Finca Cortesin will have the honour of becoming the first venue in Spain to host the Solheim Cup in September 2023. What were the main reasons why you decided to bid for the event?
Q & A with Vicente Rubio, president of Finca Cortesin Golf Club
One of Finca Cortesin’s prime objectives is to promote women’s golf to a wide audience, both at home and abroad, so it made perfect sense to support what is the biggest event in the world for lady golfers. By hosting the Solheim Cup, we will not only offer a course and luxury experience that is second to none but also have the opportunity to promote the resort and Costa del Sol region to a global audience.
What sort of response and reaction have you had from your members, guests and people in the Andalucia region since the news was announced last year?
The response we’ve received has been very positive since we made the announcement and we’re already starting to feel the benefits of being associated with such an important, globally-recognised event. The reaction has been above and beyond when we hosted the Volvo World Match Play Championship and we have had a number of calls, messages and emails from people in the golf industry and in Andalucia who are delighted with the news.
What sort of experience can the players from both teams during Solheim Cup week, both on the course and off it?
Our golf course is one of the very best in Europe and, with the way that Cabell B. Robinson has designed the course with many different strategic options to play a lot of the holes, it sets up perfectly for match play. The maintenance work that our head greenkeeper Iganacio Soto and his team have carried out in recent years, including the installation of new eco-friendly putting surfaces, will guarantee that the course is in optimum condition, with the golf matched by a luxury hotel experience which is widely regarded among the finest in the world.
What will hosting the Solheim Cup do for the profile of Finca Cortesin in European and world golf?
Gleneagles did a great job putting the spotlight on women’s golf when they staged the Solheim Cup, and it’s our aim to build on the legacy they created to highlight golf in Europe and Spain in particular. By showcasing such a high-profile event and the best players in the game, we hope to encourage young ladies and the next generation of players to take up the game, whilst also promoting Finca Cortesin as a leader in the global golf-resort industry.
I understand you’re going to be heading over to America in September to attend this year’s Solheim Cup. What are you hoping to learn from your visit to the Inverness Club that you can then transfer to Finca Cortesin?
Witnessing this year’s Solheim Cup at first-hand will be invaluable in how we prepare for 2023. It will give us the chance to feel the atmosphere of the crowd and understand expectations and assess the overall operation, both pre and during the event. Speaking to the key members of the team at Inverness Club and understanding what worked well and what can be improved will be very important in determining our final plans for two years’ time.
What are you hoping the long-term impact and legacy of the Solheim Cup will be on golf and, in particular, women’s golf in the region?
It’s nearly 25 years since the region staged the Ryder Cup. The event is still talked about on an almost daily basis and we’re hoping that the Solheim Cup will be remembered in the same way in the years to come, offering a platform for the players to showcase their qualities to the world and an example for young ladies to follow across the region.
Away from the Solheim Cup, Finca Cortesin recently signed new sponsorship agreements with LET stars Noemi Jimenez and Laura Gomez. Being a high-profile supporter of the ladies’ game is obviously very important to everyone at the resort?
Everyone at Finca Cortesin is incredibly passionate about ladies’ golf. We want to provide local female players with the best opportunity possible to make it in the professional game, and our support allows them to focus on their daily improvement to help them to achieve their ultimate goal of winning tournaments. Noemi and Laura are both exceptionally talented players who work incredibly hard at their games, and we’re looking forward to seeing how they progress in the coming years.
Finca is renowned for its customer service. What have been the most important measures contributing to such a strong reputation?
Finca Cortesin is very proud of the reputation we have and the high standards that we deliver. We have a clear vision of who we are and what we want to achieve, which starts from our ownership all the way down through our employees and has the central goal of offering outstanding service and the best experience to our clients, members and property owners. It is the attention to detail and sense of pride in our work which shines through in everything we do that has helped us to build this reputation and is testament to everyone that has worked here, both present and past members of the team.