty. It's about grinding out a score, hole after hole, day after day, and letting the magic of Valderrama do the work.

Want to relive Sergio's epic playoff win in 2024? Check out the highlights here.