The Madeira archipelago (located in the North Atlantic Ocean, around 300 miles from the west coast of Africa) consists of the volcanic islands of Madeira, Porto Santo, the Desertas Islands and Savage Islands. Madeira is by far the largest of these islands, extending to an area of just under 300 square miles.

Porto Santo lies to the north east of Madeira and it’s well within striking distance for day-trippers taking the ferry from Funchal to sample the golfing delights of the Porto Santo course. Opened in 2004, this Seve Ballesteros-designed layout also made its mark within the Top 100 Continental European rankings, appearing in the chart from 2008 to 2014.

Back on Madeira, the original 9-hole golf club at Santo da Serra now boasts three 9-hole circuits – Machico, Desertas and Serras – thanks to a couple of upgrades in the 1990s by Robert Trent Jones Snr. Cabell Robinson, an old RTJ associate, was also busy on the island during the 1990s, designing the wonderful 18-hole Palheiro layout near the fabled gardens of the Quinta do Palheiro Estate.