Jockey Club (Red)

The Jockey Club at Buenos Aires is located at San Isidro and it’s an exclusive club that attracts the capital’s best-heeled golfers as well those more interested in horse racing and polo. Founded way back in 1882, the Jockey Club started out in life as an organisation to control horseracing at a national level, as well as an active social centre.

There are two courses at the Jockey Club, the Red (Colorada) and the Blue (Azul), both of which were designed by Alister MacKenzie and both opened for play in 1935, a year after his death. The Red course played host to the World Cup of Golf in 1970 with the Australian team winning the team title after David Graham finished second and Bruce Devlin third. Argentinean folk hero Roberto de Vicenzo delighted the local crowds by winning the individual title and, in doing so, became a legend at the Jockey Club.

The Red course is laid out at sea level over predominately flat ground and to break up the monotony, MacKenzie built mounds and contouring coupled with subtle but strategic bunkering. At 6,700 yards in length, the Jockey Club’s Red course is by no means long but it’s a tricky layout on which to score well.

Perhaps the signature hole is the wonderful one-shot 17th which is a classic example of MacKenzie’s genius. The long, narrow and raised green is beautifully guarded on the left by two angled bunkers making the tee shot a serious challenge, especially when the pin is positioned on the left side.

Angel Cabrera thrilled the country when he won the 2001 Open de Argentina by two shots from Sweden’s Carl Pettersson. This was Cabrera’s first European Tour victory and the birth of another Jockey Club legend.

Spanish text below supplied by WeGolf Argentina

Muchos la llaman, la “joya de la arquitectura”, diseñada por Alister MacKenzie, también diseñador junto a Bobby Jones del Augusta National Golf Club. A tan solo 25 minutos del centro de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, El Jockey Club se caracteriza por sus grandes greens en forma de platos invertidos y protegidos por grandes bunkers laterales. Posee una gran variedad de árboles, en su mayoría pinos, lo que no impide que en algunos hoyos su trazado sea abierto. Su similitud en algunos hoyos a canchas como St Andrews o North Berwick hacen que cada hoyo sea un difícil desafío pero a la vez entretenido. Es imperdible el hoyo 10 de la cancha colorada, un par 5 no muy largo pero que aun a los largos pegadores suele dar problemas. El green tiene una barranca muy pronunciada que rechaza los approachs que no se juegan con alta precisión.

Inaugurada en 1928, fue sede de la Copa del Mundo en 1962 y 1970, y del Abierto de la Republica en 16 ocasiones. También se disputo en ella el 100º Campeonato Argentino de Aficionados y el 100º Campeonato Argentino de Interclubes.