La Dehesa

Opened for play in the early 1990s, the course at Club de Golf La Dehesa offers two contrasting nines: a relatively straightforward outward half then a far more challenging inward half with holes routed around the twisting Aulencia River.

The club is situated 30 kilometres from Madrid city centre, beside the Universidad Alfonso X El Sabio in Villaneuva de la Canada, with its Manuel Piñero-designed 18-hole layout occupying ground to the east and south of the university campus.

It’s a game of two halves at La Dehesa: the front nine is laid out on gently rolling terrain while the back nine is routed around more broken ground, where fairways cross a couple of arroyos that feed into the adjacent Aulencia river.

Highlights here include the difficult opening par four 1st – rated stroke index 1 – where the fairway doglegs right from tee to green; the par five 5th with out of bounds running along the right of the hole; and the par three 9th which plays across water to a peninsula green.

On the back nine, things get a lot tougher right from the off, with a barranca cutting across the fairway in front of the green at the par four 10th (the same hazard must be carried when playing the par three 17th) and another wide gorge hampers the tee shot on the par five 15th.

The round ends with a blind tee shot at the 18th, followed by a heroic approach over water to a sand-protected home green that sits very close to the 9th green. It’s a demanding finish and one that won’t be forgotten in a hurry.