PGA Catalunya

At the end of our stay in Torremirona (Spain) we decided to play the PGA Catalunya, Stadium course and make it a test for our communication on Instagram and our blog.

First of all the Stadium course is a fabulous golf course. Rated serveral times the number 1 course in Spain, and always among the 5 best in continental Europe.

On all the holes except for holes 4 and 6 you see what you get and the view from the tees are fantastic. On hole 4 and 6 you are hitting uphill and if you cannot hit it 250 meter, your second shot will be blind. For the other 16 holes you will have a shot most often from an elevated tee, making the holes a bit shorter and the scenery even more spectacular.

In the 2009 Spanish Open, Søren Hansen (the Danish Ryder Cup player) opened his round on the first hole (picture) with a double bogey, 6. He recovered over the first 9 with 3 pars and 5 birdies for a total of 33, and finished the second 9 holes with 4 pars, 4 birdies and an eagle for a total of 63. A new course record and still standing. His next 3 rounds were not that good. After the record 63 came a 70, a 76 and a 72 for at total of 281 and a shared 7th place. The tournament was won by France Thomas Levet in 270 strokes.

The Guardian wrote on 30 April 2009 :

Soren Hansen breaks Spanish Open course record despite double-bogey start

Soren Hansen broke the PGA Golf de Catalunya course record with a nine-under-par 63 in the Spanish Open today, after starting with a double bogey and less than an hour after Thomas Levet, of France, had equaled the old mark set by England’s Peter Baker nine years ago. “It was unbelievable,” said Hansen after completing one of the most remarkable rounds of his career. “I hit an awful opening drive and it looked like a miserable day, but I came back with some great golf.”

We played with my friend and initiator of our world golf tour, Joep. We are in agreement of one thing about playing the Stadium course and that is – Go there, play for fun, enjoy the nature, the layout and the super condition of the course. And, especially in the summer, beware of the speed and slopes of the greens.

You can walk the course – you will have some hills to climb, it will be exhausting if you are not in a reasonable physical form, but it is worth it. There are only a few times where the walk from the green to the next tee is either not marked clearly, so you will be in doubt of direction and only a couple of holes where the distance from the green to the next tee is a bit long to my likening.

The only negative I find is the noise. You have one motorway on each side of the resort. It gives a constant buzz in your ear. The next noise you hear comes from the building and construction activities, which you will find and hear basically on all fairways. And, if that is not enough, the Girona Airport is just 15 km north of the resort, so . . . .

You will have to play your very best golf just to get close to your handicap. One thing I like is that if you do not hit the fairway, in most cases, you can find your ball.

I like the philosophy of Bobby Jones the founder of the famous course at Augusta. He said something like: if a player hits the ball into the rough it should always be possible to find it and to find a way back to the fairway. You should be forced to use your course management and playing skills to get it back in the fairway, but not to lose your ball.

The mental part of the game

My game: after a not so good start, I made 4 pars in a row. From there on it was uphill, downhill and slalom. On a day like that, I console myself in thinking about the round some years ago that I played in 76 strokes. But we surely enjoyed the walk.

Uphill, downhill and slalom golf is a symptom of unfocused golf. That is if you are not concentrating. That is, if you sometimes are more focused on the talks and stories told between the players. (Blue golf) Or before making a shot you are thinking that if you just try to hit the ball from outside in – like a cut – then you will be able to get the ball out of the rough. (Green golf) Or that you think if I just hit it as hard as I can, I can get out of the rough and save a stroke. (Red golf) Or that you make your playing partners a bit annoyed and impatient with you because you are spending loads of time reading the green to prepare for your put. (Grey golf)

To understand how our focus can change during the game, you can look at the focus model below.

Look at the key words in each corner. Some are focusing mostly at the social relations during the round. They like the feeling of togetherness and do everything to  avoid conflicts. They are Integrator golfers. (Blue golfers)

In the green corner you will find the creative developer golfer. He or she use imagination and is experimenting, always trying new ways to swing the club and hit the ball. (Green golfer)

In the red corner you will find the Results Golfer. You know the more impatient, fast playing and risk willing type of personality. (Red golfer)

And finally, in the grey corner, you will find the Baser Golfer. That is the very systematic, detail oriented and more slow and meticulous type of person. (Grey golfers)

Most people have a primary focus areas, combined with at secondary area. For example Bernard Langer. He is known to be very systematic and meticulous in his approach to the game. In the opposite (green corner) you will find Phil Mickelson – very creative and experimental in his approach to the game. No type is better than another. It is just different approaches to the game, to learning the game and to play the game.

The problem with slalom golf is that you unconsciously are changing your approach from shot to shot and hole to hole. It is often fun, but do not expect a low score. That was the kind of golf I played during our round at the Stadium course. Fun, relaxed, creative but not efficient when it comes to scoring.

Click here to see more about this model of focused golf and the mental part of the game. I will come back to this model during our world golf trip.

Below is our evaluation of the PGA Catalunya – Stadium course