Severiano "Seve" Ballesteros belongs to the "Big Five", a group of world-class golfers who were born within 12 months of one another, have all won at least one Major championship, and have taken Europe to the Ryder Cup.

"Seve" was born in Pedreña, Spain on April 9th, 1957. Throughout his international career, he has won over 70 professional tournaments, including 3 British Open Championships and 2 US Masters. Ballesteros was a member of the winning European Team at the Ryder Cup on two occasions, one of them, in 1997, as the captain.

In 1997 he was admitted into the Hall of Fame and in 2000 was named "European Player of the Century". Among other awards, he has received an honorary degree from the University of St. Andrews and has been presented with the key to the city of Augusta. In 1990 he was able to realize his concept of a perfect golf course in the design of our 36-hole golf course at Novo Sancti Petri.

Seve Ballesteros Biography:

Think of Seve Ballesteros as the Arnold Palmer of Europe: a fiery, charismatic, good-looking, swashbuckling, risk-taking player whose star power elevated the European Tour to new levels, and helped Europe achieve equality - ultimately superiority - in the Ryder Cup.

Creativity, imagination and short-game brilliance were the hallmarks of Ballesteros' game. He might miss the fairway off the tee, but at his best, it rarely hurt him. He even made birdie after playing from a parking lot during his 1979 British Open win.

Ballesteros grew up in a golfing family. His three brothers were golf pros; an uncle, Ramon Sota, finished 6th at the 1965 Masters. Ballesteros learned golf at age 7 using a cut-down 3-iron; by 13, he was winning events and shooting 65.

He turned pro in 1974, just 16 years old, and won the Spanish Professionals Championship that year. In 1976, he won five times on the European Tour and claimed the money title. He made up 4 shots on Arnold Palmer at the Lancome Trophy to get the victory; at the British Open, the 19-year-old chased Johnny Miller to the finish before settling for second.

During one stretch of 1978, Ballesteros won six consecutive weeks on three different continents. In 1979, the first of his five majors came at the British Open. He won his next major played, the Masters, but was disqualified from the 1980 U.S. Open when he was late for his tee time.

Controversy and success went hand in hand with Ballesteros. In 1981, he was voted off the European Ryder Cup team for playing too much in America. Then a dispute with the U.S. PGA Tour over playing commitments - Seve wanted to play part-time in America; the Tour said all-or-nothing - led to Ballesteros remaining in Europe full-time.

Ballesteros dominated the European Tour for much of the 1980s, and led Europe to its first big wins in the Ryder Cup. In eight Ryder Cup appearances, Ballesteros compiled a 20-12-5 record. In foursomes and fourballs, Ballesteros was often paired with fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal. The "Spanish Armada," as the team was called, became the most successful pairing in Ryder Cup history, going 11-2-2. The team's 12 points earned is double the points of the next most successful Ryder Cup pairing.

Beginning in the mid 1990s, Ballesteros' driving became more erratic. His final win on the European Tour was in 1995. Seve played more and more sparingly after that, nearly ceasing competitive golf after around 2003, until making his Champions Tour debut in 2007.

_{Source:golf.about.com}

Hole by hole: Mar & Pinos...

Click on image to enlarge!