Tag Archives: Sergio García Foundation

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Sergio García Foundation – Donation of funds raised at the Valderrama Masters to Hospital Universitario La Paz

November 27, 2017 – The Sergio García Foundation has donated all the funds raised at the Andalucía Valderrama Masters to Madrid’s Hospital Universitario La Paz to support an interior design project aiming to humanise the X-ray unit in the children’s area.

Antonio García, Sergio’s uncle and responsible for the Foundation, presented the cheque to doctors Javier Cobas, Children and Maternal Hospital Deputy Manager; Rafael Pérez-Santamarina, Hospital Manager; María Pilar Moreno Anaya, Central Services Deputy Director; Gonzalo Garzón, Head of Radiology; Esther Rey, Nursing Director; and Eduardo López Collazo, Director of the Research Institute.

The unit will be redesigned into a welcoming, bright and relaxing environment through the choice of appropriate materials, colours and images. In addition to caring for individuals, the project is environmentally friendly, as the improved lighting system will result in a 60 percent saving in power consumption.

“We are all very excited with this project, which is an area of real need. We have invested in equipment recently, but we lack infrastructure, and children must also be separated from adults,”explained Dr. Cobas.  

“The renovation will take about three months since we cannot stop our activity. Our children’s hospital, considered as number one in Europe, is well equipped with 240 beds and receives 9,000 patients per year, as the only hospital that can provide all medical and surgical specialties, allowing all types of pediatric transplants to be performed.”

For Sergio García, “Winning the Andalucía Valderrama Masters was an incredible feeling, I’m still over the moon. It was a great event for many reasons: Valderrama is one of my favourite courses, I played really well and felt confident, kept patient and waited for my chances; Joost (Luiten) played unbelievable and did not make it easy for me, and the support from the spectators was awesome.

“When I was presented with the project of humanising the X-ray unit, I really liked the idea. I am very happy because we have contributed to make a dream come true for the patients and their families, through the event and my Foundation”.

The third edition of the Andalucía Valderrama Masters took place from October 19-22 as Garcia secured his third win in a season where he achieved a career ambition by sealing his maiden Major title at the Masters Tournament.

García set up his charitable foundation in 2002 for the purpose of contributing to the social inclusion of economically-deprived children through social assistance benefits and the practice of sport as free-time activity. The Foundation supports, on a regular or an occasional basis, a large variety of NGOs and humanitarian associations.

Through his foundation, Sergio has been one of the key drivers of Spanish adaptive golf. Together with the Deporte y Desafío Foundation, they conducted 23 adaptive golf clinics throughout Spain attended by more than 700 disabled persons.

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European Tour – Sergio García, proud host of the Andalucía Valderrama Masters

August 12, 2017 – The Real Club Valderrama will stage the third edition of the Andalucía Valderrama Masters, the last European Tour stop on European soil before heading for China, Turkey, South Africa and Dubai. From October 19-22, the event will be sponsored by the Autonomous Government of Andalusia with the support of the Sergio García Foundation.

Sergio is a big fan of Valderrama. “Valderrama is a very special place for me, full of good memories – obviously the best when I finally managed to win in 2011. It is one of my favourite courses, one of the best in the world, and I always enjoy playing there.”

The Masters champion is hosting a European Tour event at Valderrama for the second consecutive year.

“I am delighted to support the Andalucía Valderrama Masters through my Foundation. As the tournament host, I would love to see everyone come and enjoy a great event and a wonderful occasion for all the Spanish players.

“The course is always in top condition, with fast greens and superb maintenance. At last year’s Open de España we saw a big improvement in playability with the pruning of many cork trees, particularly on holes 8, 13 and 18.

“Each hole in Valderrama has its own attraction and I like them all, because they force you to keep thinking and stay focused from the first to the last shot. It is a very demanding course that doesn’t give you any breaks. You need to put the ball in the right places and keep the errors to the minimum, but you are bound to make errors, so patience is key at Valderrama. You must respect this course or it will turn against you at any moment. One of the things I like most is that it allows you to use all the clubs in the bag.”

Including his 2011 win, García has an outstanding record at Valderrama: 7th at the 1999 WGC-American Express; 5th at the 2000 WGC-American Express; 7th at the 2002 and 2003 Volvo Masters; runner-up at three consecutive Volvo Masters from 2004 to 2006; 34th at the 2007 Volvo Masters; 4th at the 2008 Volvo Masters; 11th at the inaugural Andalucía Masters in 2010, winner in 2011 and 3rd at the 2016 Open de España.

