Besides the 132 players competing in the ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid this year, the other star of the show is undoubtedly the black course at Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, which is in even better condition than in 2019.
“It’s all thanks to the spectacular work of the greenkeepers at the CCVM, they are the ones who have put in the most hours and worked the hardest so that we can present the course in these conditions this week. The players coming from the US won’t be able to tell the difference because the conditions are like on the PGA Tour”, said David Gomez, the head of the Real Federación Española de Golf, who supervised and contributed to the maintenance work over the last two months.
Greenkeepers are used to working against the clock as they prepare for an event, but in this year’s tournament they have had more time to put the finishing touches on the course for the ACCIONA Open de España presented by Madrid, and they have certainly made the most of it because the players will be walking on an expanse of green carpet for the next four days.
“The course is amazing, you can see how much they’ve put into it in recent months, because it’s a pleasure to play here. I’m from Madrid, I’ve played at the CCVM loads of times, and I’ve never seen the course like this. Although it’s not as firm as it could be because of the rain on Sunday, it’s impeccable. I would have preferred a little more rough to make it more difficult, but if you have to shoot -22 or -23 to win, I’ll give it a shot,” said Sebastián García during the Pro-Am.
Santiago Tarrío, playing on an invitation he earned thanks to his spectacular season on the Challenge Tour, was also full of praise for the course: “The greens are very, very fast and I’m sure it will firm up during the week after the rain, so things will be tricky by Sunday. At the moment, with soft fairways and receptive greens, the course is longer, but on the other hand you can go at the flags more”.
Jon Rahm himself also congratulated the tournament on the condition of the course through Miguel Vidaor, the tournament director, whom he told during the pro-am that the course is in even better condition than in 2019. Many players have complimented the work of David Gómez and the greenkeepers at the club, but we’ll leave you with the words of Canary Islander Rafa Cabrera-Bello, who is back in Madrid after his runner-up finish in 2019: “I played 18 holes this morning and the condition of the course is stunning. It was very good last time, but this year it’s on another level”.
