The jewel in Javier Arana’s crown, as the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid is commonly known, will host a new edition of the ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid from 7 to 10 October in what will be the historic tournament’s tenth visit to the famous Madrid course.
Born in Getxo in 1905, considered in his own right to be one of the most prestigious golf-course designers in our country’s history, Javier Arana was also responsible for layouts such as El Saler, the old RCG El Prat and RCG Guadalmina, where the essence of Arana’s design lives on today, something the man himself described beautifully; “The essential thing about a hole is that it must either be more difficult than it appears or appear more difficult than it really is”.
It is under this axiom that the ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid will be staged. The established European Tour event will enjoy the presence of most of the continent’s best golfers and the recent memory of John Rahm’s sensational victory at the 2019 edition, when the Basque player equalled the lowest ever score in the 92 editions of the Open de España (22 under par).
The history of the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid goes back to 1952, when it opened as a nine-hole course designed by Javier Arana. Four years later, 9 became 18 when Arana was able to develop nine new holes and remodel the original 9. In the 60s, Javier Arana built another nine holes and the course changed slightly such that the 15th and 18th became the current 7th and 9th. In 1993, Severiano Ballesteros would complete the CC Villa de Madrid with another nine holes to define what we now know as the black and yellow courses.
Nine Opens de España, nine different winners
The Open de España’s relationship with the CC Villa de Madrid so far includes nine thrilling contests, the first coming in 1957 with Max Faulkner’s victory. Three years later, home fans would witness the first of three Spanish triumphs at an Open de España hosted by the Madrid course. Sebastián Miguel, a pioneer of Spanish golf came out on top in 1960, after which the tournament would take a long break from the club’s greens and fairways.
It was in 1982, when Sam Torrance hoisted the cup to the Madrid sky, that the CC Villa de Madrid would once again host an Open de España, before a much closer relationship was established in the 90s, when the course provided the stage for no fewer than five editions of the competition.
Rodger Davis (1990), Eduardo Romero (1991), Colin Montgomerie (1994), Severiano Ballesteros (1995) and Padraig Harrington (1996) were the five champions those years produced, with a special mention for the genius from Pedreña and what would be his last win in our country.
We would have to wait another 23 years until the Open de España and CC Villa de Madrid would cross paths again, this time in 2019, when John Rahm took the spoils -for the second consecutive year-, with a record-equalling low score that is even more impressive when you consider that his total was 10 fewer shots than the number Padraig Harrington signed for in 1996, the previous record for an Open de España winner at the beautiful Javier Arana designed course.
WINNERS OF THE OPEN DE ESPAÑA AT THE CC VILLA DE MADRID
1957 Max Faulkner (283)
1960 Sebastián Miguel (286)
1965 Canada Cup (South Africa) (571)
1982 Sam Torrance (273)
1990 Rodger Davis (277)
1991 Eduardo Romero (275)
1994 Colin Montgomerie (277)
1995 Severiano Ballesteros (274)
1996 Padraig Harrington (272)
2019 Jon Rahm (262)
