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Golf guide • Portugal • Autonomous Region of Madeira

Golf in Madeira: courses above the clouds, facing the Atlantic

Madeira, a Portuguese island in the Atlantic about four hours' flight from Paris, offers two mountain courses above Funchal: Robert Trent Jones Sr.'s twenty-seven holes at Santo da Serra, long a European Tour venue, and Palheiro Golf, on a botanical estate. Severiano Ballesteros's course on neighbouring Porto Santo rounds off the trip. The draw is the ocean views, the quintas of the Madeira wine families and mild weather all year; the best months are March to June, then September.

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Nearly a thousand kilometres from Lisbon, Madeira rises out of the Atlantic as a mass of forested volcanic mountains. Funchal, the capital, climbs in an amphitheatre above its bay, and the golf is played higher still: at 500 metres on the Palheiro estate, around 660 metres on the Santo da Serra plateau. The courses look down on the ocean, between woods and ravines, with the Desertas Islands on the horizon. The slopes, and the clouds that sometimes rise from the valleys, are part of the game.

Golf here goes back a long way: a first nine-hole course opened at Santo da Serra in 1937; Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed twenty-seven holes there, opened from 1991, and the European Tour called in until 2015. Palheiro, opened in 1993, belongs to the estate that the Blandy family, one of the great Madeira wine houses, has owned since 1885. On neighbouring Porto Santo, Severiano Ballesteros designed a third course, whose back nine runs along the cliffs.

Five to seven nights allow two rounds at Santo da Serra, on two different nine-hole combinations, one at Palheiro and a night on Porto Santo. Stay in Funchal or on the Palheiro estate, a quarter of an hour from the centre. The rest of the time belongs to the quintas and their gardens, the Madeira wine lodges, the levadas winding through the laurel forest and the tables where espetada grills on laurel branches.

The courses

Tee above a narrow fairway lined with pines and eucalyptus, blue and pink hydrangeas, the ocean beyond the hole

Clube de Golf Santo da Serra

  • Architect: Robert Trent Jones Sr.
  • Opened 1991
  • 27 holes

On this plateau in the east of the island, a first nine-hole course was opened in 1937 by British professionals including J. H. Taylor and Alf Padgham. Robert Trent Jones Sr. designed twenty-seven holes here in three loops: Machico and Desertas, opened in 1991, then Serras in 1998. The European Tour's Madeira Islands Open was played here almost every year from 1993 to 2015; in 2001 Des Smyth, aged 48, became the oldest winner the tour had then known. Hilly, set between woods and ravines and facing Machico Bay, the course calls for a buggy and suits golfers who play regularly.

Signature hole. The 4th on the Machico nine, a 185-metre par 3 from the white tees, is played over a ravine to a shallow green; it was voted the world's best par 3 at the 2024 World Golf Awards.

Official website

Palheiro Golf

  • Architect: Cabell B. Robinson
  • Opened 1993
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

Opened in 1993 on the Palheiro estate, Cabell B. Robinson's course winds along at close to 500 metres among maritime pines, Monterey cypresses and botanical woodland, with Funchal Bay and the Desertas Islands below. The terrain is broken, with a few blind tee shots and long carries to raised greens. The bunkers have been rebuilt and filled with silica sand, since the island's black sand was too compact and made them very hard. A quarter of an hour from central Funchal, it slips easily into a day and suits every level.

Signature hole. On the 15th, a kapok tree guards the green and stops more balls than its looks suggest. From the top of the 18th fairway, the view drops to the ocean, then to the green and the clubhouse among the pines.

Official website

Porto Santo Golfe

  • Architect: Severiano Ballesteros
  • Opened 2004
  • 18 holes
  • Par 72

On neighbouring Porto Santo, Severiano Ballesteros designed a course that opened in 2004 and hosted the Madeira Islands Open from 2009 to 2011. The two nines are nothing alike: the rolling front nine brings several lakes into play; the back nine runs along the cliffs, exposed to the Atlantic wind. The club calls holes 13, 14 and 15 its "Amen Corner". The ground is much flatter than on Madeira. Allow about two and a half hours by ferry from Funchal, or around twenty minutes by plane, and plan at least one night on the island.

Signature hole. The 13th, a par 3 of around 200 yards, is played across a gorge to a clifftop green, with the ocean far below.

Official website

Where to stay

Casa Velha do Palheiro

Built in 1804 as a hunting lodge by the Count of Carvalhal, the Casa Velha has become a Relais & Châteaux country house at the heart of the Palheiro estate, linked to the course by a path. Ask for one of the three junior suites in the old house, named after the count, King Dom Carlos, who stayed here in 1901, and John Burden Blandy, who bought the estate in 1885; or a room in the Golf Wing, whose windows give glimpses of the course.

