Centro Nacional de Golf toughens up

The Centro Nacional de Golf, venue for the Open de España, is toughening up its course in order to host the event from April 26-29, 2007.

The many changes include championship tees moving back between 12 and 20 metres on the second, fourth, fifth, tenth, 15^th, 16^th and 18^th holes. The length of the course has been thus increased by more than 100 metres, adding up to a total of 6,622 metres.

The fairways are being narrowed, now requiring more accurate tee shots which will also be needed to avoid the water hazards which come into play on the 12^th, 13^th, 16^th, 17^th and 18^th which has been totally redesigned.

The first edition of the Open de España took place in 1912 with Madrid hosting this important event this year for the 42th time. It had not done so since 1997 when Mark James beat Greg Norman in a play-off at La Moraleja II.

The last edition in 2006, held at the San Roque Club, was won by Sweden’s Niclas Fasth in another play-off against Englishman John Bickerton.

The Open de España is supported, amongst other sponsors, by the insurance company Reale Seguros which will make a contribution of €1.5 million to the event. The promoter of the 2007 Open de España the Royal Spanish Golf Federation.

It is possible to get the tickets for the championship by clicking on the following links:

http://open2007.golfspainfederacion.com/

or

www.golfspainfederacion.com