A visit to the European sun and golf island of Mallorca par excellence should be on every golfer’s agenda. Our editor even advocates a “winter holiday” in Mallorca and provides the best reasons to visit paradise also during that time.
Sun, relaxation and golf in winter on Mallorca
Each of you surely knows that awful feeling when the golf season in home climes is coming to an end and the first winter greens open on the courses. Ground frost, rain or even snow make golf rounds in Central Europe a still invigorating but sometimes also very unpleasant experience and the motivation to go out on the golf course decreases day by day. Having reached the edge of despair, most golfers finally look for a way out and the perfect golf holiday destination. The USA, the Caribbean, Mauritius or other warm to hot regions and countries are put on the map and shortlisted for a winter holiday.
But why travel so far, take long flights and consider expensive destinations when the perfect spot for a winter golf holiday is only two hours away from Germany? It is not for nothing that Majorca, Germany’s favourite island, is still the top destination for golf holidays, especially in winter. With temperatures between 17-22 degrees, pure sunshine and the classic Mediterranean climate, the Balearic island is exactly the right place to relax, play golf and enjoy. Our editor has found out where this perfect 3-way combination works best for you.
Picturesque Portocolom and paradisiacal Poniente
Let’s start with the first two components of a perfect holiday: relaxing and enjoying. Both can be combined perfectly on Mallorca and can be found in numerous places. For our editor, however, there is one place where this is taken to the extreme. The beautiful, picturesque and above all not too crowded harbour town of Portocolm is a pearl on an already fantastically beautiful island. Situated in the far southeast, one of the oldest lighthouses in Mallorca towers over the harbour, casting a spell over every visitor.
The harbour it guards is as unspoilt and beautiful as it is usually only to be seen on postcards, and the place around it has retained a charm all of its own. Whether it’s a walk along the harbour, to the lighthouse or along the cliffs, in Portocolom everyone can really get their money’s worth and really switch off.
The beautiful ambience comes with a small but more than fine restaurants and bars that round off the overall picture perfectly. Fortunately, you won’t find any huge hotels or “bed castles” here and everything is simply harmonious and perfect. The ideal location from which to conquer Mallorca with a golf club or simply to explore the island.
The golf courses on Mallorca are in a league of their own
Our editor naturally armed himself with the golf clubs and “dug” numerous fairways all over the island. It became clear that the golf courses on Mallorca now play in a league of their own and can easily compete with the other top destinations in Europe. In addition to the island’s absolute flagships, Golf Son Gual and Club de Golf Alcanda, a third course, T-Golf & Country Club Poniente, has now “lifted” itself into the absolute top league. Thanks to extensive renovation work and course alterations, the course not far from the capital Palma has become a new flagship of the golf-crazy Balearic island.
Our editor in the far north of Mallorca also learned of big plans around the currently 9-hole Pollenca Golf Club. A new hotel is to be built there very soon, which will in all likelihood also allow the golf course to grow to 18 holes and provide for large-scale renovation work. Likewise, after the renovation of the back nine in 2018, Vall D’Or Golf is stalking the top courses and offers perhaps the best and most beautiful clubhouse terrace with a direct view of, how could it be otherwise, Portocolom.
Completing the approaching flock of up-and-coming and ever-improving courses on Mallorca is an old hand. The Club de Golf Son Servera has positioned itself after its 50th anniversary in 2017 and entices players with perhaps the most challenging section of all golf courses, the so-called “Pine Trap”.
Golf Son Gual remains #1
A discussion is possible but pointless! Certainly, the beauty of a golf course is in the eye of the beholder and it also certainly plays a role in how the respective golfer plays and what he appreciates and prefers in a golf course. But at Golf Son Gual, it will be very difficult to find someone who does not find something impressive and positive about the 18 holes. It was designed by the German golf course architect Thomas Himmel and is majestically situated at the gates of Palma. Huge bunker landscapes are only topped by deep blue water hazards and the courses are a perfect mix of demand, challenge and fun.
Challenging, as the course with its bunkers and water hazards demands a clever and strategic game. Challenging because the 18 holes can be long from the white but also the yellow tees and the wind often blows very hard. But these two perhaps not entirely encouraging factors are just made up for by the fun factor. All in all, Golf Son Gual is therefore the undisputed number 1 on Mallorca for our editor and he is sure that every golfer’s heart sinks at the latest at hole 15, the par 3 signature hole.
Club de Golf Son Servera and the brutal “Pine Trap”
While it is already challenging and demanding at Golf Son Gual, things get really tough at Club de Golf Son Servera on a certain section of the course. The “Pine Trap”, inspired by the “Bear Trap” designed by Jack Nicklaus in Florida, is the five most difficult holes on Mallorca. Lined by towering pine trees and brutally narrow, the holes wind through a rocky and partly rugged landscape. To make matters worse, two water hazards come into play and really demand the last bit of skill from every golfer.
But anyone who thinks that these holes are only difficult or perhaps even unfair is far wrong. Rather, this challenging test becomes a huge experience. The courses are beautifully laid out and the challenge makes it great fun for everyone to compete with their flight partners.
Vall D’Or Golf with the best view
Vall D’Or Golf is a little more relaxed but no less spectacular. The course, which is not for the faint-hearted golfer, offers the ideal overall package after the renovation of the back nine. The course, condition, clubhouse and gastronomy come together better than anywhere else on Mallorca. The terrace opens up a fantastic view of Portocolom, its lighthouse and the sea, and the adjoining gastronomy is known far beyond the borders of the village and the golfing community.
There are also numerous gourmets who indulge in the delicacies of the gastronomy and let their gaze wander and simply want to switch off for once. To “earn” all this, you first go up and down in a spectacular mountain panorama. Hence the recommendation of a cart to master the sometimes massive differences in altitude.
T-Golf & Country Club Poniente on the attack after redesign
The new member of the top 3 golf courses on Mallorca is, as already indicated, the T-Golf & Country Club Poniente, after its latest redesign. A larger stretch of holes was reworked or renovated and the bunker landscapes and water hazards shine in new splendour. The course presents itself in a much higher quality than, for example, in May 2017, when our editor last played it. Always expansively laid out in the southwest of Palma, the course has even gained in magic and class.
This also allows us to overlook the currently still outstanding construction work on the new driving range and to forget the fact that at the time of our visit, the clubhouse and restaurant were closed due to construction and operational reasons. However, as soon as these hurdles, which were not the first during the redesign, are overcome, things will quickly start to look up in this segment as well, making the T-Golf & Country Club Poniente a total work of art.
Pollenca Golf Club keeps up
Golf Son Gual has been divided up, as has Club de Golf Alcanda, which is also building new greens at a cost of 250,000 euros, and T-Golf & Country Club Poniente has also upgraded heavily. With the Club de Golf Son Servera and at least eight other courses, the competition for the 9-hole course in Pollenca is huge. Although the course is beautifully nestled in the northern Tramuntana mountains with a view of the Bay of Alcudia, it unfortunately shows its age a little too much.
However, it smells like a rejuvenation for the course and clubhouse. Chinese investors have already announced the start of construction of a new 5-star hotel next to the course and glorious times seem to be ahead for the Pollenca Golf Club. For the clubhouse it might even mean a complete resurrection, as it is to be demolished and rebuilt. The course will also be extended to 18 or even 27 holes.
Either way, there will still be nine holes that are getting on in years but are very beautiful, natural and spectacular and always worth playing.