Real Moraleja (4)

Real Club La Moraleja was established in 1973 and it first opened its doors to golfers three years after its inauguration when the No.1 course, designed by Jack Nicklaus, was brought into play. It took until 1990 until the second course appeared, with the No.2 course laid out by Ron Kirby of Nicklaus Design.

The club always had ambitious plans to expand but it wasn’t until it was able to sell some land in 2005 that it acquired the necessary finances to develop another two 18-hole layouts in the nearby municipality of Algete, around 20 kilometers from its No. 1 and No.2 courses.

Constructed by Nicklaus Design and opened in 2013, the layout at Real Club La Moraleja (4) shares the same location as Real Moraleja (3), with both courses serviced by the same clubhouse. A little more rustic than its more polished sibling, the No.4 course is routed around a fragmented property, where holes 1-5, then 6-16, and finally 17 and 18 are played on three distinct parcels of land.

Three lakes come into play during the round, affecting three holes on the front nine (at the 2nd, 7th and 8th) and three holes on the back nine (at the 11th, 14th and 15th). The landscape’s a little flat around this Madrid suburb so it’s fair to say a substantial amount of earth was moved during the build to fashion some interesting fairway contours.