Islantilla Golf Resort (Green & Blue)

Tucked away in the south west corner of Spain, on the coast between the city of Huelva and the Portuguese border, lies the resort of Islantilla which includes a 204-bed luxury hotel complex as well as a 27-hole golf course.

Designed by Enrique Canales and Luis Recasens in 1992 within 180 acres of pine forest on the Gulf of Cadiz, this parkland course was considered good enough to host the Spanish Masters tournament in 1995 (won by Alex Cejka) and has since held a number of European Challenge Tour events.

The beauty of having three 9-hole layouts is that golfers can choose to play the two loops that either takes their fancy or best suits their ability. The combination that gets ranked is the Blue/Green course with the former considered the toughest nine holes on the property. The Yellow course is thought to be the easiest nine holes, though it is ideal for practice when competitions are in progress.

Each and every one of the 27 holes at Islantilla is kept in immaculate order from tee to green, offering a superior golfing experience here on the “Andalucian Algarve.” Indeed, it’s a pity more golfers don’t head east when they exit Faro to play at Islantilla as it is actually closer to the airport than many of the more well known Portuguese courses to the west of their disembarkation point.