For PGA Professionals, travel is no longer just about organising tee times – it’s about curating experiences that deliver value for players, create lasting relationships, and open up new commercial opportunities. The most successful coaches are those who can blend performance, lifestyle, and connection into something that feels memorable and repeatable.
CPG Collection Member Sotogrande offers a compelling case study in how this can be done well. With its combination of world-class golf, modern academy facilities, wellness, and a broader lifestyle ecosystem, it provides a blueprint for how destinations can support pro-led travel – and how professionals can, in turn, elevate the experiences they offer their clients.
In this conversation, Sotogrande’s Marketing Director, Rita Jordão, shares how the destination has been shaped to support both elite performance and group-based experiences, and what PGA Professionals, clubs and academies can take from its approach to building loyalty, engagement, and long-term value through travel.
1. How do The Alto Club and the new Golf Academy reinforce Sotogrande’s positioning as a fully integrated golf and lifestyle destination?
The Alto Club and Golf Academy adds a different element to the golf offering that Sotogrande didn’t necessarily have before: a more relaxed, open, and enjoyable way into the game. It is modern, current, and more casual in spirit.
Sotogrande is already a renowned location as Spain’s hub for world-class golf, and among the best in Europe and globally. That positioning is unquestionable.
What we wanted to do with The Alto Club was complement that existing offer with something fresh and, importantly, something that, from a local community perspective, allows a segment of people who may never have embraced golf to engage with it. As golfers, we all know the barriers to enter the sport. Our aim is to break those barriers and make it easier and more fun for people to take up the game in a relaxed way.
That is particularly relevant for younger generations or children and, without falling into clichés, also for female golfers who are sometimes left out because they didn’t start young or don’t yet have the same level of play as their partners. We want to give them the opportunity to embrace golf in a natural, casual, and fun way.
2. With Suzann Pettersen as Global Ambassador and Mimi Rhodes now on the LPGA Tour, how important is elite performance in shaping Sotogrande’s brand story?
Elite performance has always been woven into the fabric of Sotogrande. It’s not a new chapter we’re adding to the story, it has always been there.
Mimi Rhodes is a perfect example. She grew up here, learned the game here, and developed her talent within this community. Today, at just 24, she’s competing on the LPGA Tour as one of Europe’s most exciting young players. That journey, from local fairways to the world stage, says a great deal about what Sotogrande represents. It shows that this is not only a destination for great golf, but it can be a place where great golfers are formed.
Historically, between Real Club Valderrama, Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, and La Reserva Club, Sotogrande has consistently been connected to elite competition, both at professional and amateur level. But what makes it meaningful is that this commitment has never been limited to elite sport in a purely commercial or social sense. It has always been extended to the grassroots.
La Cañada, for example – the oldest public golf course in Spain – is unknown to most on an international level, but this local club that was created through a collaborative effort between the town hall, Sotogrande, and Valderrama to ensure that the local community had access to the game, continues to generate top players in the professional game. Angel Ayora is one of the most recent examples, and this is a powerful reminder that the foundations of excellence are built locally.
Our new academy at The Alto Club, and ambassadors such as Suzann Pettersen alongside Mimi, reinforce that journey from grassroots through to global stage. Elite performance strengthens the brand, of course, but more importantly it reflects our long-standing philosophy to nurture the game at every level.
Golf in Sotogrande is for the future major champion and equally for the 20-handicap player who simply loves the game. That inclusivity alongside quality, is what defines us.
3. What makes Sotogrande and The Alto Club a credible long term training base for touring professionals like Mimi Rhodes?
Sotogrande is not a destination that has appeared overnight. It has been shaped over six decades around the game of golf. That heritage carries weight with touring professionals.
Then there is the quality. When people speak about the south of Spain, there is often a predictable reference to sunshine and climate. Of course, the weather matters, but the sun is just an expectation here. Players who choose Sotogrande are looking for something far more substantial. World-class conditions, year-round consistency, and facilities that genuinely support performance.
In terms of golf courses, I don’t need to say it myself. It’s the rankings and the raters who consistently position the courses within Sotogrande at the very top of Spanish golf. Between La Reserva Club, Real Club Valderrama and Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, we have three courses at the very top of the national rankings. That concentration of quality within one destination is extremely rare, anywhere in Europe.
The practice facilities are equally important. Touring professionals need space, precision, and variety in their training environment, and that infrastructure is embedded here. From short-game areas to performance gyms and recovery facilities.
But what truly differentiates Sotogrande, and The Alto Club in particular, is privacy. Players can step away from the intensity of tour life and focus completely on their preparation. There are no distractions, no interruptions, just the space to work. That same discretion extends beyond the fairways. Many professionals choose to live here and raise their families here because the sense of calm, security, and privacy is consistent throughout the community.
4. How does SO/ Sotogrande Hotel & Spa complement the golf offering for players looking to train, recover or host groups?
All elements that are complimentary of golf are becoming increasingly important not only for professional golfers, but also for amateurs.
Having a top-quality spa and gym as part of the overall offering here is really significant. When you combine the SO/ Sotogrande Spa & Golf Resort with the 18 holes of The Alto Club, the new Golf Academy, and one of Spain’s top courses, La Reserva Club as a complementary course, there are very few places that can compete. Particularly from a professional perspective and for professional groups.
We are receiving hundreds of requests from professional golfers, as well as from coaches of professionals and elite players, to use Sotogrande as a base. That demand is one of the biggest proofs of the quality that we have to offer.
5. How do you balance Sotogrande’s role as a high-performance golf environment with its appeal as a luxury resort destination?
I see those two elements as very compatible and complementary. A high-performance golf environment does not clash with a resort lifestyle, in fact it’s quite the opposite.
In actual fact, I think that elite golf is increasingly moving in that direction. Professional golfers are travelling more and more with their families, partners and children, and with that there is a requirement for wider resort and lifestyle amenities.
That is also why The Alto Club feels so relevant now. Golfers are not simply looking to hit balls on a range, play 18 holes, and repeat the same, day after day. They want to get more out of their trip, and more from the overall experience. We are seeing more couples and families travelling to golf destinations than ever before.
The traditional image of golf as a male-dominated sport has changed, it is changing, and will continue to change.
Our objective is to offer a product that is genuinely relevant to that evolution, and it is being extremely well received internationally, nationally, and within the local community.
For more information visitors can book limited tee times and curated stay and play packages at: sotogrande.com/packages
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