Empordà Golf, a happy anniversary

Honoring the past, enjoying the present, and dreaming of the future. The Empordà Golf Resort, one of the most magical corners of the Catalan golf scene, has it all. A few weeks ago, the spectacular resort located in Gualta blew out 35 candles in memory of its founders, celebrating a magnificent present, and preparing for a better future. “If you renounce history, you lose your identity. Without those who laid the first stone, nothing would exist,” remarks Emilio Cuatrecasas, the club's president since 2019.

The idea of ​​creating Empordà Golf was born from the love of golf of five Catalan industrialists—Santiago Fisas, Xavier Millet, Juan José Calderón, Manuel Carol, and Antoni Vila Casas—who joined forces to acquire the land of Mas Nou. “I remember hearing from my father that they wanted to build the Catalan Augusta,” notes Jordi Millet, son of Xavier Millet, one of the five pioneers of Empordà. “Everyone was very excited about creating this project,” adds Pablo Fisas, son of Santiago Fisas, the most golfing of the five founders. To make the dream a reality, they chose Robert von Hagge, one of the world's finest designers, whose signature design includes courses such as Le Golf National (Paris), the former Blue Monster in Doral (Miami), and the lesser-known but equally brilliant Les Bordes (Orléans).

"If you renounce history, you lose your identity," repeats Emilio Cuatrecasas, president of the club.

Thirty-five years after the beginning of the adventure, the club wanted to remember those five pioneers and held the "Founders Tournament" a few weeks ago, using the Chapman greensome format, a tournament never before held in the Empordà region. Relatives of the club's five founders participated in the tournament, and were surprised with a lovely gesture: a totem pole with a drawing of the five founders of it all was installed on the 1st tee.

From its origins until now, the club has changed a lot, but the essence remains the same. In fact, one of the upcoming initiatives undertaken by the young and cosmopolitan team formed by Cuatrecasas—28 different nationalities among the club's 104 employees—is to restore the Old Course, the first 18 holes designed by Von Hagge, the first nines of the Dunes course (formerly the Links), and the first nine of the Forest Course.

The club now adheres to a zero-tolerance policy for incivility, championed by Emilio Cuatrecasas himself, which includes a ban on smoking and drinking during rounds. "Golf is a sport, and in sport, you don't smoke or drink," he maintains. With clear ideas, the Empordà Golf Resort continues to grow 35 years after five visionaries laid the foundations.