Beyond Belek
Six more regions we book
Belek is the one we know hole by hole. These we book on request, and for each one we know the club terms that decide whether a society trip works.
Málaga
2h 55m
Girona
2h 00m
Tenerife
4h 35m
Faro
2h 55m
Edinburgh
1h 30m
Paris
2h 16m
Flight times from London; Paris by Eurostar.
Spain
Costa del Sol
AGP · 2H 55M FROM LONDON
The one with the trophy cabinet
Robert Trent Jones Senior built four of the five courses below within thirteen years of each other. One of them hosted the 1997 Ryder Cup, another the 2023 Solheim Cup. In Golfbreaks’ 2026 survey of 2,500 UK golfers it was Spain’s most popular golf region, and around sixty direct flights a week from Gatwick keep it filled.
- Valderrama · Robert Trent Jones Sr, 1974 · 1997 Ryder Cup
- Real Club de Golf Sotogrande · RTJ Sr, 1964
- Las Brisas · RTJ Sr, 1970
- Los Naranjos · RTJ Sr, 1977
- Finca Cortésín · Cabell Robinson · 2023 Solheim Cup
Valderrama will almost certainly say no
Visitors play Monday to Thursday only, with tee times between 12:00 and 13:00, at €600 a round, and every group takes a forecaddie at €70. Phone conversations are banned on the course. A society gets one hour of tee times on four days of the week and nothing at the weekend. The handicap limit is not on the club’s own page, so we confirm it before anyone is promised a round.
A transfer trap
Valderrama and Sotogrande are in Cádiz province, not Málaga. Sotogrande puts Gibraltar airport at 25 minutes by car and Málaga at 70. Plan the coach from Málaga and you have added an hour each way.
| Airport | Málaga AGP |
| From London | 2h 55m Gatwick · around 60 flights/week |
| Courses | 50–70 (see note) |
| Best months | Feb–May, Sep–Nov |
| Avoid | Jul–Aug heat |
| January | 12.1°C · 5.8 wet days |
| July | 25.5°C · 0.1 wet days |
Why the course count is a range
The Andalusian federation’s figure, as reported in the regional press, is 108 courses across Andalusia with about half of them in Málaga province. The tourist boards count 70 and more on the Costa del Sol, and one official listing puts it over 100. The figures measure different things.
Climate averages (monthly mean, days with 1 mm or more of rain): AEMET, Málaga Airport, 1981–2010.
Spain
Costa Brava
GRO · 2H 00M FROM LONDON
The one with the Stadium Course
A quieter coast than the Costa del Sol, with a dozen courses in Girona province and one of them, the Stadium Course at Camiral, a regular on European rankings. Girona airport is six kilometres from the first tee.
- Camiral Stadium Course · Neil Coles & Ángel Gallardo, 1999
- Camiral Tour Course · Neil Coles & Ángel Gallardo, 2005
- Empordà Golf, Links & Forest · Robert von Hagge, 1990
- Golf de Pals · F.W. Hawtree, 1966
- Club de Golf Costa Brava · Hamilton Stutt, 1968
- Peralada · Jordi Soler, 1993
Read this before you book a group
Camiral caps handicaps at 28 for men and 36 for women on the Stadium Course, and allows two hours fifteen minutes a nine. Golf de Pals asks for an official handicap but sets no number. None of the clubs lists group rates or group cancellation terms; each one quotes a society individually, so we get each club’s terms before you pay a deposit.
| Airport | Girona GRO · Barcelona BCN |
| From London | 2h 00m Stansted · BCN 2h 25m |
| Courses | 12–14 in Girona province (see note) |
| Best months | Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct |
| Avoid | Dec–Feb cold mornings |
| January | 7.1°C · 4.9 wet days |
| July | 23.6°C · 3.2 wet days |
Girona or Barcelona
Ryanair from Stansted is the only London service into Girona. Fly easyJet, Vueling or BA into Barcelona instead and the coach to Camiral is about seventy minutes each way. The Catalan federation lists 14 venues in the province, of which about eight are full eighteen-hole courses on or near the coast.
Climate averages (monthly mean, days with 1 mm or more of rain): AEMET, Girona Airport, 1981–2010.
Spain
Canary Islands
TFS / LPA · 4H 35M FROM LONDON
The one that works in January
Tenerife has eight courses and Gran Canaria seven, and the winter climate is the reason to go: January averages 18°C at Tenerife South with under two wet days in the month. Every club prices the winter as high season, so the months British groups want are the expensive ones.
