Playing the Open de España Pro-Am with Tyrrell Hatton: Tour Golf 20 Minutes from Madrid
On the Wednesday before the Open de España, I was standing on the first tee with Tyrrell Hatton, three teammates in red Mahou caps and a Rolex clock behind us.
Later in the round, a photographer took the picture that explains golf in Madrid better than anything I could write. If you are weighing up a golf trip here, it answers one question before you even ask it.
How far is Tour-level golf from your hotel?
A Pro-Am morning at the Open de España
The Open de España presented by Madrid was played from 8 to 11 October 2026. The Pro-Am comes first: each Tour player goes out with a team of amateurs, and the teams play for their own leaderboard.
I was there because Mahou invited me. Our team was four amateurs and Tyrrell Hatton, a Ryder Cup player for Europe.
Red caps, the giant Open ball behind us, people leaning on the rail around the tee. The kind of first-tee nerves you only get when there is an audience and a Tour player waiting for you to hit.
We had a wonderful day. The team was fantastic from the first hole to the last, and when the scores came in, we were third.
Third place in the Pro-Am of the Open de España. I will happily take that.
Thank you to Mahou for the invitation, and to my teammates for a day I will be talking about for a long time.
The towers in the background
In the second photo I am on a tee, in black, finishing a drive. Behind the trees you can see the Cuatro Torres, the four skyscrapers on Madrid’s Paseo de la Castellana.
The towers are there because the city is there. You are on a championship course, and the capital is a short drive away.
One honest note. The course where this year’s Open was played is a private members’ club that does not take visitor rounds. We cannot book it for you, and we would rather say so here than after you have booked your flights.
The good news is that it is not the only course of that level around Madrid.
Tournament-level golf near Madrid that you can book
Three courses do most of the work when a golfer tells us they want to play «proper» golf in Madrid. All three are within roughly 15 to 25 minutes of a central hotel, depending on traffic.
Centro Nacional de Golf, where Rahm won the Open
Centro Nacional de Golf sits inside the city limits, on the north side of Madrid, and it is the home of the Royal Spanish Golf Federation.
Jon Rahm won the Open de España here in 2018, in front of a home crowd. It is also the closest of the three to most central hotels. We go into that in why Centro Nacional is the course closest to the city.
Golf Santander, the round groups talk about
Golf Santander is in Boadilla del Monte, about 16 km west of the centre. It is a championship course designed by Rees Jones, and in our experience it is the round most groups mention first on the way home.
Real Club La Moraleja, four courses on one estate
Real Club La Moraleja is in Alcobendas, just north of the city. It has four 18-hole courses, which is unusual for a single club.
It is a member club, so visitor rounds are Monday to Thursday, outside public holidays, and on the club’s terms. We ask for your dates and tell you the answer before anything is confirmed. Our article on Madrid’s prestigious courses you think are private explains how that works.
| Course | Where | From central Madrid | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centro Nacional de Golf | North Madrid, inside the city | Around 15 minutes | Jon Rahm won the 2018 Open de España here |
| Golf Santander | Boadilla del Monte, west | Around 25 minutes | Championship design by Rees Jones |
| Real Club La Moraleja | Alcobendas, north | Around 20 minutes | Four courses, visitors Monday to Thursday |
Times depend on the hotel and the traffic. The full list, including the courses we use to round off a week, is on our Madrid golf courses page.
Why Madrid works differently from a coastal golf trip
On the Costa del Sol or the Algarve, the best golf usually comes with a resort strip and a drive along the coast every morning.
Madrid turns that around. The championship courses sit in a ring around a capital city, so the golf is the morning and the city is the rest of the day.
A day can look like this: a nine o’clock tee time at Golf Santander, lunch at the club, the Prado in the afternoon and dinner at ten, which in Madrid is a perfectly normal hour.
Nobody needs to drive. Our guide to golf in Madrid without a hire car shows how the transfers work. And if you only have a long weekend, the three-day Madrid golf trip fits two of these courses in.
Want to play where the Tour plays? Send us your dates, how many golfers are travelling and how many rounds you want. We will check tee times at Centro Nacional, Golf Santander and La Moraleja for your week. Ask us for your dates.
October golf, and the rest of the year
The Open week gave us what golfers come to Madrid for in autumn. Sunshine on the tee, mild days, and short sleeves in the middle of October, as the photos show.
Spring and autumn are the most comfortable seasons for a golf week here. Winter brings bright, cold mornings and later tee times. Our month-by-month guide to golf in Madrid has the detail.
If your dates fall in a busy month, it helps to know how far in advance to book golf in Madrid, because three of the best courses on three specific mornings is a different thing from a single tee time.
The part we do for you
If you are reading about a Pro-Am to decide where to play next, you already plan your trips the way we would: the course first, everything else after.
We play these courses and we book them every week. We know which ones take groups on which days, and when a member club is worth asking. We also put the golf together with the hotel and the transfers, in one of our golf and hotel packages or in a week built around your dates.
The price depends on the days, the season and the size of your group, so we confirm it when we quote, with the tee times already in hand.
Frequently asked questions
Can you play the course where the Open de España is held in Madrid?
Not as a visitor. This year’s venue is a private members’ club that does not take visitor rounds. Centro Nacional de Golf, where Jon Rahm won the Open in 2018, Golf Santander and Real Club La Moraleja are the tournament-level courses near Madrid that we can book for you.
Where did Jon Rahm win the Open de España?
Jon Rahm won the Open de España in 2018 at Centro Nacional de Golf, on the north side of Madrid. It accepts visitors, and it is the closest championship course to most central hotels.
How far are championship golf courses from central Madrid?
Around 15 to 25 minutes by car or transfer for Centro Nacional, La Moraleja and Golf Santander, depending on the hotel and the traffic.
What is a Pro-Am?
It is the event before a professional tournament where each Tour player plays with a team of amateurs. The teams compete on their own leaderboard, usually the day before the tournament starts.
Do I need a handicap certificate to play in Madrid?
Your home club card is normally what the clubs ask to see, and we confirm the requirement with each course. Our article on handicap certificates for golf in Madrid covers it.
Your round near the towers
You do not need a Pro-Am invitation to play championship golf in Madrid. You need the right tee times on the right mornings, and someone who can confirm them.
Tell us when you are coming, how many of you there are and how many rounds you want to play. Send us your dates and we will come back with your week.