Sotogrande Finest Golf Courses
San Roque Club New Course
A Review by Trevor Ledger
The smaller greens and the reward offered for well struck pitch and run shots give San Roque New a variety that perhaps the other courses in the area do not.
In terms of infrastructure and positioning in the market, the San Roque New Course sits alongside the Old in terms of conditioning and quality. However from our group’s perspective it stands above it.
As a venue for European Tour Qualifying School and a host of a PGA Tour Event, it clearly has pedigree to test the best but it is the differences from the other courses in the region that perhaps set it apart.Perry Dye knew what he was doing it when he designed it ready for a 2005 opening.
For a start San Roque New is much tighter than the other courses listed; miss a fairway here and there is a very real chance of a lost ball although, to ease the speed of play, such areas are classed as lateral water hazards.
The tightness of fairways is mirrored by the landscape in which the course is laid out – steep barrancas and deep valleys offer views across the entire Sotogrande region and such precipitous geography is replicated in the well-defined mounding around the course.
All of which makes the New course at San Roque feel very personal with each hole slowly presenting itself as you progress along it.
The individual nature of each hole is apparent from the outset – except for the feature holes around the water hazards which abut each other – and although cart paths are there, they are very much hidden and rightly so.
This course is built for walking, it is so photogenic and full of little surprises that to rush round it in a cart would be an injustice. Despite the very Mediterranean scenery and the American penchant for fairway mounding, this course seems somehow more English.
The smaller greens and the reward offered for well struck pitch and run shots give San Roque New a variety that perhaps the other courses in the area do not.
While Valderrama stood out as a favourite, San Roque New is challenging it very closely and with an increased maintenance budget could most likely surpass it.
Excellent value for money.
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Trevor Ledger, Golf Collections Project Cataloguer, Special Collections Division, St Andrews University, Scotland.Trevor has worked as an editor and contributor to many golf industry publications. In the past he has held the position of Editor at ‘Golf Course News International’ and ‘The Golf Course Magazine’, as well as Contributing Editor of ‘Golf Inc.’.
In a freelance capacity he has contributed to publications such as Golf Punk, Golf World and Golf Monthly.