Los Leones

Originally formed as Santiago Golf Club in 1910, the club moved location a couple of times before finally settling in the foothills of Cerro San Luis in 1934 when several Los Leones members (including Alex MacDonald who later fashioned the course at Rocas de Santo Domingo) set out an 18-hole course.

The layout has been significantly modified a number of times down the years, most notably by Eduado Costabal in 1950 , Bobby Muller in 2002 and more recently Mackenzie & Ebert.

The book 500 world’s greatest golf holes by author George Peper and the editors of GOLF magazine features the 560-yard par five 4th hole at Los Leones: “Upon first glance, this hole seems striking in its simplicity. However, its demand for precision quickly becomes apparent. The hole runs in a dead straight line for 560 yards. There is just one bunker, placed to the right of the putting green. Entry from the left is guarded by an enormous, perfectly placed tree. Just outside the course boundary and running the length of the hole’s right side is one of Santiago’s major boulevards. Walking up the fairway, the player has the unmistakable impression that this wonderful golf course is smack in the middle of one of the world’s most vibrant and cosmopolitan cities. While the green is reachable with two strong shots, they must be played to exact positions.”

Los Leones hosted the Eisenhower Trophy, the biennial world amateur championship for men, in 1998 when the four-man Great Britain and Ireland team held off a strong challenge from holders Australia to claim the silverware.

In 2006, the course was also selected as the venue for both the prestigious Copa los Andes amateur team event (a competition inaugurated by the club sixty years before) and the Chile Open, which was won by local professional Mark Tullo.