People who like to play golf are lucky. They can combine their sport with a holiday in the sun since there are so many golf resorts scattered around the world. This recreational activity is loved by all ages but is still a sport that is associated with luxury, and with that, luxury resorts. Perhaps that’s why golf courses and their club houses are so well-loved.
For many, the opportunity to get away to play some golf in the sun is their dream. With golf being so popular in Spain, that dream can be a reality for many. Spain is a popular travel destination for plenty of tourists. Adding a golf trip or two while you’re there could be a bonus treat.
If you aren’t involved in the Spanish golf circuit though, you might not know which golf course to pick. There are plenty of amazing golf courses and resorts, all across Spain and its islands. It’s hard to know where to start.
Fortunately, the team at Find a Cheap Flight have done the leg work for us. They pulled together a list of the top six golf courses and resorts in Spain, so let’s take a look.
What are the most popular golf courses/resorts in Spain?
If you know anything about golf, some of the six resorts will be no surprise to you. The Club De Campo Villa and the PGA Catalunya Resort have both made this list. Tourists may be more familiar with the banking name behind Golf Santander than the golf course itself, but it’s still popular enough that it’s reached this list.
Other resorts like the Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro, Mijas and the Golf del Sur round up this list. With all this variety, there’s somewhere on this list for every golf fan. All these resorts were drawn from a much larger list of Spanish golf clubs. Each club was ranked by how many searches it gets on average per month. The club with the highest ranking is our number one.
Club de Campo Villa de Madrid
The Club De Campo Villa de Madrid is an internationally renowned sports club and golf course. This club sits on the outskirts of Madrid and has been owned by the city council since the 1980s.
Designed by Javier Arana, the Black Course is dramatic and tree-lined. Many believe that Arana was Spain’s best architect. This course seems to support that claim. There are currently 36 holes you can play, so there’s plenty of room for a full day’s play.
This club has held various tournaments over the years. It’s been the home to the Spanish Open and various international golf tournaments. It’s likely to continue to do so in the future with its popularity holding strong.
If you want to visit this golf course, you are welcome to, but you need to book in advance. It is a busy club, and you will unlikely be able to get in on weekends. With it being so popular, it’s best to book a time as far in advance as you can.
Golf Santander
This is the second course on this list located near Madrid. Golf Santander belongs to the banking corporation. This course was designed as a top golfing facility for their staff but is open to the general public. If you want to visit you’ll need to book in advance.
This site meets the bank’s environmental goals and is located where a rubbish dump sat before. They brought in the dirt, dug out rivers and planted trees. With the course having opened in 2005, the trees are still young. But in the future, they should add to the course’s difficulty. What this also means that the environment you’re playing on is stunning. Animals have come back to the area because of the club, and we hope more will continue.
Golf Santander is one of Spain’s longest courses, and that can add to the difficulty. There are 18 holes, set in hilly countryside a quick drive from Madrid. There’s plenty of space for many golfers at one time.
This course gets rated for its top facilities. Though no tournaments have been played here yet, it’s always kept championship ready. They have holes suitable for golfers of different skill levels. So you can plan a visit here no matter what.
Real Club de la Puerta de Hierro
The third club on this list is only open to members and their guests only. They have been accommodating to professional golfers in the past, but that’s as open as they get. They’ve even held the Madrid Open a few times. But the general public cannot visit or play on either of their two courses unless they are guests of a member.
Puerta de Hierro is one of the oldest golf clubs in Spain. One of their courses did get rerouted in the mid-1990s, but that hasn’t affected them. It is a course that they designed to make getting a quartet of threes on the scorecard difficult. But these old-fashioned styled courses are wonderful to play on. These are courses where you have to work hard for your score, so you feel like you earned every last one.
If it’s not open to the public, then why is this club so popular? Its exclusivity probably has some draw to it. But as well as that, it’s close to Madrid. It also has been the club of several major Spanish golfers. People want to know about this historical course, and its privacy makes it all the more alluring.
Mijas Golf
Mijas golfing scene consists of two courses: the Los Lagos course and the Los Olivos course. These two courses are part of the same club but sit on different landscapes.
Both courses have 18 holes each, but each has a different feel. The Los Lagos course features a gentle green, and you’ll see lakes by most of the holes. The Los Olivos course consists of hillier land, with bumps and rises that can affect ball control. This course is surrounded by olive trees that can also impede vision but are a beautiful sight.
As with most of the other courses, both of these are open to the general public. You will need to book in advance. If you wish to visit both, then you will need to book them separately.
In some ways, Mijas golf courses appear to be less talked about than those in Madrid. Yet, they were still popular enough to reach this list. The well-kept greens and different environments keep drawing people’s interest. If you’re in Southern Spain, they’re worth a visit.
PGA Catalunya Resort
If you’d like to play somewhere cool and well-renowned, PGA Catalunya Resort is the place to go. Based in Catalonia, this resort is only a short drive from Girona Airport and less than an hour from Barcelona.
This resort has played host to top sporting events, including the Spanish Open in 2000, 2009 and 2014. Their stadium course was in the running for the 2020 Ryder Cup, but they lost out to Rome.
Both the Stadium and Tour courses are in stunning locations. Neither plays the same, but both offer fun challenges for keen golfers. The general public can play on this resort, but you will need to book in advance. It is a resort that will likely be busy often, as it’s one of the top 100 golf resorts in the world.
If you only go to one of the resorts on the list, make it this one. It may be number five on the list and may not be as searched for as some of the others. But with beautiful scenery and plenty of golf, this is the ideal resort.
Golf del Sur
The final resort on this list is a true resort, but it’s not in mainland Spain. It’s over on Tenerife. This resort is surrounded by holiday apartments and is right by the coast. If you’re looking for sunshine, sea and golf, this resort is going to be your ideal.
This resort features an 18 hole course. It was at one point 27 holes, but they had to sell some of their lands for development. This resort has been the home to a few golfing competitions in Tenerife. With that in mind, it’s kept in tip-top condition all year round.
With this course being so close to the beach and the airport, it can get pretty windy. But the hazards of that, along with the sandtraps, make for some interesting play.
If you’re thinking of going on a golfing holiday, the Golf del Sur is a great resort to visit. It may not be number one on the list, but it is the perfect place to get a little bit of everything on your holiday.
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