Spain

PGA Catalunya Resort retains ‘#1 in Spain’ status

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PGA Catalunya Resort - Stadium Course - Hole 11

PGA Catalunya Resort retains ‘#1 in Spain’ status

– Top honours in latest Today’s Golfer travel awards –
– Spain’s No.1 & Continental Europe’s No.3 in top100golfcourses.co.uk’s 2106-2017 rankings –
– ‘Best Golf Development Europe’ for second consecutive time –

(PGA Catalunya Resort, Barcelona – January 21, 2016) PGA Catalunya Resort, near Barcelona, has celebrated the start of the 2016 season in style by securing a trio of important accolades that reconfirm its status as home to Spain’s #1 course and one of the best in Europe.

The Stadium Course was voted ‘Best Course’ in Spain by readers of influential UK golf magazine, Today’s Golfer, as part of its annual Travel Awards, and maintained its place at the top of the latest www.Top100GolfCourses.co.uk Spanish ranking – a position it has held since 2012.

The European Tour Destination’s championship layout also retained its number 3 ranking in www.Top100GolfCourses.co.uk‘s 2016-2017 Continental European listing and was featured among the Spanish courses in Golf Digest’s recently announced ‘Best Golf Courses in 206 Countries’ classification, underlining the venue’s standing in European golf.

“It is no surprise PGA Catalunya Resort emerged a handsome – and deserved – winner of Spain’s Best Course category in the latest Today’s Golfer Travel Awards,” commented Today’s Golfer courses editor, Kevin Brown.

“The venue continues to go from strength to strength and, in one of the most keenly-contested sections, the classy Costa Brava resort reigns supreme as the King of Spain.”

These latest accolades follow the venue’s second consecutive International Property Award for ‘Best Golf Development Europe’, which was judged by a high-calibre jury of 70 international property and architecture experts.

David Plana, Chief Executive Officer of PGA Catalunya Resort, added: “2016 is an important year for PGA Catalunya Resort, especially with more new initiatives in the pipeline, but our objective still remains the same, to offer every visitor a truly world class, memorable experience.

“The Today’s Golfer travel accolade is one we are particularly proud of, as it is based entirely on consumer opinion, and we are extremely grateful to everyone who voted for us.”

For more information about PGA Catalunya Resort, visit: www.pgacatalunya.com

Legacy of Spain’s 2022 Ryder Cup Bid will help promote female a & disabled golfer participation

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CBB2022+RYDER CUP_email logo

Legacy of Spain’s 2022 Ryder Cup Bid will help promote female a & disabled golfer participation
As a key cornerstone to its legacy of hosting The 2022 Ryder Cup, Spain aims to use the enhanced profile, awareness and investment of the biennial event to help increase the country’s female and disabled golfer participation levels.  
The Royal Spanish Golf Federation (RFEG) intends to change the way golf is perceived in order to inspire the next generation of players and boost development and participation levels.
As part of its 12-year ‘Ryder Cup Plus’ strategy, the RFEG will continue to invest in the game, to address some of the specific aspects raised by both female and disabled golfers, such as flexible playing options, access to facilities and coaching opportunities.
Jorge Sagardoy, General Secretary of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation (RFEG), said: “We are committed to increasing golf participation levels among female and disabled golfers.
“The Ryder Cup’s universal appeal provides a huge opportunity for the country to raise interest and awareness of the game and to encourage more people to enjoy golf.
“Already, over 30% of our members are women, which is a much higher proportion than other leading Spanish sports such as football or basketball. If we are successful in our bid, we aim to use the ‘2022 effect’ to help increase female membership levels to more than 40%.
“Research has shown that, as young female players progress through the age groups, golf can feel intimidating and inaccessible, but the RFEG aims to counter this by introducing a girls-only competition for 6 – 16 year olds. The concept has already been successfully piloted in Madrid and as part of our ‘Ryder Cup Plus’ strategy, all regional golf federations will implement the scheme over the coming years.”
In addition, Spain’s ‘Ryder Cup Plus’ plan will also see increased investment aimed at attracting more disabled golfers to take up the game should the 2022 Match come to Catalunya. This would complement the already established Spanish Adaptive Championships, which attracted 29 competitors from across the country in 2015 and continues to see participation levels increase each year.
Jorge continues: “The Adaptive Golf Committee in Spain has already successfully set up 33 schools across the country for disabled individuals. These schools run specialised golf tuition courses, which are led by qualified professionals and help to support learning and progress.
“We will continue to invest in schools and learning facilities to help encourage more people to play and enjoy this great game.”
Ryder Cup Europe will announce the successful host nation in Winter 2015.
Find out more about our bid: www.costabravabarcelona2022.com

