CADDIE'S ROLE:Valderrama has provided a wide range of talking points over the last 20 years.

THERE WAS something poignant with the end of an era of European Tour tradition in the south of Spain in late October. The 21st and final Volvo Masters, the denouement to the European golfing year and the flagship event for over two decades held on the Costa Del Sol, has finally succumbed to the Eastern lure.

The Volvo Masters was a prestige event, with the top-60 golfers of the year playing their final exhibition of four-round tournament strokeplay at the much talked about Valderrama golf club in the exclusive Sotogrande development close to "The Rock", or Gibraltar, depending on your mother tongue.

Valderrama is the brainchild of Don Jaime Ortiz-Patino, or "Jimmy" as he likes to be called by his acquaintances. A wealthy miner from Bolivia, the Economist suggested in an article about Don Jimmy that there is more to him than meets the eye.

He and his family were great collectors of art and impressionist paintings in particular. Having lost out in a bid for one particular work of art that would have completed his collection, the story goes that Patino turned his artistic attention to golf and in particular the creation of Valderrama.

In a part of the world that is very much of the modern persuasion, it is no surprise that Valderrama's "est.1985" sign, is relatively historical in the region. Designed by Robert Trent Jones senior, it is surprising that in places it verges on the unplayable for the mere mortal golfer. But curiously holds a place way beyond its realistic position in the hearts of those with a sense of "golf history" on the Costa. Consequently it is very much elevated in the minds of those who have heard about it. Marketing is a very effective tool in convincing the masses about the importance of the required message regardless of the consensus of more qualified opinion.

On tour, the question of Valderrama is always provocative because it does generate serious conversation amongst the players. Some like it, others hate it and those in between accept that it is an unique form of golf much like Augusta National and it must be taken as that. I have yet to hear anyone say they would love to play the course on a regular basis.

Apart from the end-of-season finale being played on a controversial golf course the contents of the clubhouse go a long way to making up for the capricious nature of the course.

Without boring details the main criticism of the course is that it does not reward good shots, there seems to be a huge element of luck involved in etching out a good score amongst the rare cork trees. Mr Patino has got one of the most important collection of golf artifacts in the world on display inside the clubhouse. He obviously has a keen eye for art which does not seem to have transferred to his supposed masterpiece of a golf course.

Valderrama is from tee to the greens' edge in wonderful condition. Given the extensive rainfall last week on the southern coast the course constructors have got to be commended for its excellent drainage. The greens unfortunately are only good if you ban anyone, including the competitors, from walking on them unless they are wearing calf-leather slippers. The putting surfaces are as delicate as fine china and need to come with warnings like masterpieces in art galleries; "please don't touch". With the elaborate lighting system on the course I suspect the view of the course from above at night is aesthetically pleasing to the eye.

The European Tour's grand finale got under way amid strong northerly winds which were to abate for the rest of the week and be replaced with deluges of tropical proportions.

Anyone with a nose for wet weather, access to a weather forecast or the practical nature to stick their head out the door and make a logical assessment of the climatic situation could tell Friday was obviously going to be a washout. Everyone but the authorities it appeared knew that.

For the earlier starters having endured the most horrific conditions on Friday morning, play was finally brought to a halt at about midday. This was a good, if somewhat stalled decision as some vociferous players let it be known, especially those who had waded around the front nine clocking up bogeys quicker than the bunkers were filling with water.

It is the luck of the draw, as is always going to be the case with golf played out over the course of a day. There were a number of legitimate complaints from many competitors. The leaders got to play their entire second round in perfect conditions. The early players on the course were playing in conditions that were arguably unplayable. Three over was not a bad score for the front nine. Furthermore, the players were kept hanging around a sodden golf course all afternoon when the extent of the rain should have told the most optimistic that playing would not be possible at all that day.

To compound the inconvenience of the big linger, when we did finally complete our second rounds on Saturday the authorities did not seem to think it was worthwhile sending the players straight back out to play the third round when the weather was perfect.

Instead a new draw for the third round was made and almost unbelievably commenced just as the rain started to fall heavily again.

The standard reasons given for such decisions are; satisfying the sponsors and more importantly appeasing the TV people.

I would have thought everyone concerned would have preferred to show golfers playing in Andalucia in clement weather and not in a deluge.

The final Volvo Masters held in the south of Spain marks the end of an era. It is very much a sign of the direction that golf is going when the flagship event of the European Tour is destined to be held on another continent next year. Golf in Spain is passé, bring on the new, the Middle East.