The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, a spectacular tournament fully established in the DP World Tour schedule, changes venue and arrives at the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande. The historic club, inextricably linked to the development of golf, hosts the ninth edition of a tournament won last year by the Spaniard Adrian Otaegui and that will take place from October 19-22.

The demanding greens of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande graduated some of the best European golfers in the past, since the Sotogrande jewel hosts the prestigious Sotogrande Cup whose winners include Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Padraig Harrington and Francesco Molinari. Undoubtedly, the timing of the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, in the decisive stage of the Race to Dubai, will allow a good number of golfers who faced the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande in their amateur days to compete again in its spectacular design.

In addition, Real Club de Golf Sotogrande pedigree also extends to the professional level, as explained by Mr. Jaime Salaverri Aguilar, President of the Real Club de Golf Sotogrande.

“I would like to start by expressing our gratitude for the invitation from DPWT to host the EDAM tournament at our Club. Although our focus as a Club is predominantly amateur – for over 50 years, we have been organizing the prestigious European Nations Championship - Sotogrande Cup – we are delighted to return to professional golf, which we enjoyed in the early years of this Club with Roberto de Vicenzo's victory in the 1964 Spanish Open and later with Severiano Ballesteros' triumph in the 1987 Spanish Professional Championship.

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to showcase the magnificent design of Robert Trent Jones – his first work in Europe – nestled in a beautiful cork oak forest located just 150 meters from the Mediterranean Sea, in the incomparable setting of the Strait of Gibraltar with views of two continents. Our Club was at the origin of the urbanization of Sotogrande, and its course was the first American-style course built in Europe. It features wide fairways, elevated and spacious greens with gentle undulations that allow for speed, that combined with the prevailing winds in the area is the most challenging part of our course.”

The Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, about to reach its sixtieth anniversary, will impeccably host the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters thanks to the team led by its head greenkeeper Patrick Allende and the work carried out during the last decade.

“Between 2015 and 2017, the 18-hole course and the rest of the playing and practice facilities underwent a complete restoration with the advice of American architect Roger Rulewich, who worked with Robert Trent Jones for many years, and his colleague David Fleury. The restoration kept the original design with minimal changes and brought back the traditional quality of Bermuda 419 grass on tees, fairways, and roughs, and Agrostis Penncross on the greens”, concluded Mr. Jaime Salaverri.

Its great field, the novelty of a spectacular stage and its location in the schedule are assets that, once again this year, will serve as a magnet for the public who will enjoy a new Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, a unique and ideal show for all audiences.

Adrian Otaegui claimed his fourth DP World Tour title with a six-shot victory at the 2022 Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters.

The Spaniard went into the final round with a six-stroke cushion and never gave the chasing pack an opportunity to catch him, firing four birdies and a single bogey in a closing 68 at Real Club Valderrama to finish on 19 under par, setting a new tournament record.

Joakim Lagergren finished alone in second after posting a final-round 68 to climb up the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.

The Swede began the week 127th in the standings but moves into the top 50 following an impressive performance in Sotogrande.

Australia's Min Woo Lee was three shots further back in solo third, two ahead of local Angel Hidalgo, whose fourth-placed finish moved him to 88th on the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex.

Winner's Quotes 

Adrian Otaegui: Very proud. I feel so happy to have my first win in Spain in front of these crowds on my favourite golf course in Spain. It’s unbelievable. I’m happy with everything, the week was perfect. 

I just tried to play my game, tried to play as if I had just teed off being all square. Just tried to beat the others, stay focused and play every hole with the same intensity.

The whole week the crowds were absolutely amazing, especially yesterday and today. The scenery was amazing with the narrow fairways, the cork trees and all the spectators, all the kids.

It’s tough to describe to be honest, I’m very happy with the way the whole week went. Very happy the way I managed today because it was my first time with such a big shot difference. Just very happy with the way I played. 

I would like to thank Valderrama for hosting us. I always feel like I’m at home when I’m here. I’m just so happy to have my first victory in Spain. 

It’s my favourite golf course in Spain and probably in the world right now. I love playing here, it’s just a garden and it is very special for me to have my first victory in Spain in Valderrama. 

The plan was to start strong, forget the shot difference I had and just try to beat the others. I started good, had a birdie chance on the first and on the second, had a par save on number three. Two very good putts on four and five gave me a little bit of momentum and just tried to keep pushing.

I played very well until the end. A couple of putts that didn’t drop on the back nine, but I tried to follow the plan and I think I did well.

The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai made possible by the essential contribution of the Real Club Valderrama, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte of the Junta de Andalucía, jointly funded by the EU and was declared Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government of Spain.

Spain's Adrian Otaegui leads the 2022 Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters by six shots after posting a third-round 64.

Otaegui carded eight birdies and one bogey on Saturday to head into the final round on 16 under par, with countryman Angel Hidalgo and Swede Joakim Lagergren his nearest challengers on ten under.

Home hope Hidalgo came into the week 130th on the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex but has put himself in a brilliant position to climb up the charts.

The 24 year old  delighted the bumper crowds at Real Club Valderrama with a tremendous closing birdie to sign for a 70 which contained four birdies and three bogeys. 

Lagergren, meanwhile, made an eagle, five birdies - including four in a row from the 11th - and three bogeys in his 67.

