Continental Europe

Portugal

Madeira & Porto Santo

Just a short hop by plane from Madeira, or a two-hour ferry crossing from Funchal, the capital of Madeira, lies Porto Santo. This is the smallest inhabited island in the Madeira Archipelago, but unlike Madeira, Porto Santo has a 9km golden sandy beach. The name literally means “blessed port” and we can see what the early Portuguese voyagers meant. Porto Santo is not just any old port in a storm.

Porto Santo is set to become a must-visit island because the flamboyant Spanish maestro Seve Ballesteros fashioned an exciting ocean-side golf course which quietly opened for play in 2004.

With the backdrop of the beach and two extinct volcanoes, the fairways of the opening nine holes sweep past lakes and bunkers. The back nine is more dramatic, set high on the clifftops with the glistening Atlantic in full view. The trio of holes, 13, 14 and 15 are amongst the best ocean holes in all Europe where there’s more than a hint of 

A fun 9-hole par three course will provide an engaging warm-up ahead of Seve’s wonderful new Porto Santo layout. Play here before the word gets out.

Host venue of the 2009 Madeira Islands Open, Porto Santo is perhaps the finest design from the iconic Seve Ballesteros who died on the 7th May 2011 after a long battle with cancer.

Course designer Seve Ballesteros commented: “It is a very natural course, an existing lake has been well-planned, to drain it and to prepare it to store the water coming from the water purifier. The course offers a great variety, with two different areas. The first nine holes and the area around the clubhouse are overlooking the beach; these characteristics bring the players closer to the most traditional style of the best American courses. A chain of small lakes communicated by cascades affects three strategic holes (3, 4 and the 5).

The other part of the course is framed by cliffs that reminds of the British links with many spectacular aspects and unique to players. Holes 13, 14 and 15 are good examples and they flow near an oceanic cliff. Holes 10, 11 or the decisive 18 don’t go unnoticed with some water hazards.

The characteristics of the golf course of Porto Santo are perfectly capable to be considered as one of the best in Europe.”

Porto Santo

Porto Santo is set to become a must-visit island because here the flamboyant Spanish maestro Seve Ballesteros fashioned an exciting ocean-side golf course...

The Portuguese island of Madeira is known as the “pearl of the north Atlantic” and it’s a floating tropical island garden that is warmed by the Gulf Stream making it a popular short holiday destination. A chain of mountains, reaching up to some 4,000 feet, make a strong backbone for the island and Santo da Serra Golf Club is located in these foothills in the southeast of the island.

Madeiran golf started at Santo da Serra in the 1930s on a rudimentary nine-hole layout. But the course we play today – or rather courses we play today – were fashioned by the famous American architect Robert Trent Jones. In 1991, the Machico and Desertas nines opened for play and seven years later, in 1998, a third loop called Serras completed the Santo da Serra project.

There is no doubt in our minds that the best combination is the original course – Machico and Desertas – but 27 holes is a nice number to tackle for a day’s golf and the shorter Serras loop is certainly a good warm-up prior to playing the Machico and Desertas course, which is the venue for the Madeira Island Open.

Pray for a clear day when you play Santo da Serra. Perched at some 1,000 feet above sea level, the course can literally have its head in the clouds. On a clear day the dramatic views across the bay of Machico are simply glorious.

The Machico is perhaps our favourite and this loop is not only challenging but unforgettable. With four tees to choose from, there’s one for all abilities, so you can choose to relax or take the 6,200-metre challenge which is normally reserved for the pros.

Santo da Serra combines a stroll through a botanical garden with a mountain adventure. Throw in a series of truly dramatic golf holes and you have one of the best holiday golf venues in Europe.

Santo da Serra (Machico & Desertas)

Pray for a clear day when you play Santo da Serra. Perched at some 1,000 feet above sea level, the golf course can literally have its head in the clouds.

Madeira – “the pearl of the north Atlantic” – is a popular holiday choice for many and visiting golfers make full use of the two top golf complexes on the island; the 27-hole 

layout that Robert Trent Jones designed and the wonderful 18-hole course here at Palheiro, where the tree-lined fairways are routed in a figure of eight from an impressive clubhouse that overlooks the layout.

Laid out by Cabell Robinson, the course is set within a beautiful 200-year old property that sits a few miles to the east of Funchal, overlooking the sparkling waters of the bay and the distant uninhabited Desertas Islands. Holes wind through pine forest and around botanical gardens in the Palheiro Estate where frequent changes in elevation offer great ocean views.

Four of the five par five holes are played on the back nine so it’s not surprising to learn that the inward half plays more than 700 yards longer than the front nine. The 140-yard 13th is the only one of the five par threes that plays uphill and it heralds a tricky run for home that ends with a pair of stout par fours and a downhill par five at the 18th.

Palheiro

Palheiro is set magically within a pine forest and is bordered by glorious botanical woodlands. Factor in its elevated location, high above the town of Funchal and you have the recipe for perfect golf.

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 

 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 

 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 

 layout near the fabled gardens of the Quinta do Palheiro Estate.