Bankia Madrid Masters Summary

I really should have posted this previously.  I wrote/compiled it and left it to proof-read before posting.  Then, forgot to get back to it.... 

So, a summary of the 2011 Bankia Madrid Masters - the first time El Encin has hosted the event....

"....treacherously challenging and torturously tricky…" was how the golf course was introduced before the final day of the MADRID MASTERS at EL ENCIN.

EL ENCIN before construction - when the world was flat....

I didn't get to see all the BANKIA MADRID MASTERS but the most common reaction we've recieved is: "it was compelling to watch".

As previously mentioned, the event garnered significantly more attention than any other EUROPEAN TOUR event held on a golf course we designed (even more attention than Luke Donald winning at Real Sociedad Hipica Espagnola Club de Campo last year). 

 

Some player quotes during the tournament:

"I can't really decide which side of the fairway provides the best approach to this green."

"I was too defensive.  You can't be defensive on this course."

"I'm just going to hit it at the flag and see what happens."

 

A couple quotes from player interviews after play:

Thomas Aiken after the tournament: “The golf course has great potential from tee to green.” “The greens are really ‘slopey’.  A lot of the modern courses their doing today, they’re overdoing the severity of the slopes. (What?  You're kidding right?) 

So, you can’t really make the greens as quick as you would like to make them because they’re unplayable if they’re quick. So, it’s a pity from that point of view.”  (Thomas - you want to know what the pity really is?  It's not accepting golf courses "as they are designed and as they are intended to be played".  Why do we need to flatten greens so they can all be uniformly fast?  Why can't we have some golf courses with contoured putting greens, which provide a different challenge and experience? 

Author's comment: Maybe I'm unique.  But, I would like to see the Tour players - play a golf course like the rest of us, without sending in the Tour's team in advance to adjust; the widths of fairways, mowing heights, greens speeds, make all things perfect, etc.  How exciting it would be to see a tournament golf played on a golf course using normal maintenance resources and conditions".  How about that for a refreshing proposal and a sad commentary about golf - all in one!? 

And, yes, I do think professional golf has compromised and distorted golf to such an extent that it will likely never recover it's integrity.  And, sadly; "providence" - one of golf's great attributes - will surely never be fully appreciated or embraced again! 

 

Brett Rumford after the 3rd round: “There are a lot of birdies out there. It’s a really fun course to play. It’s seems these greens and this layout, it just seems to be the generation of new golf courses, which I hope there’s going to be more of, because they’re a lot of fun to play.”

Aerial photo of EL ENCIN February 2011

Random quote  - from Mike Norman from Betting.Betfair:

"Apologies for the late preview this week folks. I was at the Madrid Masters last week and after taking one look at the severity of the greens at El Encin Golf Hotel my head went into a spin, and I've only just recovered. Believe me, Augusta National has got nothing on that place when it comes to undulating greens."

Interesting incidents:

• It was fun (and rewarding) to see players in the same group hitting a variety of clubs from the tee - obviously aiming for different locations in the fairways.  More than once, we heard uncertainty about where tee shots should be aimed - to provide the best approach to the flag. 
• Molinari - "chipping" his ball OFF the putting surface (#17).  Now, how often will you see this in professional golf?  (I'm really not sure why this didn't garner more attention.)
• Saltman winning his weight in Iberico ham with a hole in one!

EL ENCIN GRAND OPENING

At the opening of El Encin (April 2011) the President of Madrid Community: Esperanza Aguirre (shown here with Carlos Molpeceres) announced the 2011 Madrid Masters will be staged on the new golf course in October. 

Master plan for EL ENCIN - showing South (tournament) course on the bottom and North (yet to be built) course on the top.

So, for me, it was finally an interesting tournament.  There was actually something different to watch.  I actually saw, what appeared to me to be, actually thought taking place....instead of grab and smash.  It wasn't perfect.  And, I will admit some of the putting surfaces are "radical".  But, players should learn to accept golf courses as they find them.  Take golf courses like you took your spouse - no guarantees!!

UPDATE - August 2012:  In a recent press release, it was announed that the Bankia Madrid Masters would not be played this year (2012) due mainly to the financial crisis.  I'm sad.  I was hoping to see the players wrestle with El Encin again this year.  I sincerely hope the European Tour will return to Madrid and El Encin in the near future.