Spain’s Ryder Cup Bid 2022 In Numbers

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As the race to select the host for The 2022 Ryder Cup enters the final stages, Spain has outlined its credentials to host golf’s biggest event:

  • €1.2 billion – the value of golf to the Spanish economy every year
  • 500 million – the TV audience The Ryder Cup reaches globally
  • 183 – countries in which The Ryder Cup is broadcast
  • 250,000 – spectators expected to attend The 2022 Ryder Cup over six days
  • 1,000,000 – children projected to be introduced to golf through Spain’s ‘Ryder Cup Plus’ junior inclusion programme
  • 1 – Spain’s proposed venue, PGA Catalunya Resort, near Barcelona, voted Europe’s Best Golf Resort 2015 by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators
  • 6,705m – length of PGA Catalunya Resort’s critically-acclaimed Stadium course, one of the longest in Europe
  • 70,000 – number of spectators Spain’s Ryder Cup transport solution can move at the start and end of each day
  • 25,000 – car parking spaces, all within a 10 minutes’ drive of PGA Catalunya Resort
  • 300km/h – top speed of the AVE trains that connect Girona and Barcelona
  • 107,937 – hotel rooms within 150km of Spain’s candidate venue
  • 184 – number of European Tour events staged in Spain since 1972 (91 more than any other mainland Europe country)
  • 1912 – year of the first Open de España; still going strong after 103 years
  • 36 – appearances by Spanish golfers in The Ryder Cup team since 1979
  • 8 – times Seve Ballesteros contested The Ryder Cup as a player
  • 2 – Ryder Cup Winning captains from Spain: Seve Ballesteros and José María Olazábal
Commenting on Spain’s candidacy for The 2022 Match, Gonzaga Escauriaza, President of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation (RFEG), said: “Our bid is centred on three concepts – History, Certainty and Passion. No other country in mainland Europe has contributed more to European and Ryder Cup golf, and our proposed venue is one of the finest and best linked in Europe. Furthermore, our bid sponsors share a unified passion to bring this, one of the world’s biggest sporting events, to Catalunya in 2022.”
Ryder Cup Europe, alongside a panel of independent experts, is currently analysing the four bids. An announcement of the successful host country and venue for The 2022 Ryder Cup expected this autumn.
Find out more about our bid: www.costabravabarcelona2022.com

President of Catalunya lends his support to Spain’s bid for The 2022 Ryder Cup

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President of Catalunya lends his support to Spain’s bid for The 2022 Ryder Cup

Artur Mas, President of Generalitat De Catalunya, formally backed Spain’s bid for The 2022 Ryder Cup by welcoming Ryder Cup Director Richard Hills to Barcelona..

The formal reception was a conclusion of the evaluation visit originally conducted by Ryder Cup Europe in March 2015 – the schedule for which was curtailed by the Germanwings disaster.

President Mas was joined by senior leaders from across the region of Catalunya to reinforce the institutional support for bringing The 2022 Ryder Cup Match to Spain.

Speaking of the visit, Richard Hills said: “For us, political support is important and something we take into consideration when making our evaluation. It is encouraging to see institutional support, led by President Mas, for bringing The Ryder Cup to Catalunya”.

Speaking of the Spanish bid, Mr Hills added: “The Costa Brava Barcelona 2022 bid has many strengths and I am impressed by the progress made to date. In July, we will make a further evaluation visit to PGA Catalunya Resort. Spain has an obvious important historical link to our event through Severiano Ballesteros and has some very patriotic support from Sergio García, Miguel Ángel Jiménez and José María Olazábal.”

Spain is the only country on mainland Europe to have previously hosted a Ryder Cup. When asked about this, Mr Hills replied: “The fact that Spain played host to the 32nd Match at Valderama in 1997 is no impediment to hosting the event again”.

When questioned about the other bidding nations, Richard Hills concluded: “We have four very strong candidates. I foresee narrowing it down to one being the hardest part of this process.”

Ryder Cup Europe will announce the successful host for The 2022 Ryder Cup Match in Autumn 2015.

Find out more about the bid: www.costabravabarcelona2022.com