The European Tour will return to Aloha Golf Club on Spain’s Costa del Sol for the first time since 2008 when the 2012 Open de Andalucía takes place in March…
The Marbella venue, which hosted the Open de Andalucía in 2007 and 2008, has been confirmed for the tournament from March 15-18, which carries a €1 million prize fund.
The last time the event took place over the par-72, tree-lined course, Frenchman Thomas Levet triumphed over then teenager Oliver Fisher of England in a play-off to claim his fourth European Tour title. A year earlier, Englishman Lee Westwood won by two shots from compatriot Phil Archer and Swede Fredrik Andersson Hed.
In the intervening years, the Open de Andalucía was held at the Real Club de Golf de Sevilla (2009), where Søren Kjeldsen was the champion, and Parador de Málaga Golf, where Louis Oosthuizen claimed his maiden European Tour title in 2010 and Paul Lawrie triumphed in 2011.
Aloha is designed by the late Spaniard Javier Arana, who has been also the architect of other golf clubs in Spain.
Once again, the tournament will be organised and promoted by 18-time European Tour champion Miguel Angel Jiménez’s company, Fade and Draw Target. It will be the 11th edition of the event and sixth in a row since it returned to The European Tour International Schedule in 2007.
Keith Waters, Chief Operating Officer and Director of International Policy for The European Tour, said: “We are especially grateful to Miguel Angel Jiménez, who is a superb ambassador and host for the tournament, for his company’s commitment to staging the event.
“We also value the contribution by the Junta de Andalucía, Patronato de Turismo de la Costa del Sol (Diputación de Málaga), Ayuntamiento de Benahavis and Mancomunidad de Municipios de la Costa del Sol Occidental.”
