What Would An Average Golfer Shoot Around Valderrama?
The Golf Monthly forum has its say...
What would you score around Valderrama?
The Andalucia Masters at Valderrama was won with a winning score of six under by Matt Fitzpatrick and that was good enough for a three-shot victory.
Fourteen players finished the week under par while World No. 1 Jon Rahm missed the cut on 10 over.
Valderrama is consistently one of the toughest tests in the game with seemingly good tee shots blocked out, approaches have to be pin-point accurate and the greens are generally like lightning.
Get out of position and a bogey is a great score, put yourself in position and bogey is quite often a great score.
We asked our forum members how they thought they might get on at the the 1997 Ryder Cup venue…
What would you score around Valderrama?
Robert Lee has just said during the final round that Matt Fitzpatrick is returning to Valderrama later this year with a bunch of his mates, and he has offered £100 to any of them that break 80.
Golfnut1957
Listening to Mark Roe we’d all shoot 100 and 4 putt every green. Mate of mine off 5 handicap shot a 78 but I don’t think the greens were running at 13 and he wasn’t off the back tees. Roe might be right about the putting…..as Fitzpatrick was holing out he said it was probably 15 on the stimp around the hole.
Junior
Not that difficult from the yellows, had 27 points but had a massive slice all day which I don’t normally have. Did putt off the green into the water from behind the 17th though. Decent par chance turned into an eight…
Bobthesock
Played it off the yellows. Not long but tight, tighter than it looks as you can get blocked out. Greens are small but if you can handle a lob wedge no reason you shouldn’t play to handicap. Perfectly manicured. When I played it the bunkers had crushed white marble instead of sand, which was weird, although I believe this may have changed now.
CountLippe
Honestly? Sub 120 I’d probably be happy!
hairball_89
Have watched the Andalucian Masters there a few times, and it is incredibly tight. Just hitting a fairway doesn’t guarantee a shot at the green. Definitely need a good short game as you are going to miss a lot of the small greens. That rules me out. Think I would rather play a Stableford than a medal round there. 24 points with five blobs.
richart
We got kicked out just for taking photos. We were playing San Roque up the road, swung by the car park and lasted two minutes by the 18th green before we were politely asked to do one. So I am level for my time spent there.
Canfordhacker
We wandered in no problem, it was the day before the tournament started. We had just played San Roque and were wearing golf clothing, so maybe the security thought we were on tour . We had a good chat with some of the Italian and Swedish players. Just beautifully manicured, even the targets on the practice ground were better than the greens at your average golf course. The fairways were normal width, but the overhanging branches of the trees made their effective width much narrower.
sunshine
Hard to say having never having seen the course, if the slope is 133 it’s lower than my home club which is 134, so who knows..
patricks148
Mine is 139 off the whites and 138 off the yellows, so I’d imagine it would be easy peasy for me
rudebhoy
Many people equating slope with difficulty. Course rating is more a true measure of difficulty. The blue tees are rated 76.1, more than five over par. The blue slope is 147. I’m single figures and I don’t think I would break 120.
IanMcC
A lot. Each to their own, but it’s not really my idea of an enjoyable day out.
pendodave
I think I shot 107 when I played it some 25 years ago! I’ve still got the scorecard somewhere!
Bratty
78 off the back tees when I played it a few years ago. Made par on 17th which was a highlight.
DaveR
Played it a few times in some corp pro-am betterball type things, only time I ever kept score round there I shot 71.
theoneandonly
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