Club de Golf Mexico

Situated just a mile from the Azteca Stadium in the southwest outskirts of the sprawling metropolis of Mexico City, Club de Golf México has a fascinating international golfing history for a course that is not long past half a century in existence.

Miguel Aléman, then president of Mexico, established the club in 1949 and three years later, the course – designed by architect Laurence Hughes and Percy Clifford, 6-time Mexican amateur champion – was ready for play.

Carved out of an old grove of cedar, spruce, cypress and eucalyptus trees, with a deep, dry creek running through the middle of the property, the layout measured over 7,200 yards when completed.

Club de Golf México may have been built as a mighty long course back in the early 1950s but one has to remember that the golf ball travels a lot further in the more rarified atmosphere of 7,600 feet above sea level!

Nonetheless, it’s an extremely tight track with narrow, tree-lined fairways, deep rough and well-trapped greens so course management is the name of the game at Club de Golf if a decent score is to be made.

It was accuracy with the golf ball that saw the Irish team of Harry Bradshaw and Christy O'Connor win the 6th Canada Cup trophy in 1958 and for Bradshaw (who withdrew from the competition in Tokyo the previous year with a nose bleed that lasted 10 days) it was almost a clean sweep of the prizes but he was beaten in a 3-hole, sudden death playoff for individual honors by Spain’s Angel Miguel.

Arnold Palmer went one better nine years later when the event – rebranded the World Cup of Golf – returned to the Club de Golf course. Arnie won both the team title with partner Jack Nicklaus (finishing ahead of New Zealand) and the individual International Trophy for the golfer with the lowest 72-hole stroke play score.