o_19nh62tof15dle2kla7p3e1698a.pdf

EXCLUSIVE
THE COURSE THAT’S BEEN
SAVED BY
SERGIO
How one of the world’s best golfers and his family stepped
in to rescue a dying club that meant everything to them
WORDS KEVIN BROWN PICTURES HOWARD BOYLAN
ugusta National, Pebble
Beach, the Old Course... as
A
one of the world’s finest
golfers, Sergio Garcia has played
many of the world’s finest courses.
But there’s one in particular that
holds a special place in his heart –
and most of us have never heard of
it. As far as the Spaniard and the
current world No.7 is concerned,
nothing can compare to Campo
del Mediterraneo, a little track
near Valencia.
It’s the place where he first picked
up a club and learnt to play under the
watchful gaze of his father, the club’s
professional Victor, and where he
developed into one of the world’s best
and most exciting players; the place
where he has celebrated two
European Tour victories and the place
he often returns to practice and chill
out with his old school friends.
More than anything, though,
Campo del Mediterraneo is Garcia’s
home, and his affections for it run so
deep that he and the rest of his family
decided to step in when the club went
bankrupt around 18 months ago. The
club that made Sergio was just days
away from closing forever – until he
led his family to the rescue.
Now, with the Garcias at the helm
– chiefly dad Victor and Sergio’s
younger sister, Mar – the club is
fighting back.
Sergio rather modestly plays down
his input in the role and prefers to let
the rest of the family take the plaudits
for keeping the club in business. He
contributes where he can and the fact
he’s so closely linked with the club
certainly gives Commercial & Sales
manager, Mar – a one handicapper
herself – a significant helping hand in
terms of promoting the course.
Mar, who was literally born at the
course – “mum was helping run a
competition when her waters broke”
– told us: “Sergio has been very nice
when I approach him for help. This is
like another son for my dad, he didn’t
want to see it close down – he would
have been really hurt and Sergio too,
though not to the same level.”
When the club hit hard times, there
was no way the Garcia family could
let it die. “This is where I was made –
not only as a golfer, but as a person,”
Garcia told us, as he relaxed on the
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