10 best Golf Courses in or near Marbella

For this list, we choose to focus on the courses where you can book your tee time directly online on Leadingcourses.com. In this time and age most golfers like the convenience of arranging their trip from behind their computer or mobile device. Nobody wants to call a foreign phone number or wait for an email reply. So here is our top-10 of golf courses in Marbella, that have online availability.

This list was updated on September 21th, 2022.

La Zagaleta is an exclusive residential country estate covering almost 900 hectares of beautiful natural hills and valleys, in a magnificent location overlooking the sea, just ten minutes from Marbella.

The two verdant golf courses (Zagaleta Old Course - private & Zagaleta New Course) are set in natural surroundings with views of spectacular mountains and the glittering turquoise waters of the Mediterranean.

Awesome in its simplicity, style and pedigree. This is the beautiful 18-hole Marbella Club Golf Resort, designed by Dave Thomas. Situated amidst the hills of Benahavis, this magnificent Marbella golf course in the heart of the Costa del Sol enjoys spectacular views of Gibraltar, the African Coastline, the Mediterranean and the surrounding mountains.

With limited play and twelve minutes between tee times, over-crowded rounds are not a concern at the Marbella Club Golf Course. Required handicaps: Ladies 36, Gentleman 28.

Nestled in natural surroundings of incomparable beauty beside the Mediterranean Sea sits the Villa Padierna Golf Resort, where playing golf is an exceptional experience. The exquisite atmosphere with cutting-edge facilities and customised service is all there for you to enjoy and appreciate the little details. The resort has three courses: Flamingos Golf, Alferini Golf and Tramores Golf; as well as the Villa Padierna Michael Campbell Golf Academy—the only school in Europe specialising in the short game and private classes.

Los Naranjos is experiencing a new era and a sign of this is the new clubhouse and the improvements to the fairways. Although the fairways, like the bunkers, are wide, it is not an easy round and you will need to hit long and accurate shots to continue to make par hole after hole. There is a big difference between the first 9 holes and the back 9, so much so that you might almost think you were playing on two different courses. On the first 9, the fairways are quite wide though pretty uneven, and the trees and the water act as natural hazards. On the second stretch, the course is flatter and sown with orange trees ("naranjos” in Spanish), so it's not hard to guess where the club gets its name.

Calanova Golf Club is located in Mijas Golf Valley, 10 kilometres from Fuengirola and 15 kilometres from Marbella. The course is an 18-hole, par-72 of 5.866 metres long and has been built according to USGA rules and regulations.

We can guarantee that players will enjoy this course, where the game strategy plays an important role. It includes, among others, the following features:  Extraordinary landscape views, including the Mediterranean Sea and Mijas Mountains, in almost every hole.

The most important value at Calanova is hospitality. Everybody knows that the most important person in the whole organization is the golfer. At Calanova they know how to make you feel at home.

Nestled between the arresting beauty of the Sierra de Mijas Natural Park and the shimmering Mediterranean Sea, La Cala is a genuine haven of tranquillity. Three superb golf courses, a truly luxurious spa and acres of untamed natural surroundings are waiting for you.

There are three courses at La Cala, and all have distinctive differences: Campo America boasts spectacular views of the Sierra de Ojén and the Mediterranean Sea. Campo Asia, the oldest of the three courses, demands a cool head and strategic thinking because of the short but narrow holes. Campo Europa is a dramatic course but, nonetheless, more forgiving than its sister courses.

Chaparral Golf Club is an 18-hole golf course in one of the most privileged settings on the Costa del Sol, close to Fuengirola and less than half an hour from Malaga airport and Marbella.

It’s the only course on the Costa del Sol with 6 par 5’s, 6 par 4’s and 6 par 3’s and though not excessively long (5,800 meters), you will find a large variety of holes that are enjoyed by players of all levels. Its success has been assured by the exceptional surroundings, facilities and quality of service.

The magnificent sea views (only 700 meters from the beach) together with the rich vegetation and the surrounding lush pine tree forest have turned Chaparral into a natural and golfers´ paradise with unique scenery from every hole.

Situated between La Cala de Mijas and Fuengirola, Santana Golf Course and Country Club lies with breathtaking views of the Mijas mountains, close to the Mediterranean sea. The course is an 18-hole par-72 golf course of approx. 6207 metres in length, set in 138 acres of picturesque parkland. Santana Golf, sympathetically laid out by the architect Cabell B. Robinson, is set in a former avocado plantation which provided a natural solution to many problems. The final result is a magnificent course with wide and well-defined fairways on level terrain, hence easily walkable. Water features play an important but not excessive part in the overall design.

El Paraiso’s greatest appeal is its location. The weather in southern Spain is world-renowned, with over 300 days of sunshine every year. Situated 14 kilometres from Marbella in a valley surrounded by hills with magnificent views of the coast, it was designed with great attention to detail by Gary Player.

The designers laid out the course to take advantage of the slope of a hill which runs down to the sea. The clubhouse, situated in the middle of the course, is rustic but very popular. The course has fairways which are quite wide, but you have to attack them quite carefully because the roughs are dangerous traps. Water hazards play an important role, both for the beauty they add to the course and because of the dangerous streams lying hidden in the roughs.

The Los Arqueros Golf Course is situated less than an hour from the international airports of Malaga and Gibraltar and is only 10 minutes from Marbella. It was the first golf course in Spain to be designed by Severiano Ballesteros.

As its designer himself says, Los Arqueros is a good course for players of all kinds – a reasonable challenge for the average golfer and a gruelling test for professionals. It is situated among the mountains of the Sierra de Ronda mountain range which has endowed it with a layout with is both quite original and extremely beautiful. Its wonderful location on the Costa del Sol makes it the ideal place for a stress-free golfing holiday.

Click here for a list of all bookable golf courses in Marbella