Golf abroad - opinions, options, reviews

Off to Belek in the summer, staying at the Cornelia. Will probably play various combinations of 9 holes as will be with my daughter, it's hard to tell who's looking forward to it more. I've heard good things about it and it looks good in pictures and on videos.

I've played in various places, but the two I'd recommend as underrated/unknown from a UK perspective are Northern Michigan and Missouri. Not popular with international tourists and a lot of great hidden gem golf courses.
 
We're going to Hartlepool at the end of April.
Never mind golfing abroad, someone told me it's like a different planet up there...

Regarding the OP, I went to Huelva (on the coast past Sevilla) recently. Real town with decently priced food and accommodation with a number of acceptable courses nearby. I quite like visiting "normal" Spanish towns and cities, taking in a bit of culture and footy, playing whatever golf is nearby.
 
Another nice wee track I’ve played a few times is at golf de Andratx in Mallorca, condition wise it’s always kept pretty good but could be very good if they’d a bit more £££ investment in the course, but layout wise it blows you away standing on so many tees, including one almost 700 yard par 5. Nice wee half way house too where there’s always a much needed cold estrella.
Beautiful zafiro hotel literally next door to the clubhouse. Would have the makings of a decent golf trip with some other good courses around the island.









 
FELL75 said:
ColdDid a few days in Spain at Font del llop in February. Great course and very good value. But boy when the wind blows up in the hills it's a different beast.
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I’ve played there when we’ve had to start on the tenth due to frost on the greens. It can get chilly in those hills😰
 
This year we've got 3 trips to Florida and 1 to Palm Springs. All jammed in the winter months when it's likely to be raining in England....

I won't review every place I've played but to highlight a couple;

Best Value for money - West Cliffs Portugal (50 Euros a round when I went)
Honorable Mentions - Abu Dhabi (Great rates for Saadiyat & Yas Links available on VIYA)

Most enjoyable Golf - Palm Springs, CA
Honorable Mentions - Florida, Dubai
 
FELL75 said:
Did a few days in Spain at Font del llop in February. Great course and very good value. But boy when the wind blows up in the hills it's a different beast.
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I really enjoyed Font del Llop. Great course apart from the back to back par 3s near the end, just felt like they ran out of room and needed to squeeze in a couple of holes to get you to the 18th tee... and then the 18th is a super finishing hole.
 
Best, little known over here. place for a golf trip is the Robert Trent Jones Trail in Alabama. 31 courses spread over Alabama in 11 different locations.
Amazing courses, great deals, friendliest people you”ll meet, fascinating place that you would never think of visiting otherwise.
Highly recommended.

RTJ Golf Trail - Explore the Trail

Alabama's Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail is the largest golf course construction project ever attempted.
www.rtjgolf.com www.rtjgolf.com
 
pendodave said:
We're going to Hartlepool at the end of April.
Never mind golfing abroad, someone told me it's like a different planet up there...

Regarding the OP, I went to Huelva (on the coast past Sevilla) recently. Real town with decently priced food and accommodation with a number of acceptable courses nearby. I quite like visiting "normal" Spanish towns and cities, taking in a bit of culture and footy, playing whatever golf is nearby.
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Nice. What courses did you play?

We used to go down to Jerez every year and would spend some time in Sevilla, good for football as it has 2 clubs so one of them is always at home. We always played Montecastillo, but also on various trips played Real Sevilla (beautiful course - highly recommended), Costa Ballena, Sherry, as well as several others which no longer exist.
 
sunshine said:
Nice. What courses did you play?

We used to go down to Jerez every year and would spend some time in Sevilla, good for football as it has 2 clubs so one of them is always at home. We always played Montecastillo, but also on various trips played Real Sevilla (beautiful course - highly recommended), Costa Ballena, Sherry, as well as several others which no longer exist.
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Moncanilla and Isla Canella(sp).
They were fine. I'm not particularly fussy on a warm weather trip tbh. Much as I enjoy an overseas jaunt, its more for the weather and the food/ culture/ footy, I genuinely don't think you can beat the golf courses in the UK for actual golfing chops.
 
