Andalusia alone has close to 120 golf courses. On the Costa del Sol, from Málaga and Benalmádena to Mijas, Marbella, Benahavís and Estepona, clubs line up between the sea and the sierra; a little further west, Sotogrande is home to Valderrama, which hosted the first Ryder Cup staged in continental Europe in 1997. Inland Andalusia offers other bases, from Seville to Granada, while Cádiz and Huelva face the Atlantic on the Costa de la Luz.
The rest of the country makes for very different trips: Catalonia from Girona to Barcelona and Salou, the Basque Country around Bilbao, Navarre and La Rioja, Madrid, the Costa Blanca around Alicante and the Region of Murcia, as well as Mallorca and Tenerife. In the south and on the islands golf is played all year, at its best from autumn to spring, with early tee times essential in summer; the Basque Country plays best from May to October, and Catalonia, Navarre, La Rioja and Madrid in spring and autumn. We arrange tailor-made trips: reserved tee times, private transfers, well-chosen hotels and tables worth discovering.
Alicante, on the Costa Blanca, brings together three eighteen-hole courses within half an hour of the centre: Alicante Golf, designed by Severiano Ballesteros at Playa de San Juan, then Alenda and Font del Llop, both at Monforte del Cid. Golfers come for a short, easy break, with the airport twenty minutes away, golf in the morning and the old town in the evening, ideally from February to May and in October and November.
Barcelona is played from the city: Real Club de Golf El Prat, 45 holes designed by Greg Norman at Terrassa and ten times host of the Spanish Open, Terramar, laid out by Tom Simpson in 1922 beside the sea at Sitges, and Sant Cugat, the senior club of Catalonia, are all within an hour of the centre. Golfers come to combine traditional golf with a cultural capital, ideally in spring and autumn.
Benahavís is a white village in the hills behind Marbella, seven kilometres from the sea, whose municipality has around a dozen golf courses. Here you play Los Arqueros, Seve Ballesteros's first design on the Costa del Sol, Flamingos at Villa Padierna and the mountain course of the Marbella Club, with Gary Player's El Paraíso a quarter of an hour away. The best season runs from March to June and from September to November.
Benalmádena, on the Costa del Sol between Torremolinos and Fuengirola, has its course right in the heart of the municipality: Golf Torrequebrada, designed by José Gancedo in 1976 and host of the 1979 Spanish Open. Lauro Golf and Severiano Ballesteros's Alhaurín Golf are half an hour away in the Guadalhorce valley. Come for a short break twenty minutes from Málaga airport, from autumn to spring, when the winter stays mild.
Bilbao, in the Spanish Basque Country, has three very different 18-hole courses less than half an hour from the centre: the Real Sociedad de Golf de Neguri, a Javier Arana layout opened in 1961 on the cliffs of Getxo; Uraburu, designed by José María Olazábal on the slopes of Mount Ganguren; and Meaztegi, a Severiano Ballesteros course on former iron mines. Come to combine golf, the Guggenheim and fine Basque cooking, ideally from May to October.
Cádiz has no golf within its walls, but the province offers three first-rate courses less than three quarters of an hour away: Novo Sancti Petri in Chiclana, 36 holes by Severiano Ballesteros beside La Barrosa beach, then Montecastillo (Jack Nicklaus) and Sherry Golf in Jerez de la Frontera. Come to combine Atlantic golf, sherry bodegas and one of the oldest cities in Europe, ideally from February to May and from September to November.
Estepona is a town on the western Costa del Sol, between Marbella and Gibraltar, surrounded by several courses less than twenty minutes away. You can play Valle Romano, a Cabell Robinson layout, Estepona Golf facing the sea, Antonio Garrido's Doña Julia and Finca Cortesín, host of the 2023 Solheim Cup, then return to dine in an old town of flower-decked facades. The best seasons run from March to June and from September to November.
Girona, a medieval Catalan city about a hundred kilometres north-east of Barcelona, gives access to three first-rate courses: Camiral's Stadium Course, chosen for the 2031 Ryder Cup, some twenty minutes away, then Empordà Golf and Golf de Pals, beneath the pines of the Costa Brava, three quarters of an hour away. Come to combine championship golf, an old town and great restaurants, ideally in spring and autumn.
Granada is first and foremost a city of art, with an 18-hole course on its doorstep: the Granada Club de Golf, a par 71 opened in 1986 on a hill at Las Gabias, 8 km from the centre and facing the Sierra Nevada. For a second round, Los Moriscos plays beside the Mediterranean at Motril, about an hour's drive away. Come in spring and autumn to combine golf, the Alhambra and the Albaicín.
The Huelva coast, in western Andalusia, has four 18-hole courses along its estuaries: the North and South courses at El Rompido, designed by Álvaro Arana above the marshes of the río Piedras, and Isla Canela's two layouts at Ayamonte, including a links facing Portugal. Come for quiet golf in protected natural areas, from February to June and from September to November.
