The Rolex Grand Final supported by The R&A returns to Club de Golf Alcanada for a fifth time in its history this week having successfully hosted the season finale in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
With four visits to look back on, we are taking a look at the challenge presented by the Alcúdia venue, and what the 45-player field will need to do in order to tame it…
Coastal conditions
Last year saw Alcanada host the Rolex Grand Final for a fourth time, and it was comfortably at its most scoreable. That was in large part due to the calm conditions that met the 46-man field 12 months ago. That hasn’t always been the case, with the Alcúdia course - set right on Mallorca coastline - often seeing blustery conditions making scoring difficult.
In 2019, Francesco Laporta triumphed with a six under total as one of only eight players under par for the week. When the season finale returned to Mallorca in 2022, Nathan Kimsey reached nine under, before 2023 saw Marco Penge record a ten under total as one of only five players under par at its conclusion. Last year’s 23 under par winning total by Kristoffer Reitan stands as an outlier in the four previous visits.
Par is often your friend at Club de Golf Alcanada and alongside managing your scoring on the following crucial holes, having a sound gameplan is of high importance.
Hole 1
This is almost the perfect hole to settle any nerves at the Rolex Grand Final. The 501-yard par five ranked as the easiest hole on the golf course in the first two rounds last year and played under par each day. In total there were 16 eagles and over 100 birdies across the four rounds, and it also proved to be a key hole for last year’s winner, with Reitan five under par on that hole alone during his four rounds.
Hole 4
The par three fourth hole played as one of the hardest on the course last year, particularly over the weekend. In rounds three and four 12 months ago, there were only eight birdies across the 46-man field, while there were 28 bogeys or worse on the same hole. As well as being a relatively long par three at 206 yards, a huge greenside bunker on the right suggests bailing out to the left. Do that and there’s a testing up and down to come, with the green one of the more undulating on the course.
Hole 15
Birdie opportunities are few and far between at Alcanada, but hole 15 is certainly one to take advantage of. The driveable par four sits at 357 yards and gives the player a choice of how to tackle the hole. Lay up and leave yourself an up and down for birdie or take the risk of driving the green. In each year the Rolex Grand Final has taken place at Alcanada, the 15th has played under par.
For the third year in a row, the Green Drive will return to the 15th hole meaning that for every player that drives the green, €100 will be donated to a local tree planting and organic farming project through the Mallorca Preservation Foundation. Last year 31 players drove the green across the four tournament rounds.
Hole 17
Coming down the stretch on Sunday, every hole will be crucial, but maybe none more so than the 17th. It’s another testing par three that Alcanada throws at the players, with an undulating green, wind blowing straight from the sea and bunkers running the entire length of the left-hand side of the green contributing to one of the tougher holes on the back nine. In last year’s opening round it played harder than any other hole on the course with a 3.24 scoring average, while it continued to play over par for the remainder of the week.
