Part of the technical team responsible for the design of the Ryder Cup courses in Rome and Paris have visited the facilities of the Camiral Golf complex in Caldes de Malavella (Girona), to study whether it is possible to adapt the two existing courses to the technical requirements of this tournament, a benchmark and appointment of the best golfers in the world. After the refusal of the Generalitat to build the third golf course requested by the organizers, those responsible for the facilities have encouraged this visit to explore all the possibilities and thus not lose the possibility of becoming the venue for the 2031 Ryder Cup.
The candidacy has the support of the Catalan and Spanish golf federations, the central government, administrations such as the Diputació and Town Halls, as well as business and social organizations. However, after a meeting held last July and in which all the parties participated -including the representatives of the Ryder Cup- the Generalitat was in favor of holding the event, but against the construction of a third golf course. The president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonés, framed the position in the context of drought and environmental crisis. Government sources then reported that the organizers' project "represents an expansion of 150 hectares of the facilities."
"We will do everything possible to adapt the project and not lose an opportunity as important as this one", maintains David Plana, general director of Camiral Golf. The technical requirements to host an event of this magnitude are not few. In each edition of the Ryder Cup, some 100,000 people move. There are more than 2,000 accredited journalists. "Only in the first hole we have to install stands for 10,000 people and we have to see if with the current facilities we are able to host the tournament," adds Plana, who points out that the support of all the administrations and also of the golf federations , "forces us to explore all the possibilities, it is a unique opportunity for Girona and for Catalonia".
The reconsideration of the golf courses and the project also involves the expansion of the two existing hotels, "but we are not going to propose any new construction, they will all be ephemeral facilities designed for the tournament," adds Plana. The Spanish Federation has promised not to propose any alternative location until the Ryder Cup officially rules out Girona.
The main architect of European Golf Design has been one of the members of the technical team that has traveled to Caldes to study in situ alternatives to the third course and spaces for the services that an event of this magnitude requires. The organizers of the Ryder Cup are now focused on the imminent edition in Rome, which will begin on the 25th, so it is not expected that the organizers of the prestigious tournament will rule on Camiral Golf's candidacy until the beginning of October.