Logroño, capital of La Rioja, has three 18-hole courses less than forty minutes away: the Campo de Golf de Logroño in La Grajera park, with its 619-metre 4th hole; the Club de Campo Sojuela, originally laid out by Severiano Ballesteros among the oaks of the Sierra de Moncalvillo; and the Rioja Alta Golf Club at Cirueña. Come to combine golf, bodegas and tapas, ideally in spring and in September and October.
Madrid has first-rate courses less than forty minutes from the Puerta del Sol: the Negro course at Real Club de Campo Villa de Madrid, laid out by Javier Arana in 1956 and home of the Spanish Open, the wooded parkland of Lomas-Bosque, and Robert von Hagge's two courses at the Real Sociedad Hípica Española. Come to combine golf with a great capital of art, ideally in spring and autumn.
Málaga has three courses less than half an hour from the centre and the airport: the Parador de Málaga Golf, laid out by Tom Simpson in 1925 and the oldest on the Costa del Sol; the Real Guadalhorce, redesigned by Miguel Ángel Jiménez; and the 27 holes of Lauro Golf in Alhaurín de la Torre. Come to play in the morning and spend the evening between the Alcazaba, the Picasso museum and the tapas bars, ideally from February to June and from September to November.
Marbella, on the Costa del Sol, is ringed by some of Spain's oldest golf courses: Robert Trent Jones's Los Naranjos in the "Golf Valley" of Nueva Andalucía, Guadalmina and Río Real, both designed by Javier Arana, and Santa Clara on the hills above town. Come to play a string of courses ten to twenty minutes from your hotel and dine in the old town, ideally from autumn to spring.
Mijas, on the Costa del Sol between Fuengirola and Marbella, has several major courses within its own municipality: Los Lagos and Los Olivos, the two Robert Trent Jones Sr. layouts at Mijas Golf, Cabell Robinson's three courses at La Cala Resort, and Santana Golf, laid out on a former avocado plantation. Come to play a different course every day without leaving town, twenty-five minutes from Málaga airport, from autumn to spring.
The Region of Murcia, in south-east Spain, lines up a series of modern courses less than forty minutes from its capital: El Valle and La Torre, by Nicklaus Design, Dave Thomas's Santa Elena (formerly Hacienda del Álamo), and Altorreal, the oldest, on the edge of the city. Come for golf that is easy to organise, a mild, dry winter and honest regional cooking. The best time is from October to May.
Palma de Mallorca, capital of the Balearic Islands, has three 18-hole courses a quarter of an hour from the centre: Son Vida, opened in 1964 and the oldest course on the island, Son Muntaner, host of the 2022 Mallorca Golf Open, and Son Gual, designed by Thomas Himmel on a finca east of the city. Come to play in the morning and dine in the old town in the evening, ideally from February to June and from September to November.
Pamplona, capital of Navarre, has three 18-hole courses less than thirty minutes from the centre: Golf Gorraiz, designed by Cabell B. Robinson and opened in 1995, Señorío de Zuasti, laid out by José María Olazábal, and Golf Ulzama, a Javier Arana course opened in 1966 in an oak wood. Come for quiet, wooded golf and an old town with Michelin-starred dining, ideally from April to June and in September and October.
Salou, a seaside resort on the Costa Daurada about ten kilometres from Tarragona, gives access to 63 holes within half an hour: the 45 holes of Infinitum, including Greg Norman's Lakes and the Hills, which finishes on the cliffs, and Golf Costa Daurada, a par 72 overlooked by a 17th-century masia. Come for golf by the Mediterranean, Roman Tarragona and the restaurants of Cambrils, ideally in spring and autumn.
Seville has two 18-hole courses less than twenty minutes from the centre: Real Club Sevilla Golf, designed by José María Olazábal and host of the 2004 World Cup and three Spanish Opens, and Zaudín, a Gary Player layout on the heights of the Aljarafe. Come to pair a morning round with an evening in the old town, ideally from February to May or in October and November, when the Andalusian heat eases.
Sotogrande, a residential estate in the municipality of San Roque at the western end of the Costa del Sol, has four 18-hole courses less than a quarter of an hour from one another: Real Club Valderrama, host of the 1997 Ryder Cup, Real Club de Golf Sotogrande, Robert Trent Jones's first European layout, La Reserva and The Alto Club. Come to play championship courses among the cork oaks, ideally from March to June and from September to November.
Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, gathers three 18-hole courses on its south-west coast, less than half an hour from one another: Abama, designed by Dave Thomas, Golf Costa Adeje, laid out by Pepe Gancedo on former terraced banana plantations, and Golf Las Américas. Real Club de Golf de Tenerife, founded in 1932 in the northern uplands, completes the trip. You can play all year, best from October to May, while the rest of Europe is cold.
