Golf guide • Spain • Andalusia

Golf in Cádiz: Seve by the Atlantic, Nicklaus in sherry country

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.

Plan this tripUpdated 11 October 2026

Founded by the Phoenicians as Gadir, Cádiz claims three thousand years of history on a narrow peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic. The city itself has no course: you take the road, half an hour south to Chiclana and the Costa de la Luz, forty minutes north-east to Jerez. That is what gives the stay its balance: you sleep facing the sea or in the old town, play in the morning among the pines or the hills, and come back for sunset over La Caleta.

Each of the three courses we have chosen has its own character. Novo Sancti Petri, opened in 1990, was Severiano Ballesteros's first design in Europe, beneath stone pines and a few steps from the beach. Montecastillo, designed by Jack Nicklaus and opened in 1992, hosted the Volvo Masters five years running. Sherry Golf, more recent, is one of the longest courses in Spain and regularly stages the country's major amateur championships.

The rest of the stay is spent at the table and in the cellars. Almadraba tuna, fried prawns and manzanilla define the cooking of the coast, Jerez adds its bodegas and El Puerto de Santa María the most famous restaurant on the bay. Allow four to six nights for three courses, a day in Jerez and evenings in the white streets of the Viña quarter.

The courses

Fairway and green guarded by a lake and bunkers, palms and holm oaks, hills of wheat and vines in the distance

Real Club de Golf Novo Sancti Petri

Architect: Severiano Ballesteros
Opened 1990
36 holes

In Chiclana, half an hour from Cádiz, the complex spreads across sandy ground planted with stone pines, beside La Barrosa beach and its eight kilometres of sand. Seve Ballesteros opened the first 27 holes in December 1990, in the presence of Don Juan de Borbón, then returned in 2001 to add nine more: the club now has two 18-hole, par-72 courses, Mar y Pinos and Centro. The club has held the title "Real" since 2015. Mar y Pinos, the more spectacular, runs close to the ocean; Centro is played more in the shelter of the trees.

Signature hole. The 6th green on Mar y Pinos is the highlight of the course, open to the beach and the Atlantic.

Montecastillo Golf

Architect: Jack Nicklaus
Opened 1992
18 holes
Par 72

On the Arcos road, next to the Jerez motor-racing circuit, Jack Nicklaus laid out a par 72 of more than 6,400 metres in 1992, across 160 hectares of Andalusian countryside. Honest bunkers, large, fast greens, mostly flat ground punctuated by genuine changes in elevation: this is a championship course, which hosted the European Tour's Volvo Masters for five consecutive years, from 1997 to 2001. It suits a good player just as well as a group looking for a benchmark course, with the hotel beside the final green.

Signature hole. The 18th, a par 4, starts from a tee raised some forty metres and drops towards a green defended by a lake, at the foot of the hotel.

Official website

Sherry Golf Jerez

Architect: Stirling & Martin (Global Golf Company)
Opened 2004
18 holes
Par 72

Opened in 2004 on the outskirts of Jerez, Sherry Golf is the work of the firm Stirling & Martin (Global Golf Company), not Jack Nicklaus as is sometimes claimed. At 6,572 metres for a par 72, it is one of the longest courses in Spain, with wide fairways and generous greens on rolling ground where a buggy comes in handy. It hosted the Copa S.M. El Rey in 2006, 2015 and 2022. A demanding course for good players, approachable for the rest, with a nine-hole par-3 course to warm up on.

Signature hole. The 14th, a 142-metre par 3, plays to a peninsula green surrounded by water and guarded by a small pot bunker; the wind decides the club.

Official website

Where to stay

Hotel Casa Cánovas

A former mansion on calle Cánovas del Castillo, in the heart of the old town, now a family-run, ten-room, adults-only hotel. Marble, velvet and Devon & Devon bathtubs: ask for the double with a private terrace. The old town has no private parking, so the car and the golf bags spend the night in the public Canalejas car park, a few metres away. The best choice for enjoying Cádiz in the evening.

Palacio de Sancti Petri, Gran Meliá

On La Barrosa beach, next to the two Novo Sancti Petri courses, this grand hotel is arranged around an arcaded patio open to the sea, and all 227 rooms have a terrace. Ask for one facing the ocean rather than the golf course. It is home to Alevante, Ángel León's table with two Michelin stars: dinner only on weekdays, closed on Sundays, so book it with the room.

