Oz in Spain

Bowling them over with his diplomatic skills

THE JURY REMAINS out on John Howard’s tenure as Australian prime minister from (1996-2007) but the verdict is pretty well unanimous on his cricket accomplishments. […]

“Oh, they’ve crashed!”

IT WAS AUSTRALIA’S first-ever Winter Olympics gold medal – and one of the most bizarre on record. As the 2010 Games begin in Vancouver, we enjoy a nostalgic, teary-eyed and still incredulous look back at the 1,000-metre short track final in the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, where Stephen Bradbury, a then 28-year-old from Brisbane, was last man around the final bend but almost the last man standing when he raced across the finishing line in the aftermath of a multiple pile-up involving the rest of the field. Incredibly, he had also been trailing in the semi-final but came through on the fly because the referee ruled he had been impeded. Priceless!

Debut in Australia

PEDRO MARTÍNEZ de la Rosa, one of Formula 1’s nice guys and (with Antonio Lobato) the only member of last season’s commentating team for La Sexta that made their TV coverage bearable (the OzinSpain household depends exclusively on Spanish Digital+ channels) will be back in the driver’s seat this year as BMW Sauber’s second signing after Kamui Kobayashi.

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Press award for Santa Maria Club

THE CÁDIZ Sporting Press Association honoured Santa María Polo Club during the association’s annual Provincial Sports Awards, in the category of “sports promotion”. […]

Generational change as founder hands over to son

(Reprinted courtesy of Andalucía Golf – July 2005; andaluciagolf.com)

AT 75, and after an eventful and exciting era, Jaime Ortiz Patiño has decided it’s time to hand over presidential responsibility for Valderrama Golf Club to his son Felipe – a 41-year-old lawyer with extensive experience in the world of business and golf. […]

European Tour grand finale prelude to Ryder Cup

(Published in The Reporter October 1994)

By ROD NEAL

IT WAS THE EVE of the inaugural Volvo Masters and Jaime Ortiz-Patiño was reflecting on the preceding three years. Early in 1985, not long after he and seven fellow golfers, all friends, had formed a Panamanian company, Valderrama Investments, to buy the former Las Aves (or “Sotogrande New”) golf course, he revealed that the club would host a major competition “with pleasure” if asked by the Spanish Golf Federation. […]