25 years is a huge milestone. To be precise it is 9,125 days, 219,000 hours and 13,140,000 minutes! If you break it down like that, a quarter of a century is certainly to be celebrated, and that is what the World Corporate Golf Challenge deserves to do.
Meet the team
Behind the WCGC is a dedicated team of business, sports management and entertainment professionals working together to support our licensees, sponsors, players and stakeholders.
Headquartered in Madrid, Spain, we’re a dynamic group of individuals with diverse talents who share a deep respect for the sport of golf and the positive impact it has in business.
If you think we can help you, do not hesitate to contact us. We are available!
20th Anniversary Book
Manuel Piñero
Career Highlights
Manuel Piñero (born 1 September 1952) is a Spanish professional golfer.
Manuel turned professional in 1968 and established himself on the European Tour in the early 1970s. He won nine titles on the Tour, the most prestigious of them the 1977 British PGA Championship. He featured in the top ten on the European Tour Order of Merit five times, including back to back fourth places in 1976 and 1977.
Piñero played for Europe in two Ryder Cups. In 1981 he defeated Jerry Pate 2 & 1 in his singles match. In 1985 he claimed four points out of five for the team which captured the trophy from the United States for the first time since 1957, defeating Lanny Wadkins 3 & 1 in singles. He was also a member of Spain’s two man team at the World Cup of Golf nine times, collecting the team title in 1976 and 1982. On the latter occasion he also won the individual title.
In 1991, 1993 and 1995 Manuel Pinero was European Vice Captain in the Ryder Cup.
Since turning fifty in 2002 Piñero has played on the European Seniors Tour.
Manuel Piñero’s Achievements
The list of achievements of “Manolo” is one of the most complete amongst European players, with a total of 21 national and international victories:
International
1974, Madrid Open
1976, Swiss Open
1977, Penfold PGA Championship
1980, Mazda Cars English Classic
1981, Madrid Open, Swiss Open
1982, European Open Championship, Individual World Cup
1985, Cepsa Madrid Open, Italian Open
Team International
1981, 1985, Ryder Cup
1991, 1993, 1995, Ryder Cup Vice Captain
1976, World Cup with Seve Ballesteros
1982, World Cup with José Mª Cañizares
National Spanish Champion
Spanish Champion: 1973, 1974, 1983, 1984, 1989
Spanish Doubles Champion: 1976 with Salvador Balbuena, 1984 with Antonio Garrido and 1985 with his brother Alfonso.
Simon Holmes
Career Highlights
Born in Irvine to English parents – his father worked in Greenock for IBM – Simon Holmes spent his adolescent summers playing golf at Helensburgh, where he is still a member, before setting out for America and Wake Forest University in North Carolina. A decent player, Holmes was good enough to twice reach the last 16 of the Scottish Amateur Championship and hold a handicap of plus two.
It is in Golf Coaching, however, where Simon Holmes found his niche, first as an assistant to David Leadbetter, then as a sole practitioner. Simon worked with David Leadbetter from 1988 to 1992, where at the time, Leadbetter coached the who’s who of world golf including Nick Faldo, Nick Price and Bernhard Langer, and Simon worked with them all.
During the Summers of 1991 and 1992 Simon spent most of the year with Nick Faldo going to most events he was playing in and it was at the end of 1992 where Simon decided to go it alone after coaching Langer independently of his work with Leadbetter.
In 1993 Simon went on to coach Nick Faldo who won the ’93 Johnnie Walker Classic, Bernhard Langer when he won the Masters, Anders Forsbrand and Barry Lane. He also had four players in the 1993 Ryder Cup side – Langer, Seve Ballesteros, Barry Lane and Joakim Haeggman. To date Simon has coached over 80 tournament professionals that have won together over 50 titles and 2 majors. These include:
Retief Goosen, Darren Clarke, Thomas Bjorn, Ernie Els, Bernhard Langer, Ian Woosnam, Robert Karlsson, Soren Hansen, Jasper Parnevik, Vijay Singh, Lee Westwood, Barry Lane, Mark McNulty, Nick Faldo, Joakim Haeggman, Geoff Ogilvy, Tony Johnstone, Darren Fichart, David Carter, Jeremy Robinson, Anders Forsbrand, Peter Fowler, Roger Chapman, Gordon Brand Jnr, Mark Roe, Jean Van der Velde, Marc Farry, Per Ulrik Johansson, Roger Winchester, Mark James, Seve Ballesteros, Mark Davis, Brian Marchbank, Mike Hulbert, Derrick Cooper, Nick Price, Curtis Strange, Ian Poulter, Severiano Ballesteros, Bob Tway, Stephan Ames, Padraig Harrington, Richard Green, Trevor Immelman, Peter Hanson, Constantino Rocca, Jamie Spence, and Suzann Pettersen.