Australia's Min Woo Lee was another shot back in fourth, two ahead of fifth-placed Robert MacIntyre of Scotland. 

Player Quotes 

Adrian Otaegui: I’m very happy, everything went perfectly today. I putted well, I felt very comfortable. The crowds were pushing amazingly, so that was unbelievable. 

I had a very good start with a nice birdie on the second and then three birdies in a row at four, five, six and that gave me a bit of momentum. I felt good on the course, tried to enjoy it, tried to stay focused. I missed a couple of birdie putts at the beginning of the front nine but finished with three good birdies. 

I’ve been trying to just play Valderrama. Be on the fairway, be on the green on the good side, and the ball was going where I wanted it to go. There are not many different ways to play Valderrama, other courses you can play holes a lot of different ways and still make a birdie. At Valderrama you need to play the good sides, so that was the key. 

Angel Hidalgo: It was an amazing round. A lot of pressure on the first shot, the most pressure I have ever had, but I’m really happy. I’m happy with the score, with the feelings, and we’ll see what happens tomorrow. 

The other players have pressure to win the tournament, but I have more pressure because I’m fighting for the card for next year. 

I’m close to my home town, I have spectators following me, so that gave me a lot of confidence. A big push for tomorrow.

(The mindset for tomorrow is) try to beat the course. The key is don’t try to beat him, if it’s another day like today there is no chance because Adrian was so good. I will try to beat the course and see what happens.

Joakim Lagergren: That was some proper golf today. Scrambling around like I was today… I was all over the place, I’ve seen every bit of Valderrama. My scrambling was good, but I need to be better off the tee.  

I didn’t play very good on eight, nine, ten, so I was just trying to have some good swings, some good shots. I eventually found a fairway on 11 and took advantage of that. Hit a good iron shot on 12, had a good gap on 13 and hit another fairway on 14. 

As soon as you hit a fairway on this course you get yourself in good spots to make birdies. I think I took every chance I could out there today. 

First of all I need to be a bit straighter off the tee. It is a bit exhausting to be hitting these different kinds of shots off the trees all the time. If I’m better off the tee, my iron play, my wedge game is pretty good and my putting is certainly good. If I find some fairways tomorrow it could be interesting.

Enjoying this DP World Tour event is easy and tickets are available at experiences.dpworldtour.com/edam or at Real Club Valderrama's box office (credit or debit card payment required).

The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai made possible by the essential contribution of the Real Club Valderrama, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte of the Junta de Andalucía, jointly funded by the EU and was declared Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government of Spain.

The grounds crew of Real Club Valderrama, site of this eighth Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters, stands out for the experience accumulated in 28 DP World Tour events, including the 1997 Ryder Cup, and for a unique female quartet in the golf industry formed by Maria Dolores, Estefania, Maria, and Nancy.

As the four women of the team of almost 30 people led by Adolfo Ramos explained, they are in charge of "cutting fairways, fumigating, cutting some greens, drying the course with blowers, trimming the tee boxes, cleaning troughs, cutting hedges", practically all the maintenance work of a golf course.

"Learning day by day everything to do in a course with this level of demand is already a lot," said Estefania, from El Tesorillo (Cádiz), who switched nursing for gardening. "It's a privilege to work outdoors on a golf course, although I don't play it because I really hate losing."

In 2007, she followed the example of Maria, with 25 years of experience, and Maria Dolores, the oldest of the group, who joined Valderrama in 1988 to "pull the weeds that men could not remove", since it was a more delicate and detailed work.

"I enjoy what I do, the type of work, the camaraderie, being outdoors. It is great to see more women joining us and the fantastic relationships we have created," said Maria Dolores, who has been working on the course for three years after three decades preparing food for the team.

Maria Dolores, Maria, and Estefania have embraced newcomer Nancy, originally from Ecuador, who joined the staff six months ago. "Here I do everything, I'm learning to cut fairways and prepare bunkers," said Nancy, before explaining the methodical raking of the close to one hundred sand traps in Valderrama.

Adolfo Ramos, Valderrama's Head Greenkeeper since 2010, after a period in the United States and the United Kingdom, does not know of any other grounds crew with four women.  He still remembers when he started an internship in Valderrama two decades ago, and Maria Dolores and Maria taught him how to cut.

"At the end of the day, women are part of the team, neither better nor worse, they are just one more of us," said Adolfo and seconded Kelly, an agronomist of Brazilian descent working at nearby Atalaya Golf Country Club. "I like to learn the process, the technique, it has been very interesting," said Kelly, volunteering as the fifth woman on the team for this week.

And as they explain themselves, after several decades of experience, the women in the Real Club Valderrama grounds crew have gone through more competitions and "made more cuts" than many of the players in the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters.

Enjoying this DP World Tour event is easy, since individual day tickets, weekend passes or season tickets are available at experiences.dpworldtour.com/edam or at Real Club Valderrama's box office (credit or debit card payment required).

The Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucía Masters, an event in the DP World Tour’s Race to Dubai made possible by the essential contribution of the Real Club Valderrama, is sponsored by Estrella Damm and the Consejería de Turismo, Cultura y Deporte of the Junta de Andalucía, jointly funded by the EU and was declared Event of Exceptional Public Interest by the Government of Spain.