Out of the Rough: Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship (2026)

In anticipation of the 2031 Ryder Cup being played in Spain, a new event has emerged on the DP World Tour Schedule.

This week marks the inaugural playing of the Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship that will be played at the Pink Course at Real Club de Golf El Prat in Barcelona, Spain.

This event sparks the beginning of the ‘Road to 2031’ as the Catalonia Camiral Golf and Wellness Resort in Costa Brava, near Barcelona, Spain will host the 2031 Ryder Cup.

The Estrella Damm Catalunya Championship is focused on building a legacy for Spanish golf and strength tourism in Catalonia.

The event is also the start of the DP World Tour’s ‘European Swing.’ The European Swing includes six events in six different countries. It also includes both the PGA Championship and U.S. Open.

The Field

Although this week is the inaugural event, a strong field is set to take to Spain.

The likes of Jayden Schaper, Dan Bradbury, Julien Guerrier, Freddy Schott, Adrian Otaegui, Hennie du Plessis, Nacho Elvira, Bernd Wiesberger, Eugenio Chaccara, Shaun Norris and Jorge Campillo are those ranked within the top 20 of the Race to Dubai standings to be teeing it up this week.

Being in Spain, a strong home field will be in attendance as well. Joining Elvira, Chaccara and Campillo as those looking to claim victory on home soil are Angel Ayora, Alejandro del Rey, Angel Hidalgo, Pablo Larrazabal, Manuel Elvira, Rafa Cabrera Bello, among others.

The Course

The Pink course at the Real Club de Golf El Prat plays host this week.

It plays as a par-72 at roughly 7,058 yards. 

The venue technically opened in 1954, built along an airport to the south of Barcelona. It originally was a Javier Arana design.

When the airport was to expand in the 1990’s, the course was acquired and therefore, had to be relocated. It found land north of the city for its new site.

The Greg Norman design team was brought in to create two new 18-hole layouts as well as a nine-hole practice course.

Both courses are big, bold and brash. They were designed to host national and international events.

The Pink Course, consisting of the Arriba and Bosque nine-hole layouts, feature wide fairways that plunge quite dramatically away from the tee.

Five holes on the front-nine feature tree-lined fairways as well as the 14th and 15th holes on the back-nine

The greens are large in size with subtle slopes and curves. They also feature tricky run-off areas.

Bunkers serve as the course’s main line of defense, both along the fairways and greenside. Bunkers threaten golfers both off-the-tee and on approach. Finding the bunkers this week will be penal.

Both the front and back-nines end with strong par-fives. Each nine features two sets of tough par-threes, with only one of them being less than 180-yards in length.

The Weather

As of the time of writing this, Thursday is calling for just a ten-percent chance of precipitation. Friday is calling for a 20-percent chance as both Saturday and Sunday are calling for a 50-percent chance. Winds will begin the week at 11 miles-per-hour for both Thursday and Friday before increasing to 13 miles-per-hour for both Saturday and Sunday. Temperatures are set for 68-degrees on Thursday, 69-degrees on Friday, 68-degrees on Saturday and 70-degrees on Sunday.

Key Stats

• Strokes Gained: Approach (SG: APP)

• Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (SG: OTT)

• Strokes Gained: Around the Green (SG: ATG)

• Scrambling

• Sand Saves Percentage

• Strokes Gained: Putting (SG: PUTT)

• Three Putt Avoidance

• Par-Five Scoring Average

• Birdie-or-Better Percentage

Betting Card

Eugenio Chacarra (+2200)

I was on Chacarra last week who didn’t have the best weekend and played himself out of contention. Now, coming to home soil, one of the best golfers on the DP World Tour offers great value. Chacarra is currently 23rd on Tour in scrambling, 28th in SG: ATG, 29th in SG: APP, 39th in par-five average scoring, 44th in SG: OTT, 58th in birdie-or-better percentage, 92nd in SG: PUTT and 97th in sand saves percentage. He placed 18th last week at the Turkish Airlines Open. Prior to that he placed 33rd at the Volvo China Open and second at the Hero Indian Open. 

Martin Couvra (+5000)

In a vacuum, Couvra is a top five overall talent on the DP World Tour. He hasn’t had the season we expected but that doesn’t mean it’s been a poor season by any means. He placed 43rd last week at the Turkish Airlines Open. Prior to that he placed 20th at the Hero Indian Open and ninth at the Hainan Classic coming into this week. He is currently ninth on Tour scrambling, 15th in SG: OTT, 26th in three-putt avoidance, 27th in SG: ATG, 36th in sand saves percentage, 51st in par-five average scoring, 55th in SG: PUTT, 86th in SG: APP and 88th in birdie-or-better percentage. At 50/1, I love that number.

JC Ritchie (+6500)

Ritchie hasn’t found the winners circle on the DP World Tour yet in his career, but he comes with a winning pedigree. He’s a seven-time winner on the HotelPlanner Tour, including three a season ago. All three of his victories last season came in Europe as well. He returned to action last week at the Turkish Airlines Open where he placed ninth. He is currently 22nd on Tour in birdie-or-better percentage, 35th in par-five average scoring, 40th in scrambling, 42nd in SG: PUTT, 43rd in SG: APP, 61st in SG: OTT, 73rd in SG: ATG, 84th in sand saves percentage and 105th in three-putt avoidance.

Shaun Norris (+12500)

With these large sloping greens with tricky run-off areas, putting is coming to be of the premium this week and luckily for us, Norris is a wizard with the flat stick. At 125/1 we’re getting arguably the best putter on the DP World Tour. He is currently second on Tour in three-putt avoidance and third in SG: PUTT. He is also 22nd in sand saves percentage, 26th in birdie-or-better percentage, 28th in scrambling, 41st in SG: APP, 88th in SG: OTT, 120th in SG: ATG and 128th in par-five average scoring. Norris is a two-time winner on the DP World Tour as well, so he knows how to get it done.