Vallromanes Golf Course

Vallromanes Golf Course was designed by F.W. Hawtree and opened in September 1972, a classic parkland layout built around the Torre Tavernera, a stately manor house from the early 18th century that now serves as the clubhouse. It sits just 25 minutes from central Barcelona, in the wine country of the D.O. Alella, and has built a genuine competitive pedigree since.

The course plays to a par of 72 over roughly 6,044 metres, with wide fairways that open the door to good scoring and demanding, well-contoured greens that close it again depending on where the flags sit. It hosted the Spanish Open in October 1985, won by Severiano Ballesteros in a tournament that also marked the professional debut of José María Olazábal, and the Woolmark Match Play on the women's European circuit in 1989. Mediterranean forest lines much of the round, and the layout rewards imagination around the greens as much as raw length off the tee.

The clubhouse alone is worth the visit, one of the most characterful settings on any course near Barcelona. Book Vallromanes for a course with real tournament history behind it, a short drive from the city and a genuinely different atmosphere to the coastal resorts further out.