An emblem of golf in Spain
In 2016, the Real Club de Golf Puerta de Hierro entrusted Surtec Golf Agronomy with engineering and agronomy services for the renovation and expansion of its 9-hole course.
As one of Spain’s most historic clubs, Puerta de Hierro was founded over 120 years ago. It has been located since 1909 on an estate donated by King Alfonso XIII, having initially been founded at La Castellana Hippodrome in 1895 under the name ‘Madrid Polo Club.’
The current layout, with two 18-hole courses and a 9-hole course, has been modified numerous times to accommodate spatial redistribution needs and sporting updates. The club’s first 18-hole course, designed by H.S. Colt in 1914, retains 13 holes from the original layout, distributed across the current courses. Over the years, Tom Simpson made modifications in 1924 and 1931, and in 1945, after the Civil War, expanded the course to 36 holes, although only nine additional holes were completed by 1951.
By 1968, John Harris’s work had established the full 36 holes. In the late 1990s, Robert Trent Jones Jr. was tasked with modifying the ‘Campo de Abajo,’ with most of the work executed by Kyle Phillips. Following this, Phillips independently worked on modifications to the ‘Campo de Arriba.’
Between 2016 and 2017, the club undertook a major renovation of its 9-hole course, expanding it threefold with new routing by Kyle Phillips.
Surtec Golf Agronomy provided the engineering, agronomy and project management services. The new golf course features sand-capped fairways, USGA greens, 27 bunkers, concrete cart paths and significant pine and oak plantings. Tees and fairways were established with a Bluegrass/Ryegrass blend, roughs with Tall fescue and greens with A4 bentgrass.