Alfonso Piñero, the Club de Campo Villa de Madrid maintenance and management team adviser, gives us an exhaustive analysis of Javier Arana’s 18-hole layout. What is the best way to play the course? What are its secrets? We take a hole-by-hole look:
Hole 1 (par 4): Tee 20 yards further back, increasing the difficulty of the drive, the bunker on the left-hand side is now the reference point. A fade is required with a driver or 3-wood, leaving a second shot with anything from a 6-iron to a wedge. The most difficult pin position on this small, narrow green is back right.
Hole 2 (par 4): This tee has also been moved back 25 yards, so the bunkers on the left (300 yards) now come into play. The second shot is a similar length to the approach on the first hole – from a wedge to a 7 iron – , into a more level green, where the easy pin is at the front and the most challenging is middle-right.
Hole 3 (par 3): The front flag is the most difficult here because of how narrow it is and if you miss on either side, a bogey or double is likely. The back pin is more accessible since if you miss there is more space to recover.
Hole 4 (par 5): The tee has moved back 10 yards, meaning that the landing area in the fairway is now at 285 yards. Into the wind it becomes very challenging, but otherwise it is a good birdie chance. The rough on the right will be very thick for the Open de España, but if they are able to steer clear of that they will not have any difficulty. The back-left flag is dangerous, we will see a number of three-putts there.
Hole 5 (par 4): A strategic hole where players can elect to tee off with either an iron or a driver, according to how challenging the rough on the left is. They will have a second shot with anything from a 7 iron to a wedge, depending on their strategy. Not a complex green, but the back-right pin is one to be wary of.
Hole 6 (par 4): The normal club off the tee here is a 2 iron or hybrid to take the ditch out of play. Some players might decide to carry it, but there is little reward for this. As with most greens, a flag short of the tier is the simplest, but the top is very tough.
Hole 7 (par 5): This is a recovery hole where the “new” tee from three years ago puts the bunker at 300 yards, which the big hitters will be able to carry without difficulty. Care needs to be taken with the thick rough we have let grow up on the left, as if the ball bounces on the downslope it may run into trouble. Pins at the back of the green are the tough ones because of all the contours, which are, in reality, this hole’s main defence. We will see a lot of birdies and the odd eagle here because the green is within reach with an iron.
Hole 8 (par 4): The simplest hole on the course, although a drive missed to the right will leave players in a tight spot because we’ve let the rough grow extremely thick there. The back-middle pin position is the most difficult, but players shouldn’t struggle too much.
Hole 9 (par 3): They won’t be hitting more than a 7 or 8 iron from the tee. The lateral tier that divides the green makes the short-right flag the tricky one, but if they are faced with an easy pin (left-hand side), players that get stuck on the top tier may be staring a three putt in the face.
