Manuel Ballesteros Sota

laurencejob
Sep 17
5 min read

Double winner on the Basque Coast

“We have just witnessed the birth of an exceptional champion.”

These were the words spoken by René Lacoste in praise of the very young Ballesteros,

19 years old, winner of the Omnium de la Côte Basque on September 8, 1968.

By Didier Picot

The performance of this young Spanish player was indeed capital: 65 (-7) at Chantaco, 69 (-2) at La Nivelle, then 63 (-7) and 66 (-4) at the weekend at the Phare golf course in Biarritz, for a total of 263 (-20). Launched the previous year (1967) at the initiative of René Lacoste (Chantaco), Jean Neuhaus (La Nivelle) and Guy Petit (mayor of Biarritz) as we have reported in these columns, the 1968 Omnium de la Côte Basque was played on these three courses. It was one of the best endowed on the European continent, which partly explains the high quality of the field of competitors.

Among the headliners of the 1968 edition were Australian Randall Vines, winner of the Omnium the previous year, a strong Spanish armada led by the Sota brothers, Gallardo and Arruti, Valentin Barrios, Sebastian Miguel, Jaime Benito and Carlos Celles, South Africans Barry Franklin and Denis Hutchinson, and Englishmen Brian Barnes, David Talbot and Peter Butler. The field was completed by players from the United States, Australia, Rhodesia, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, among others.

The French delegation included almost all the established Basque champions (Jean Garaïalde, Jean-Claude Harrismendy, André Lamaison, Gerard Gassiat) or those in the process of emerging (the Larretche brothers, Jean Delgado, Bernard Pascassio, Philippe Mendiburu). It was reinforced by Patrick Cros, André Leclerc and several other French pros, and by Parisian amateurs Hervé Frayssineau and Georgie Leven, Toulouse players Henri Castaigne and Bertrand Arquier and a young local, Patrice Léglise. In total, 94 players took the start of the 1968 Omnium de la Côte Basque.

The Ballesteros siblings

Baldomero Ballesteros and Carmen Sota, parents of four boys, lived on the second hole of Real Golf de Pedreña, south of the Bay of Santander. "We come from a modest family, we would never have played golf if we hadn't lived near a course and if we hadn't been caddies," explains the winner of the 1968 Open. The Ballesteros boys' passion for golf also came from Marcelino and Ramon Sota, brothers of their mother Carmen and professional golfers, who lived on the sixth hole of Pedreña. Ramon Sota, the youngest of the siblings, was probably the best Spanish professional of the 1960s, representing Spain nine times in the Canada Cup (renamed the World Cup), winning the Spanish Pro Championship four times and numerous national Opens (Spain, Portugal, France, Brazil). In 1965, he finished 6th in the Masters, which was then the best performance by a

European in Augusta.

A masterful victory

In the final round of the 1968 Open, Ballesteros (-16 after 54 holes) was playing in the final game with Jean Garaïalde (-11), while Ramon Sota (-13) was playing just ahead of them. Sota started his final round with a bang: 3 birdies on the first 3

holes. This didn't stop him from losing a shot to Ballesteros, who started birdie-birdie-eagle! Ballesteros moved to the 9th in 30 (-6), then managed his lead over the last nine holes to finally return a card of 66 (-4), and win the tournament with a two-point lead over his uncle Ramon Sota and five over Jean Garaïalde.

Despite his young age, Ballesteros had already made a name for himself that year at the French Open and especially at the Evian Open where he took 4th place. "A powerful player without being blessed with exceptional length, Ballesteros has a very complete game and, for the moment, a total absence of complexes, which makes him approach the most difficult shots with an optimism that we can only hope he maintains for as long as possible.

It is also an excellent putter, which seems to adapt to the greens with ease,” reported Gérard de Dampierre in the October 1968 issue of Tennis & Golf.

Manuel and Severiano

As you can see, the young Ballesteros I've been talking about so far isn't Seve, but his older brother Manuel. At 19, Manuel was indeed displaying the golfing qualities that would be seen, amplified, in his younger brother: instinctive play, audacity, power, imagination, and quality putting. Seve was barely eleven years old when his older brother won that first tournament and began a solid professional career on the nascent European Tour, traveling the globe and earning a good living (Manuel would buy his first car shortly after the Open). Clearly, Manuel, eight years his senior, was a role model and a source of inspiration for Seve.

In 1974, at the age of 17, Seve decided to turn professional and it was Manuel who would chaperone the young teenager.

At 25 years old and with 6 or 7 years of experience, Manuel organized all of Seve's trips, as he had no bank account and only spoke Spanish. Manuel had, of course, recognized his younger brother's incredible talent and organized everything so that Seve would have no other worries than training and playing in championships.

In 1974, Manuel introduced his younger brother to Dr. Camposino, who was seeking some funding to cover the travel expenses of his first four tournaments. The doctor took out his notebook and timidly signed a check in front of them for the requested amount: 80,000 pesetas (€480). The doctor handed the check to Seve, who, unsure what to do with it, gave it to his brother. After some inconclusive initial results, Seve finished fifth in the 1974 Italian Open. It was on!

For another 10 years, Manuel continued his professional playing career on the European Tour, founded in 1972, while supporting his brother and accompanying him on special occasions. Manuel won the Spanish Professional Championship in 1976, kept his card year after year on the PGA European Tour before retiring from playing in 1984. Later, he returned to service for a few years on the European Senior Tour, now renamed the Legends Tour. Manuel was President of the PGA España for 12 years, taking on assignments such as working on the development of the La Manga golf resort, while also helping to manage Seve's business and investments, before taking a well-deserved retirement.

Biarritz, Open Timex 1983

But it was in 1983 in Biarritz, again, that Manuel wrote perhaps the finest page of his career as a professional golfer. The Timex Open was indeed a PGA European Tour event and members of the Tour, including many members of the Ryder Cup team that would dominate the proceedings in the years 1985 to 1995, were present: Nick Faldo, Bernhard Langer, … In the last round, playing in the last game against Nick Faldo, the leader after 54 holes, Manuel Ballesteros put a ball out of bounds on the 9th which earned him a double bogey and 4 shots behind his opponent on the 10th tee. On the 11th, Manuel birdied to take a point back from his opponent, then another birdie on the par 3 12th, while Faldo put his ball to the left of the green in the now-vanished bamboo, took two shots to get out and made a double bogey. In just two holes, Manuel had closed his four-shot deficit. Manuel birdied the 13th hole to take the lead in the Timex Open. He managed the final stretch admirably to ultimately win by two points over Faldo. A truly remarkable victory, 15 years after the 1968 Basque Coast Open, held on the same course.

Tribute to Manuel Ballesteros and the Spanish professional community

Manuel Ballesteros Sota gives us the immense pleasure of being the patron of the ARKEA OMNIUM 2025. This is an opportunity for us to honor him for his magnificent professional career, to thank him, and through him to honor and thank the community of Spanish golfers and professionals, for everything they have contributed to golf on the Basque Coast, elegance, professionalism, talent, fighting spirit, among others.

Manuel, well done and thank you!