The San Roque Club occupies a 130-hectare estate in the foothills of the Sierra Bermeja that was once the summer home of the Domecq sherry dynasty, and the family’s mansion still serves as the clubhouse. Dave Thomas laid out the Old Course through the ancient cork oak woods, and it opened in 1990 at a reported cost of a million dollars a hole. It was quick to establish itself: within a few years it was spoken of alongside Valderrama and Real Club de Golf Sotogrande as the third point of the Golden Triangle of Spanish golf, and it has kept that standing for more than three decades.

---

The course

This is classic parkland golf, and the cork oaks do most of the defending. Fairways are tighter than they first appear and lined with mature trees that punish anything wayward off the tee, so the course rewards precision over power and many players club down rather than reach for driver. The greens are on the small side, elevated, well protected and full of subtle breaks, which puts a real premium on iron play and short game.

The character shifts across the round. The front nine runs through the densest cork oak woodland, while water becomes the theme on the back nine, most memorably at the short 15th and the par-four 17th. Other holes players single out are the par-five 2nd, which turns sharply right past deep bunkering, and the 10th, where water sits in front of the green and forces a genuine risk and reward decision. The 18th climbs uphill back to the clubhouse, which makes for a proper finish.

Seve Ballesteros later reworked all the bunkering on the Old Course, and a full renovation was completed in June 2021, so the layout playing today is a refreshed version of Thomas’s design rather than a tired one. It plays to a par of 72 at around 6,311 to 6,494 metres depending on tees, and the terrain undulates enough in places to open up views to the Mediterranean and the surrounding hills.

---

Course facts

• Opened: 1990
• Architect: Dave Thomas, with bunkering redesigned by Severiano Ballesteros
• Renovation: completed June 2021
• Par: 72
• Length: approximately 6,494 metres, playing to around 6,311 from the standard tees
• Style: parkland, through cork oak forest
• Setting: the former Domecq family estate, with the mansion as clubhouse
• Status: open to visitors alongside member play, year round

---

Tournament history

This is where a remarkable number of careers began. From 1993 the Old Course hosted the final stage of the European Tour Qualifying School, and it staged fifteen editions through to 2007. Pádraig Harrington, Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter and Justin Rose are among those who earned their tour cards here, which gives the course a particular resonance for anyone who followed European golf through that era. The club also hosted the Spanish Open in 2005.

There is one piece of history that visitors tend not to know about until they arrive. When Valderrama staged the 1997 Ryder Cup, both the European and American teams and their families were based at San Roque, and the name plaques of the players remain on the doors of their suites.

The setting and conditioning have long attracted elite coaching too. The Academia Severiano Ballesteros was based here, and the Jason Floyd Golf Academy operates from the club today, which means you will often see serious young players working on the practice ground.

---

Playing as a visitor

The Old Course welcomes visitors alongside member play, with tee times available most of the year, which makes it considerably more accessible than Valderrama or Real Club de Golf Sotogrande. Booking in advance is recommended, particularly in the high season, which runs from March to mid-May and through October.

Green fees are not published as a flat rate and vary by season and package, so contact the club directly or book through a golf travel operator. The Old Course sits in the premium bracket but below Valderrama and Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, and stay-and-play packages combining it with neighbouring courses are widely available.

Normal golf attire and soft spikes apply. The course is walkable but undulating in places, and buggies are available.

---

The clubhouse

The Domecq mansion is what makes this club feel different from anywhere else in the area. Visitors consistently describe it as pure golf clubhouse in the British tradition, low-lit and full of photographs and memorabilia from the club’s tournament years, rather than the glass-and-marble style of newer developments. There is a well-regarded restaurant, and the club has invested in a new driving range building and academy practice area alongside the older facilities.

---

What golfers say

Reviews are consistently positive, with the setting, the clubhouse and the conditioning drawing the most praise, and several golfers describing it as a relaxed, low-stress round in a beautiful and quiet inland setting. The most common criticism, and it is a considered one from those who have played both San Roque courses, is that a couple of the par threes on the Old are less memorable than their counterparts on the New. Opinion divides on which of the two courses is the better test, but there is no real argument about which is the more prestigious.

---

Getting there

Carretera Nacional 340, km 127, 11360 San Roque, Cádiz. The club sits inland of the coast road between Sotogrande and San Roque town, roughly fifteen minutes from Sotogrande marina, twenty from Gibraltar airport and about an hour and a quarter from Málaga.