Real Club de Golf La Herrería

Overview: Real Club de Golf La Herrería occupies a remarkable woodland setting at the foot of the Sierra de Guadarrama beside San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The course is shaped by mature trees, open clearings and the visual presence of the Royal Site, so the round feels as much like a landscape walk as a conventional country-club game. Its 18 holes ask for accurate positioning rather than reckless power. Tree lines narrow the preferred angles, while changes in ground and the surrounding slopes make club selection less predictable than the scorecard suggests. The result is a calm but exacting parkland and woodland test, with a strong sense of place that could not easily be reproduced elsewhere.

History: The first stone was laid in 1964 and the course officially opened on 15 August 1966. Antonio Lucena Gómez and José Gancedo are associated with the original design, and José Gancedo later remodelled the first nine in 2000. The club celebrated its long connection with the area through tournament golf, including the 2006 Challenge Tour event. Its setting within the former Royal Forest and its proximity to the Monastery of El Escorial have made the club one of the most distinctive historic golf venues around Madrid.

Did You Know? La Herrería sits within the Bosc del Real, the historic Royal Forest linked to the royal site of El Escorial. That heritage is visible in the mature woodland and open views around the holes, giving the course an atmosphere that is very different from a modern residential development. The setting is not a decorative backdrop; it is the defining character of the routing.