MARCH 2019 businesstraveller.com78
GOLF
CLUB DE GOLF LA DEHESA
WHERE IS IT? 30km west of Madrid
WHAT’S IT LIKE? For a British club golfer, this is
the perfect home from home. The relaxed members’
club welcomes strangers with an absence of airs and
graces – by no means always the case in a country where
protocol can prevail. The walkable layout rambles across
open countryside, the stands of pines interspersed with
deciduous trees. For the first-timer, hole 1, a short
downhill par-4 with card-wrecking potential in the form
of an angled blind shot across a ravine to the green,
comes as a bit of a shock. Negotiate it and the way is
clear for the rest of a benign front nine along the river.
The fairways are wide, the water fowl at peace and the
views of the snowy Sierra de Guadarrama outstanding.
Beware complacency: Manuel Pinero, one of Spain’s
leading golf architects, ramps up the technical challenge
on the back nine. A horseshoe lake provides a spectacular
climax to both loops, although the tee shot to the island
green at the 18th is more likely to end up in the water.
CONTACT Avenida Universidad 10, 28691 Villanueva
de la Canada, Madrid; tel +34 (0) 91 815 7022;
golfladehesa.es
PRICE 18 holes weekdays €50, weekends €85, with
member €27/€45. Bugg y €28; club hire €35 (Callaway).
CLUB HOURS Weekdays from 9am summer, 9.30am
winter; weekends 7am summer, 8am winter.
MAXIMUM HANDICAP 36 recommended.FACILITIES 18 holes, 6,037m, par 72. Driving range,
practice area and putting green.
AFTER THE GOLF La Dehesa has a traditional 19th
hole in the form of a semicircular bar with high stools
and zinc-topped tables. Breakfast from 9am; three-
course lunch with drink and coffee €25. Restaurant open
until 9.30pm. La Dehesa has tennis, squash and padel
courts, a football pitch, kids’ play areas and a pool.REAL SOCIEDAD HIPICA
ESPANOLA
WHERE IS IT? 30km north of Madrid
WHAT’S IT LIKE? The Sociedad Hipica Club de Campo
opened as an equestrian centre in 1901, attaining royal
status when golf was incorporated seven years later. At
the end of the Spanish Civil War, the clubs merged,
eventually finding a permanent home near the Escorial
in 1990. US architect Robert von Hagge used every trick
in the design book to devise two superb courses on hilly
terrain. The snow-capped sierra provides a magnificent
backdrop to multi-level fairways and tight, hostile greens.
Campo Norte, host to the Spanish Open in 2007, is
the more prestigious. Laid out in two loops of nine with
long walks from green to tee, it is a bugg y must for all
but the most resolute pedestrians. Doglegs dominate,
putting a premium on club selection and strateg y. There
are four large lakes on the back nine, but the front nine
sets more subtle traps, notably on the 4th, where a creekFROM LEFT:
Club de Golf
La Dehesa;
Real
Sociedad
Hipica
Espanola
FAR RIGHT,
TOP AND
BOTTOM: Golf
Santander