Mallorca, a golfers’ paradise!

Well, where to start… Mallorca offers a wide variety of golf courses, new and old, member clubs and resort courses, flat and hilly courses. And some offer some spectacular views across the Mediterranean sea. It’s amazing that a fairly small island (100 km by 70 km) is home to 22 golf courses! Of these, 19 offer 18 holes or more and 8 golf courses are rated 8.0 or higher. This has led Leadingcourses to rate Mallorca with a 9.1, which indicates that Mallorca is outstanding as a golf destination. The rating is based on several elements, like the average rating of golf clubs within this destination and the density of above-average golf clubs. Check all 22 golf clubs in Mallorca.

The most popular golf course on Mallorca is Golf Son Gual, which is located conveniently close to the international airport and Palma. According to golfers on Leadingcourses Club de Golf Alcanada is still the best golf course of Mallorca (but Son Gual is getting close) and is located in the North. We couldn’t play Alcanada as the Challenge Tour Grand Final 2019 was held there when we visited. We decided to play a nice selection of bookable golf courses, all ranking an 8.0 and higher on Leadingcourses.com.

Most golf courses on Mallorca are located either around Palma de Mallorca or in the North-Eastern part of the island. See the map below for the exact locations. Clicking on the map will bring you to the interactive map of Mallorca on Leadingcourses.com.

We played in the beginning of November 2019 and we were a bit unlucky with the weather. It rained quite a bit, but this did not affect our golfing. Normally you can expect temperatures around 15-20 degrees with fairly sunny skies. During our long weekend (Friday – Monday) we played three golf courses: Club de Golf Son Servera (Saturday), Golf Son Gual (Sunday) and Son Muntaner Golf (Monday). We felt these golf courses were a nice mix, as Son Servera is a members’ club which recently is opening up to green fee players, Son Gual has a business-like feel (great for golf and to do business close to the airport) while Son Muntaner is more a resort course.

What makes the course special is the surroundings. There are rock formations on the one side and some nice views across the Mediterranean Sea. Slightly similar to some views at Alcanada. Other things to note: they have a nice birdie book (5 euro) and you are required to stop for 10 minutes after hole 9. We did not really understand why – we did have a drink there – but we were a bit under pressure to finish before dark. All in all we had a great day and when visiting Mallorca, this is a course to pay a visit. Very different atmosphere compared to Golf Son Gual or Son Muntaner Golf. You feel that this course has been around for quite some years. Keep up the good work. I personally believe this course deserves a slightly higher rating.

Green fees start at 66 euro (off-season) and climb to 87 euro in high season.

It’s difficult to review Son Gual, as we played here just after a day and night of very heavy rainfall. Buggy’s were not allowed on the course as a result of that, although they allowed one injured friend to use a buggy, which was very nice. The staff is very friendly and helpful. The club has a modern feel to it and it must be a place where a lot of business is done. It’s close to the airport and Palma.

The course is designed by German architect Thomas Himmel. The layout is nice and the golf course is known for its numerous water features, large bunkers, and well maintained, undulated and large greens. The level of maintenance is really good, sometimes it was hard to tell where the green started and the fairways and foregreens ended. Due to the rain, it was no real problem to be in the many bunkers, but I can imagine that this will be very different when it’s dry. A nice touch is that you can download the birdie guide for free on your phone and that you receive a pin sheet with the pin positions.

Except for a few distance markers on the fairway, there are no visual signs of how far you need to hit your next shot. So bringing along a golf watch or rangefinder is recommended. If you do not own one, the birdie guide is essential. Another nice touch is the Palacio, a late-colonial style house, which you can see alongside the 18th hole. The clubhouse is also nice (quite big) with a terrace overlooking the course. We had some very nice food there and the pro shop is well-stocked. Very nice locker rooms with good showers and even a sauna. A golf club for the high-end golfer. All in all, we had a great day, even despite the poor weather. And this is a big compliment.

Green fees start at 85 euro (off-season) and climb to 145 euro in high season.

On Monday – our last day on Mallorca – we played Son Muntaner. There are two other courses available on the premises: Son Vida (first course in Mallorca) and Son Quint. They all are part of Arabella Golf. Again, the staff was very friendly, both in the clubhouse, proshop as well as the starter.

The first impression is that they really know what they are doing. We noticed multiple ‘radars’ along the course, meant to measure where flights are during high season. The Son Muntaner golf course is a long (we played from yellow) but forgiving course. In my opinion, this resort course is suited for any level of golfer and all of them will enjoy the course. The course is well maintained with good greens. You will be able to score here. Only on a few holes water is in play. Bunkers have a good consistency and are pretty similar. The course is quite varied, with water holes, uphill and downhill holes and some nice par 3’s. I walked the course which is fine, the buggy’s all have GPS and was quite new. There are quite some distance markers, so no need to guess the distances.

A nice touch is the ‘free’ banana when you start your round and the fact that they try to reduce plastic waste. They offer a nice range of cool looking bottles (5 euro) which you can fill up for free with still or sparkling water in the clubhouse or at hole 9/10. Personally I played pretty well, so that’s hard not to take that into account, but I think a lot of people will have the same feeling. All in all a good course – probably among the best on the island. Good layout, enjoyable, not too difficult and with good maintenance. What do you need more? And it’s very close to Palma.

PS: Some people complain in reviews about the chimney. I think the chimney is a great feature (it’s a monument) and just ads to the experience. It’s also part of the logo of the restaurant.

Green fees start at 115 euro (off-season) and climb to 155 euro in high season.

Like we said before, Palma de Mallorca is a vibrant city in the southwest part of the island. Aside from offering a lot of restaurants and bars, the city has a lot of touristic attractions, like the Cathedral area, The Rocks, the Old City and Banys Àrabs and … great golf courses. We feel Palma is the perfect start for a golf break to Mallorca. There are 14 golf clubs within a 22 km radius from Palma.