“Last year I had another chance of winning at the Open de España. In the end I didn’t make it, but it was a positive week because I kept trying up to the last putt – I gave it my best shot. I enjoyed being the tournament host and felt proud every time I saw the name of my Foundation on the course. We had a fairly good gallery and many visitors to our stand. I want to thank them all because we raised 65.480 euro for the Spanish Cancer Association of Castellón. The money was used to rent some apartments for the families of cancer patients who can’t afford them, so the family can be together during treatment.”

Sergio García, supported by his family, set up his charitable Foundation in 2002 for the purpose of contributing to the social inclusion of economically deprived children and youth through social assistance benefits and the practice of sport as a free-time activity. The Foundation supports on a regular or occasional basis, a variety of initiatives in favour of persons with disabilities. The Sergio García Foundation and the Deporte y Desafío Foundation joined forces in 2003 with the objective of introducing adaptive golf in Spain. They developed together a twofold programme aimed, firstly, at making golf accessible to people with disabilities, thus helping them to be socially integrated. The second aim was to promote adaptive golf throughout the whole of Spain by means of specific training courses directed at golf teaching professionals. The Spanish Golf Federation as well as the Autonomic Federations joined the initiative.

Tickets for the Andalucía Valderrama Masters will be available at: http://www.andaluciavalderramamasters.com/en/public-tickets

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Open de España 2016 – Real Club Valderrama, looking forward to host the European Tour

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March 14, 2016 – All is set at Real Club Valderrama for the Open de España on April 14-17. With the support of the Sergio García Foundation, top professional golf will be played again at this prestigious venue and, as has been highlighted during the tournament presentation, its iconic layout awaits the players in top condition after some major improvements, including a new short-game practice area.

A month before its next appointment with the European Tour, Real Club Valderrama is ready to welcome the elite of European golf with a brand new facility — a 2 acre practice area where players can hone their short-game skills before facing the challenging Robert Trent Jones layout.  The new practice area, designed by renowned golf architect Kyle Phillips, one of Jones’ favoured disciples, was opened last summer.

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As for the course itself, participants in the Real Club Valderrama Open de España, Hosted by the Sergio García Foundation will surely appreciate the improved bunkers and tees. The bunkers have been rebuilt following the strictest and highest specifications and are now matching the quality of the greens and fairways. The tees have been levelled, reoriented and established with the same turf variety as the greens.  Another important improvement has been the pruning of many cork trees in recent years, thus improving the course’s playability and allowing more aggressive play from the rough.

However, the first investment undertaken by the club was the complete renovation of the pumping system. A brand new pumping station, with the most advanced technology available on the market, was installed with excellent results. Besides the visual effect and the improvement of the playing conditions, the new system has significantly reduced water and energy costs.

Tickets for the tournament are available at the European Tour site.

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European Tour – Real Club Valderrama, a legendary venue for Open de España 2016

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February 27, 2016 – The staging of the Real Club Valderrama Open de España, hosted by the Sergio García Foundation, from April 14-17 marks the return of the European Tour to one of its most iconic venues, the backdrop of unforgettable moments in the history of European golf. Up to now, Valderrama has hosted 20 international tournaments, including two World Golf Championships, apart from being the first Ryder Cup venue in Continental Europe.

Real Club Valderrama’s privileged relationship with the European Tour began with the 1988 Volvo Masters. This season-ending event was held for 16 years at the Spanish venue with star-studded fields. Sir Nick Faldo, the winner of the inaugural edition, was followed by big names such as Sandy Lyle (1992), Colin Montgomerie (1993, 2002), Bernhard Langer (1994, 2002), Ian Poulter (2004), Paul McGinley (2005) or Justin Rose (2007), amongst others.

The greatest milestone in the club’s history was the staging of the first edition of the Ryder Cup played outside the British Isles in 1997. Under the captaincy of Seve Ballesteros, Europe recorded a 14 ½ – 13 ½ victory over the US, despite a final day fightback from Tom Kite’s team which included debutant Tiger Woods.

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Two years later, a dominant Woods claimed the inaugural edition of the WGC-American Express Championship. Woods led by four on the 17th tee, but after hitting twice into the water for a triple bogey, had to go to extra holes against Miguel Ángel Jiménez, one of many dramatic moments recorded on that famous par five. Canada’s Mike Weir won 12 months later in 2000.

More recently, the Andalucía Valderrama Masters has featured on the Race to Dubai. Graeme McDowell won the 2010 edition. In 2011 Sergio García finally claimed the first Spanish victory at Valderrama after seeing off Miguel Ángel Jiménez in an enthralling Sunday duel.

Tickets for the tournament at http://tickets.europeantour.com including Any One Day Tickets from Thursday to Sunday which cost €15per day, if purchased before the week of the event, and €20 per day if purchased during the tournament week.

Pictures: Golffoto.es y Fernando Herranz