Golf is fun said:
Off to Belek in the summer, staying at the Cornelia. Will probably play various combinations of 9 holes as will be with my daughter, it's hard to tell who's looking forward to it more. I've heard good things about it and it looks good in pictures and on videos.
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The King and Queen loops are nice, but the Prince loop can be a bit spiteful. The fairways on that loop have a weird tendency to kick your ball off the side.

Just got back from Lisbon where the weather was worse than here. Praia del Rey's greens made me look stupid - I hate to think how many 4 putts I had. West Cliffs had some scary carries and beat me up. At Royal Obidos it started raining on the 6th hole, and by the time we got to the 11th so much had fallen that they closed the course. It rained so hard it was actually painful. So all in all, it would have been better to stay at home.
 
Have a holiday booked for Thailand, 9 games in carts, all transport, buffet breakfast and accommodation, less then 1500 quid,
airfares 400 quid from Perth in OZ, 12 nights.
 
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mister v said:
Morning Mr Rudebhoy
They’ll be fine, the pines is the championship course and the dunes is the easier of the 2 but at the end of the day its holiday golf, your with your mates in the sunshine drinking all inclusive Gin & Tonics!

I played with my Lad whos off 1, im off 14, my father in law was off 16 and his significant other the widow twanky was off 30 odd and we all got round unscathed (lost a few balls here and there but nothing to brutal)

Playing off the correct tees helps, and it’s a lovely set up. Great course and great hotel.

I hope you enjoy it mate
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Just got back last night, had a great time.

The courses were superb, and we coped fine with them. Other than being markedly longer than the Dunes, I didn't think The Pines was much more difficult. our scoring over 2 rounds on each course bore that out.

Golf Hotel is a bit dated but perfect for groups of lads, the sister DeLuxe hotel is much nicer. I guess that's reflected in the price of both.
 
Marshy77 said:
Where are you heading this year? Thought it might be a good thread to say where you're going, reviews on where you played, stayed and the area plus any recommendations for golf hire, transfers, trip organisation etc.

So many threads on courses etc abroad. Be good to hear and be able to look in one place.

Going to Fuengirola in May for 4 nights playing Cabopino, Calanova and Mijas Lagos. Courses and transfers all booked via Sunshine golf. Will review all on our return.
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Just returned from our trip. Great week and really pleased with Sunshine Golf. It couldn't have been any smoother apart from a small mishap on the way home.

They organised all our transfers and it was spot on. Collection from the airport, pick up from hotel to and from the courses were always on time, really nice cars and adaptable if we wanted to stay an extra hour for one of the days. Definitely recommend and will use again.

The golf. The courses, service, condition, value and facilities we thought were all superb.

Cabopino - least favourite course for me. Quirky but in really good condition. The shop and restaurant were excellent though. Course was in excellent condition with greenkeepers all over the course. It just felt a bit too much with tight narrow penned in fairways on some holes, few dog legs and a couple of meh holes but it did have a few lovely holes too. I wouldn't rush back to play it but if it was part of deal it wouldn't be a problem playing it.

Calanova - dream club shop over 2 floors! Never seen so many shoes and polo shirts! Nice clubhouse, friendly staff and overall welcoming. Course was dry, less lush than the other 2 but the greens were fantastic. Some really nice holes, nice variation across the course, nice par 3's too. We enjoyed it. Played at Cabopino with a member and she really didn't like Calanova so maybe it's not rated as much locally.

Mijas lagos - flat course compared to the other 2. Lush course, very green throughout and true greens. Only played 13 holes as it absolutely chucked it down, thunder and lightning too so had to go in as we were soaked through. Shame as we were enjoying it and playing well. Felt a little like a UK Spanish course. Again nice clubhouse and the shop was obviously run by Calanova GC as it had all the same advertising and stock.

