PGA Catalunya (Stadium) - Northern Spain - Spain
701 Caldes de Malavella,
17455 Girona,
Spain
+34 (0)972 47 25 77
70 km NE of Barcelona
Contact in advance
David Bataller 
Angel Gallardo and Neil Coles
Enric Lopez
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The Costa Brava is the jewel in the crown of the Eastern Spanish coastline, nestling at the foothills of the Pyrenees and escaping the intense summer heat that burns the more southern parts of Spain. Catalonia (Catalunya), of which the Costa Brava is part, feels at times like a completely different country. The local food is very different - heartier than more southern Spanish fare – and the local Catalonian language has more of a French feel. A visit to this area of Spain is a must for any golfer as there are a number of excellent courses that all offer thoughtful design in great surroundings. The various designers have created excellent challenges that are usually in superb condition due to the cooler northern climate. The best of these has to be the Stadium (formerly called Green) course at PGA de Catalunya, ranked in Europe's Top 100 ever since it opened at the end of 1998. The Stadium course is the culmination of more than a decade of planning and design by the European Tour. They wanted to build their own Players Championship course to rival the PGA Tour's Sawgrass course. It has to be said that it was a decade well spent. The PGA is so good that within months of opening, it hosted the 1999 Gene Sarazen World Open and the Spanish Open in 2000. The Spanish Open returned to the Stadium course in 2009 (won by Thomas Levet) and 2014 when veteran Miguel Angel Jiménez extended his own record as the oldest winner in European Tour history winning a three-man play-off.
PGA Catalunya Resort is located 45 minutes north of the wonderful city of Barcelona and only a few kilometres from the regional airport at Girona, although this is never apparent as the course nestles in the Girona mountains just outside the quiet town of Caldes de Malvella. Utilising their combined 25-plus years of European Tour experience, the designers, Angel Gallardo and Neil Coles, have created a wonderful course that is a test for all standards due to the fact that every hole can be played from five different tees. Which is lucky as the course measures more than 6,500 metres from the championship tees. Once on the first tee, the true majesty of the PGA de Catalunya is immediately apparent with an elevated drive to a dogleg left par four. Trouble waits in front of the tee and only a good, solid shot will provide the ability to reach the green with anything less than a long iron or fairway wood. For the handicap golfer, leaving this green with a bogey must be viewed as an acceptable result. From here on in, the course just gets better and better as it winds its way through the hills. Beautiful green fir trees, lush vegetation, scrub and an abundance of purple heather, frame each hole. The greens are well bunkered, undulating and always in excellent condition. Additionally, there are a number of large lakes on the course, which blend perfectly with the landscape and on some holes, the water is used creatively to form semi-island greens. There are many "must-see" places in the world and the Stadium course at PGA de Catalunya should be on any serious golfer's "must-play" list. It's an absolute cracker. And their second course, called the Tour, is pretty special too. In November 2014 the PGA Catalunya Resort was appointed as candidate venue for Spain’s bid to host the 2022 Ryder Cup. Spain was one of six countries bidding to stage the tournament – the Stadium Course was originally developed with a view to hosting such a major event. Unfortunately the Catalonian bid was unsuccessful with Italy's capital city of Rome winning the right to stage the 2022 Ryder Cup. PGA Catalunya is one of our Top 100 Golf Resorts of the World |
Reviews for PGA Catalunya (Stadium)
A golfer immediately gets a heightened sense of challenge just by standing on the Stadium’s first tee box. The holes are tight, fraught with danger and significantly longer. There is a palpable demand for accuracy of the tee, and the approach shots are relentless given the deep encroaching bunkers that are thirsty for stray balls.
Compared to the Tour course, the hazards are a huge factor on this course. I was captivated by the dramatic tee shots and changes in elevation. Be prepared for a few blind second shots and an abundance of undulating crowned greens. This course is ready for a major tournament, and there continues to the plans to improve the holes – especially the visuals.
I’m an old fashioned golfer who likes to walk and play fast. At one tee box on the front side, I was able to count 6 different ugly concrete cart paths from my vantage point. A number of other holes have concrete cart paths directly in your line of sight off the tee which is not pleasing to the eye. One could argue that other materials (eg: Astroturf) could have been contemplated when the course was being built to create the warren of paths. On other holes, the busy nearby motorway is in full view. Local politics pose challenges to tree planting and removal to block the traffic and trucks. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two greens are moved in order to re-route certain holes.
This is a very good course which will only get better with time, given the passionate investments being made and the endless budget for improvement. The club and the fantastic people who work here are really committed to achieving excellence in everything they do – both on and off the golf course.
Despite the challenging nature of the Stadium course, there is a variety of tee boxes available to assist with pace of play. What I really loved was the variety of the lengths of the par 3s and 4s. I hope the club doesn’t forget that short holes are the greatest and that adding more length is NOT (always) the best way to “improve” a golf course.
Strategy off the tee is significantly better than bashing a driver all day long. A successful championship golf course makes a golfer think twice. The lovely variety adds memorability without sacrificing challenge. The “stadium” feel to each hole will make this an excellent venue for the Ryder Cup – which is the goal of the club. I wish them luck.
A friend and I played a round on PGA Catalunya’s Stadium course on March 21st 2018. The course itself ranks among the very good ones we have played: design, fairways, greens .. all was fine - some bunkers seemed to need some maintenance but nothing that bad given the time of the year.
The very big problem is that a majority of holes are currently surrounded by considerable works in progress, involving the erection of numerous villas sometime very close to the rough zones!.
As a results the immediate environment of the game is more often than not just a nightmare: ugly views, noise, dust, scafoldings, construction machines etc….
And this is likely to last for months!
The shame is that the club gives absolutely no hints of those troubles when booking a tee time and the green fees are still by far the most expensive in the vicinity.
How to rank a course in such conditions?
The experience could be superb and ends up just awful.
I have played here quite a few times now since my first round back in 2010, so this review is a bit of an update. The Stadium course was an instant hit with me nearly seven years ago and remains so now. I would say that it gets a little better each year and in April 2017 was as good as I have seen
it. One very slight negative right now, is that there is construction on a major level around and close to the course, including some of the buggy paths but if we are talking, 'just the course' then I can report that all is very well. My favourite holes are still; the 3rd, 4th, 9th and the 13th. For a course with plenty of rounds (especially when compared to more exclusive Spanish courses), the condition is fantastic, bordering on perfection - the greens this time were so fast and true. Of the 40+ Spanish courses that I have played, this remains the very best for me and a real shame this as a Ryder Cup venue in 2022, missed out to the Italian bid.
PGA Catalunya combines top level service with world class facilities. The Hotel resort is great with friendly and helpful staff. The practice facility is one of the best I have come across!
The course itself is very good. The conditionning is on par with what you would expect from tour level courses. The greens are fast and true. The layout did not fit my eye perfectly, but that doesn't mean it is not good. It is a typical ''target golf'' layout, with narrow tree-lined fairways. The green complexes and bunkering place a premium on the ''air game'', with very few holes allowing for run-up approaches. That is not inherently bad, but I believe it limits strategy and enjoyment. The set of par 3's is the highlight of the course, as well as the good elevations changes on many tee shots.
It is a great place for a golf holiday!