Hotel Bodega Tío Pepe

Below Jerez cathedral, the González Byass family, who age Tío Pepe fino in the bodegas next door, rebuilt four nineteenth-century houses where their workers once lived into a hotel. The rooftop pool looks out over the cathedral and the Alcázar; ask for the Palo Cortado Leonor Junior Suite and its private terrace facing the cathedral. Montecastillo and Sherry Golf are a quarter of an hour away.

Where to dine

El Faro de Cádiz

Founded by Gonzalo Córdoba in the 1960s in the heart of the Viña quarter, the house is now run by the third generation. The dining room is on the right, La Barra on the left, where you eat at the counter: arrive early. Order one tortillita de camarones per person, fried to order and very thin, papas aliñás and the soupy seafood rice. The address for a first evening in Cádiz.

Casa Manteca

In the same Viña quarter, this former grocery opened in 1953 still has walls covered in flamenco photographs and bulls' heads. You eat standing up, with the bill chalked on the wooden counter and the cured meats served on waxed paper. Ask for the chicharrones with a squeeze of lemon, papas aliñás and a fino. Arrive before 9.30pm: after that, it is elbows out.

Aponiente

In El Puerto de Santa María, half an hour from Cádiz, Ángel León has set his three Michelin stars in a former tide mill, surrounded by marshes he restored himself. Plankton, overlooked fish and marsh plants make up a menu like no other, and wooden walkways lead out across the marshes. Open Wednesday to Saturday only: the great dinner of the trip, to book well before you leave.

Wooden counter with a plate of fried prawns and grilled fish, a glass of white wine, blue azulejos

Beyond golf

The old town of Cádiz

Start with the Torre Tavira, an 18th-century watchtower whose camera obscura projects the entire city onto a disc. Then head down to the cathedral, begun in 1722 and completed a hundred and sixteen years later, from Baroque to neoclassical, and on to the Roman theatre discovered in 1980, one of the largest in the Roman world. In the evening, the little beach of La Caleta for the sunset.

The bodegas of Jerez

Jerez de la Frontera, forty minutes away, is the capital of sherry. A bodega visit, among casks stacked in solera, from fino to oloroso, fits easily after a round at Montecastillo or Sherry Golf. Sanlúcar de Barrameda, home of manzanilla, and El Puerto de Santa María complete the sherry triangle.

Carnival and history

Cádiz is the city where the liberal Spanish Constitution was proclaimed in 1812, and its carnival, at the end of winter, has an international reputation. If your dates coincide, book your hotel very early; otherwise, enjoy the calm of the city and its squares, where life moves out onto the terraces as soon as the sun returns.

Old-town street with white and ochre facades, green glazed miradors and a small watchtower against a blue sky

When to go

Cádiz enjoys one of the mildest winters in Europe, around 13 °C in January, and golf is played all year round. Spring, from February to May, and autumn, from September to November, offer the best conditions: pleasant temperatures and courses in good shape. Summer is hot, especially inland in Jerez, where you should take the first tee times; the coast stays cooler. The wind can blow hard along the shore and changes how the coastal courses play.

Getting there

Jerez airport (XRY), 45 kilometres from Cádiz, is the most convenient: about forty minutes by road, with a station on site linked to Cádiz by the C1 commuter line. Montecastillo is only ten minutes from the airport. Depending on flights, Seville offers more connections, about an hour and a half's drive away. A hire car remains essential to reach the courses.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best golf course near Cádiz?

Montecastillo, in Jerez, designed by Jack Nicklaus and host of the Volvo Masters from 1997 to 2001, is the most highly regarded. Novo Sancti Petri, Seve Ballesteros's first course in Europe, is the closest to Cádiz and the finest on the coast.

Is there a golf course in the city of Cádiz?

No. The nearest courses are in Chiclana (Novo Sancti Petri, about half an hour away) and Jerez de la Frontera (Montecastillo and Sherry Golf, about forty minutes away).

Who designed Sherry Golf in Jerez?

The firm Stirling & Martin (Global Golf Company), for an opening in 2004. Only Montecastillo, in Jerez, is a Jack Nicklaus course.

When is the best time to play golf in Cádiz?

From February to May and from September to November. Winter is mild and playable; summer is hot, especially in Jerez, and best played early in the morning.

Which airport should I fly into for a golf trip to Cádiz?

Jerez airport (XRY), about forty minutes from Cádiz and ten minutes from Montecastillo. Seville is an alternative, about an hour and a half's drive away.

Tailor-made

Your golf trip: Cádiz

Tee times, suites, transfers and tables: your concierge replies within 24 hours with a proposal shaped around you.

Palm-lined fairway and small lake at sunset, ochre cliffs and the Mediterranean on the horizon

Valencian Community (Costa Blanca)