All in all a brilliant trip, can't recommend Sunshine enough and the transfer company. Prices reasonable throughout.
 
Marshy77 said:
Just returned from our trip. Great week and really pleased with Sunshine Golf. It couldn't have been any smoother apart from a small mishap on the way home.

They organised all our transfers and it was spot on. Collection from the airport, pick up from hotel to and from the courses were always on time, really nice cars and adaptable if we wanted to stay an extra hour for one of the days. Definitely recommend and will use again.

The golf. The courses, service, condition, value and facilities we thought were all superb.

Cabopino - least favourite course for me. Quirky but in really good condition. The shop and restaurant were excellent though. Course was in excellent condition with greenkeepers all over the course. It just felt a bit too much with tight narrow penned in fairways on some holes, few dog legs and a couple of meh holes but it did have a few lovely holes too. I wouldn't rush back to play it but if it was part of deal it wouldn't be a problem playing it.

Calanova - dream club shop over 2 floors! Never seen so many shoes and polo shirts! Nice clubhouse, friendly staff and overall welcoming. Course was dry, less lush than the other 2 but the greens were fantastic. Some really nice holes, nice variation across the course, nice par 3's too. We enjoyed it. Played at Cabopino with a member and she really didn't like Calanova so maybe it's not rated as much locally.

Mijas lagos - flat course compared to the other 2. Lush course, very green throughout and true greens. Only played 13 holes as it absolutely chucked it down, thunder and lightning too so had to go in as we were soaked through. Shame as we were enjoying it and playing well. Felt a little like a UK Spanish course. Again nice clubhouse and the shop was obviously run by Calanova GC as it had all the same advertising and stock.

All in all a brilliant trip, can't recommend Sunshine enough and the transfer company. Prices reasonable throughout.
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With that kind of set up, do you arrange your own flights and accommodation, sunshine sort out the golf side of things?
 
Marshy77 said:
Just returned from our trip. Great week and really pleased with Sunshine Golf. It couldn't have been any smoother apart from a small mishap on the way home.

They organised all our transfers and it was spot on. Collection from the airport, pick up from hotel to and from the courses were always on time, really nice cars and adaptable if we wanted to stay an extra hour for one of the days. Definitely recommend and will use again.

The golf. The courses, service, condition, value and facilities we thought were all superb.

Cabopino - least favourite course for me. Quirky but in really good condition. The shop and restaurant were excellent though. Course was in excellent condition with greenkeepers all over the course. It just felt a bit too much with tight narrow penned in fairways on some holes, few dog legs and a couple of meh holes but it did have a few lovely holes too. I wouldn't rush back to play it but if it was part of deal it wouldn't be a problem playing it.

Calanova - dream club shop over 2 floors! Never seen so many shoes and polo shirts! Nice clubhouse, friendly staff and overall welcoming. Course was dry, less lush than the other 2 but the greens were fantastic. Some really nice holes, nice variation across the course, nice par 3's too. We enjoyed it. Played at Cabopino with a member and she really didn't like Calanova so maybe it's not rated as much locally.

Mijas lagos - flat course compared to the other 2. Lush course, very green throughout and true greens. Only played 13 holes as it absolutely chucked it down, thunder and lightning too so had to go in as we were soaked through. Shame as we were enjoying it and playing well. Felt a little like a UK Spanish course. Again nice clubhouse and the shop was obviously run by Calanova GC as it had all the same advertising and stock.

All in all a brilliant trip, can't recommend Sunshine enough and the transfer company. Prices reasonable throughout.
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Cost??
 
timd77 said:
With that kind of set up, do you arrange your own flights and accommodation, sunshine sort out the golf side of things?
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Yes, we booked our flights and accommodation via Love holidays. I think they can sort flights out too but we booked around the time the flights came out so got a decent deal. I would guess they can put the full deal together but not 100%. I wouldn't hesitate to use sunshine again, absolutely 1st class. Communication was excellent throughout too.
 
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