PGA Catalunya Stadium Course
The PGA Catalunya Resort, which is located in the general vicinity of Barcelona, debuted near the turn of the millennium and immediately began attracting top competitions, including several Spanish Opens (first in 2000, most recently in 2014). Indeed, the course was the brainchild of Neil Coles and Angel Gerardo of the European Tour, who were looking to create a venue in the Catalonia region for Tour competitions. The setting is fantastic, consisting of forested knolls with two large lakes and framed by the Pyrenees Mountains. The Stadium is the premier course, and it is a real challenge, with tree-lined fairways, carefully positioned bunkers and the aforementioned lakes, which are in play on almost half of the holes. The elevated tees offer excellent vistas of grounds, though they can be tiresome to scale, and seem a bit artificial in a layout that otherwise blends well with the surroundings.