Golf World Top 100: Best Golf Courses in Spain

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What are the best golf courses in Spain? The Golf World Top 100 rankings reveal all…

JUMP TO: 70-51 | 50-26 | 25-11 | 10-1

Welcome to our first ranking of the finest courses and resorts in Spain, which we are confident will help you make informed choices the next time you are pondering a golf break there.

Given Spain is the most popular destination for a holiday with UK golfers, there will be lots of names you will be familiar with on this list. But we also predict there will also be lots of new ones, and some that are in very different positions than you might imagine.

This ranking busts a lot of myths and dismantles a lot of perceived wisdom about Spanish golf – this is far from a recap of what you’ve heard and read previously.

RELATED: Golf World Top 100: Best Golf Courses in the World

There are clusters of courses in every corner of Spain – Galicia, Costa Brava, Madrid, Valencia and of course all along the Andalucian coast – so there’s some fun to be had picking an area that appeals. This is the second ranking under the Golf World banner and we hope it underlines how comprehensive and insightful our Top 100s will be.

How we ranked the best golf courses in Spain

This list was, as ever, decided by a panel – this time, as well as our usual Continental contributors, we also leaned on advice from industry experts with specialist Spain knowledge. We acknowledge that some had connections to courses and resorts in the list, but they were not permitted to affect the positions of those they have/had links to. There are 100 marks awarded, with every course marked using this criteria…

Design (40 marks): The key category, split into three sub-sections: Does the course make the most of its landscape (20); the green complexes (10); the routing (10).

Setting (15 marks): The aesthetic value of the surrounding views and the course itself. And the overall ‘atmosphere’ of the course – not the club.

Memorability (15 marks): How easy it is to recall holes? Are they distinctive, varied and interesting. Are they strategic and heroic?

Playability (10 marks): Is it just too tough, possibly even unfair, for the majority? Or is it able to be enjoyed by all?

Consistency (10 marks): Does every hole deliver all of the above, or is it let down by a few poor ones?

Presentation (10 marks): Two aspects: is maintenance at ease with its surroundings; plus, the conditioning. A relatively small number of marks because conditioning is so variable – but this category does reward especially flawless courses as well as alert you to the less manicured, more raw venues.

RELATED: Best Golf Resorts in Spain

Please do feed back where you feel we’re right and, more likely, where you think we’ve gone wrong. We’d love to hear from you via email, on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

And, once you’ve enjoyed this ranking, please do take a look at some of our others – from the best courses in Britain and Ireland and the USA, to the most fun courses to play and the finest resor resorts in the world, we’ve got it covered.

Chris Bertram, Golf World Top 100 Editor

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Can I join the Golf World Top 100 panel?

Yes! If you have knowledge of lots of resorts and courses, we’d love to hear from you. Whether you’re male, female, young, old, low handicap, high handicap, if you’re well-travelled then get in touch with us, here.

>> Golf World Top 100 in Spain: 70-51 >>

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Chris Bertram is the Golf World Top 100 Editor.

He was born and brought up in Dumfriesshire and has been a sports journalist since 1996, initially as a junior writer with National Club Golfer magazine.

Chris then spent four years writing about football and rugby union for the Press Association but returned to be Editor and then Publisher of NCG before joining Golf World and Today’s Golfer as Senior Production Editor.

He has been freelance since 2010 and when he is not playing and writing about the world’s finest golf courses, he works for BBC Sport.

A keen all-round sportsman, Chris plays off 11 – which could be a little better if it wasn’t for hilariously poor lag putting which has to be seen to be believed.