Lo Romero course was the venue for the first time for this friendly meeting of friends.
“Have a great time”, wished the tennis player Rafa Nadal “and see you soon”. Nadal is a golf enthusiast and a great connoisseur of the Ryder that Paco Clavel has brought with him over the last few years. Although the fifth edition has left its usual environment (Pula Golf – Mallorca), to live this new installment in Alicante. And there was no better course for it than Lo Romero Golf (Pilar de la Horadada). It so happens that “Lo Romero is a course that I visit every summer and where my friends from Altorreal play”, says Clavel, the organiser of this event. A competition that for him – he stresses – is above all “a meeting of friends” where the result (almost) is the least important thing.
What began as a Murcia vs Mallorca “where we met in that first edition some 10 or 12 friends”, has been growing. Now a total of 52 players – the members of this latest edition – come from other parts of the peninsula to meet around a golf tournament and complementary activities for the companions and the players themselves (gastronomic outings and cultural visits). “Friends from Andorra, Madrid, Burgos, Asturias…”. For this businessman from Murcia, who has been living in the United States for many years (around 23) and who came back to Spain a couple of years ago (specifically to Madrid), Murcia continues to be a place of reference. “The whole family is here and I will be here for Christmas”.
The event had the words of encouragement from tennis player Rafa Nadal, a passionate fan of the sport of clubs, who sent the organiser of the event a personal video of support.
Two enclaves, two captains, two colours
The V Ryder Murcia vs ‘Rest of the World’ was held from the 23rd to the 26th of November, with a new logo. Four organised days of coexistence and sport, where the city of Murcia had a lot to say because it was the nerve centre of the group. In the the capital of the region was covered, visited and slept in. While the nearby Alicante pitch of Lo Romero was the setting for the match. Two teams and two captains; Murcia player Evelio Mora for Murcia, and Mallorcan Jaume Llinas for the ‘Rest of the World’. The attire: in red and green to distinguish the two teams. “A choice of colour by Merche, my wife, which is also very appropriate considering that we always hold the event very close to Christmas time”, adds the father of the event. A player who admits to being “terrible! (he laughs at the mention of it). I started when I was 60 years old and at 72 I am a 26 handicap (…) but for me golf means so much passion, entertainment and friendship that the least important thing is the result”.
The player Evelio Mora is a veteran of the captaincy. And although this year the final result was very favourable to the team from Murcia (29.5 to 9), the seasoned amateur also remembers that in the second edition of this Ryder the Mallorcans “crushed us”. And analysing the experience of this fifth edition, he does not hesitate to affirm “that from a sporting point of view we benefited a lot because we know the course and it is a great advantage”. But he agrees with Paco Clavel that this event is above all “about a lot of people in good harmony, where we also managed to get the 26 people who came from abroad to take away a magnificent impression of Murcia. They were impressed that we had a beautiful city where there was so much to see; enthusiastic about the food that is made here and delighted with a course that is always spectacular, well presented and fun”. Mora sums it up, “I think it couldn’t have been better. We covered the three aspects: tourism, gastronomy and sport with success”.
The young tennis player Carlitos Alcaraz was invited to participate in the sixth edition, if his calendar allows it; an invitation that is also on Nadal’s agenda. “We will do something…”, Llinas said in this regard.
For Jaume Llinas, the captain of the ‘Rest of the World’ it has been a pleasure to be the flag bearer of this edition. The first for him with this kind of responsibility. “In fact it is also my first participation in this sporting event organised so well by Clavel, who is a phenomenon, although I have played many ryders as a player”. No wonder, because this Mallorcan has been playing the sport of golf for 30 long years. In the bag of many courses “outside and inside Spain”, the Alicante course of Lo Romero gave him “a very good impression. It is a very attractive course to play. To repeat”. So the player from Manacor, who plays at the Club de Golf Son Servera, assures “that I will be back”. In addition, “I really liked Murcia. I have found it to be a capital”.
The fifth edition ended with the victory of the team from Murcia. Up to 20 points difference on the scoreboard. And so the last day came to an end, where to top it all there was a player from the European circuit, the Spaniard José Manuel Lara, who was seen in all the games, playing the odd hole with the ‘amateurs’ and a final photo with the tennis player Carlitos Alcaraz (another lover of golf clubs), who visited the Lo Romero course – where he usually goes to play when his calendar allows it – and did not hesitate to pose with the group. The young tennis player was invited to participate in what will be the sixth edition, if his calendar permits; an invitation that is also on Rafa Nadal’s agenda. Hopefully, in 2024, the two players could meet not on a tennis court, but on the 18 holes of Lo Romero Golf. “We will do something…”, says Llinas, a good friend of the Spaniard, in this respect.
About Lo Romero Golf:
The location of Lo Romero is enviable. The 18 holes of the course are located in a natural basin that belongs to the municipality of Pilar de la Horadada (Alicante – Spain). A town in Alicante with an average annual temperature of 18ºC and 300 days of sunshine a year.
A destination of sea, mountains and sun. And of course golf, as well as other activities in beautiful natural surroundings such as hiking routes. Lo Romero is perfectly communicated by motorway with the cities of Alicante and Murcia and, just a few kilometres from their international airports
Contact us:
info@loromerogolf.com | +34 966 766 887 / +34 616 478 869