Quinta da Casa Branca

In the mid-19th century the Leacocks, a Madeira wine family, planted vines and banana trees here; their descendants still own the property. The hotel's first building, in slate and glass, opened in 1998 and won the City of Funchal architecture prize; the Michelin Guide awards the house one Key. Ask for one of the five suites in the Manor House, the former family home, but note that they only have twin beds. The terrace behind reception, a cube of glass and steel, looks straight out to the ocean.

Reid's Palace, A Belmond Hotel

Opened in 1891 on a headland above Funchal Bay, the grand hotel conceived by the Scotsman William Reid and completed by his sons welcomed Winston Churchill in 1950. Two Michelin Keys, four hectares of subtropical gardens and a natural seawater pool. The house ritual is afternoon tea, served on the terrace overlooking the bay. Ask for a junior suite: all have a balcony, and most face the sea.

White manor house with dark stone quoins and green shutters, a jacaranda in bloom, birds of paradise and a balustrade facing the sea

Where to dine

Il Gallo d'Oro

At The Cliff Bay hotel, French chef Benoît Sinthon has run the kitchen since 2004, and the restaurant has held two Michelin stars since 2017. His creative cooking starts from island produce, served as tasting menus, including a vegetarian one. Book a table on the terrace facing the ocean, and do not pass up the bolo do caco, the island bread, served with garlic butter moulded into the shape of a garlic bulb.

As Vides

In 1950 Francisco da Silva Freitas began grilling espetadas under a vine pergola in Estreito de Câmara de Lobos; the house claims to have been the first on the island to serve them, and his family still runs it three generations on. Order the Espetada Regional em Pau de Louro, beef on a laurel branch cooked over acacia embers, with milho frito and bolo do caco. The dining room is one floor up, reached by stairs, with no lift; book by phone.

Casal da Penha

A family-run house awarded a Bib Gourmand by the Michelin Guide: the father is at the stove, turning out simple Madeiran cooking that lets the produce and the catch of the day speak for themselves. Do not miss the lapas, grilled limpets served in their pan, or the black scabbardfish with banana. Head up to the rooftop terrace; the restaurant sits among the big hotels, not in the old town.

Beyond golf

The Madeira wine lodges

In the heart of Funchal, Blandy's Wine Lodge occupies buildings bought by John Blandy in the mid-19th century. More than 650 casks and vats age here by the canteiro method, and you can see the island's oldest wooden wine press, letters from Churchill and murals by Max Römer. Guided tours, some in French, end with a tasting; the longest includes a Frasqueira, a vintage aged for at least twenty years in cask.

The levadas and the laurel forest

Irrigation channels called levadas run along the mountainsides, and their maintenance paths have become walking trails. The PR 11, from Ribeiro Frio to Balcões, is the classic easy walk: one and a half kilometres along the levada, through the Laurisilva, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999, to a viewpoint over the peaks. Waymarked trails are booked online, for a set time slot.

Câmara de Lobos and Churchill

Ten minutes west of Funchal, the fishing port of Câmara de Lobos keeps its brightly painted boats in the cove. Winston Churchill, who arrived in Madeira in January 1950 and stayed at Reid's, came to paint the bay from a viewpoint that now bears his name. End the day with dinner at As Vides, in the hills above Estreito.

Levada beside a mossy stone path in the laurel forest, ferns, mist and sunbeams over the valley

When to go

Funchal stays mild all year, around 20°C in the afternoon in winter and 26°C in summer. The courses, at 500 and 660 metres, are cooler and more often in cloud. The best months are March to June, then September. From October to February, the wetter season, winter stays mild and playable, as long as you choose your course day by day. New Year's week is the busiest of the year; the Flower Festival livens up May.

Getting there

Cristiano Ronaldo International Airport (FNC), at Santa Cruz, is 20 to 25 minutes from Funchal, a quarter of an hour from Palheiro and about ten minutes from Santo da Serra. Transavia flies there from Paris-Orly year-round, and many direct routes link it with the rest of Europe. Wind can close the runway for a few hours in any season: avoid a tight connection on the way home. Porto Santo is reached by ferry or by plane.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course in Madeira?

Santo da Serra, Robert Trent Jones Sr.'s twenty-seven holes that long hosted the European Tour's Madeira Islands Open; the 4th hole of its Machico course was voted the world's best par 3 at the 2024 World Golf Awards. Palheiro, closer to Funchal, is the island's other course.

How many golf courses are there in Madeira?

Two on the main island: Santo da Serra, with twenty-seven holes, and Palheiro Golf, with eighteen. A third, designed by Severiano Ballesteros, is on neighbouring Porto Santo.

When is the best time to play golf in Madeira?

March to June and September are the most pleasant months. Winter stays mild in Funchal, but the courses, at altitude, are more often in cloud and rain from October to February.

Do you need a buggy to play golf in Madeira?

One is strongly recommended: Santo da Serra and Palheiro are both very hilly.

Can you play Porto Santo as a day trip from Funchal?

It is possible by ferry, but the crossing takes about two and a half hours each way and leaves little margin for eighteen holes. Better to spend at least one night on the island.

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