- Abama · Dave Thomas, Tenerife
- Golf Costa Adeje · Pepe Gancedo, 1998
- Golf del Sur · Pepe Gancedo, 1987; Manuel Piñero remodel 2005
- Buenavista · Severiano Ballesteros, 2003
- Real Club de Golf de Las Palmas · founded 1891, Spain’s oldest club
- Lopesan Meloneras · Ron Kirby, 2006
Read this before you book a group
Golf Costa Adeje gives a fourball 48 hours to cancel, a group of five to twelve 15 days, and a group of thirteen or more 30 days; inside that window the whole booking is charged. Golf del Sur charges in full inside 15 days for everyone, and sells a group rate for twelve or more outside the summer. Both cap men at 28 and women at 36. The two Real Clubs, Tenerife and Las Palmas, take visitors Monday to Friday only.
| Airports | Tenerife South TFS · Gran Canaria LPA |
| From London | TFS 4h 35m · LPA 4h 30m Stansted |
| Courses | Tenerife 8 · Gran Canaria 7 (see note) |
| Best value | May–Oct |
| High season | winter prices |
| January | 18.4°C · 1.8 wet days |
| July | 24.0°C · 0.0 wet days |
What the price does in winter
At Golf Costa Adeje a winter round is €145 and a summer round €73; at Golf del Sur €120 against €65; at Meloneras €145 against €90. The climate barely changes. The price does. Lanzarote adds two courses and Fuerteventura four if the group wants a quieter island.
Climate averages (monthly mean, days with 1 mm or more of rain): AEMET, Tenerife Sur Airport, 1981–2010.
Portugal
Algarve
FAO · 2H 55M FROM LONDON
The one with the longest habit
Six clusters strung along the coast from Lagoa to the Spanish border, and courses that have been receiving British societies since Sir Henry Cotton opened Penina in 1966. In Golfbreaks’ 2026 survey of UK golfers it was the favourite destination outright. The golf is mature; so is the pricing.
- Penina · Sir Henry Cotton, 1966
- Vilamoura Old · Frank Pennink, 1969
- Quinta do Lago South · William Mitchell, 1974
- Vale do Lobo Royal · Roquemore, 1997
- Monte Rei North · Jack Nicklaus Signature, 2007
Read this before you book a group
Vilamoura asks for a handicap certificate, capped at 28 for men and 36 for women. Monte Rei’s cancellation window narrows as your group grows: fifteen days up to four players, thirty days for five to twenty-three, and for twenty-four or more there is no fixed free-cancellation right at all; it is assessed case by case. Payment is in full up front, and a cancelled flight does not get your money back.
| Airport | Faro FAO |
| From London | 2h 55m |
| Courses | 30–40 (see note) |
| Best months | Mar–Jun, Sep–Oct |
| Avoid | Jul–Aug heat; Nov–Jan wettest |
| January | 12.0°C · 6.9 wet days |
| July | 24.2°C · 0.3 wet days |
Why the course count is a range
Turismo de Portugal counts 33 courses in one place and nearly forty in another. Tour operators say more than thirty. The count depends on who is counting and whether nine-hole loops are included.
Climate averages (monthly mean, days with 1 mm or more of rain): IPMA, Faro, 1981–2010.
United Kingdom & Ireland
Scotland, Ireland and England
EDI 1H 30M · DUB 1H 40M FROM LONDON
The ones that cannot simply be booked
No passport, no transfer coach and the best links courses in the world. The catch is access. The famous clubs sell their visitor times on their own terms, a year ahead, in fourballs, and some of them never to a society of twenty. The Old Course is the extreme case.
- St Andrews Old Course · golf since the 1500s
- Carnoustie Championship · James Braid, 1926
- Kingsbarns · Kyle Phillips, 2000
- Royal County Down · opened 1889
- Ballybunion Old · Tom Simpson & Molly Gourlay, 1930s
- Sunningdale Old · Willie Park Jr, 1901
Read this before you book a group
The Old Course has no society booking: advance applications are capped at eight golfers, the daily ballot takes twos, threes and fours, and there is no play on Sundays. Royal County Down sells visitor times on five days a week, in fourballs, with a caddie in every group and no refund once paid. Ballybunion caps men at 24 and forfeits the whole fee for cancellations inside six months. Lahinch caps men at 24, refunds half outside sixty days and nothing inside. Carnoustie caps at 28 and 36 and keeps prepaid fees after a seven-day cooling-off period.
| From London | Edinburgh 1h 30m · Dublin 1h 40m · Belfast 1h 30m |
| By train | London–Edinburgh about 4h 10m |
| Courses | Scotland about 550 · Ireland 400+ clubs · England about 1,800 clubs |
| Best months | May–Sep |
| Avoid | Nov–Mar: winter mats, short days |
| January | St Andrews 3.8°C · 11.9 wet days |
| July | St Andrews 15.1°C · 10.9 wet days |
What a round costs in 2026
Old Course £355 from late April to mid-October, Carnoustie £360, Royal County Down £450, Ballybunion and Lahinch €450. Woodhall Spa, which welcomes societies of sixteen or more for a £20 deposit a head, is £245. Daylight is the compensation: Edinburgh has seventeen and a half hours of it in late June, so thirty-six holes a day is a plan, not a stretch.
Climate averages (monthly mean, days with 1 mm or more of rain): Met Office, Leuchars, 1991–2020. Dublin Airport, Met Éireann, 1991–2020: January 5.2°C · 12.5 wet days, July 15.4°C · 11.6 wet days.
France
Paris, the Côte d’Azur and the Basque coast
PARIS · 2H 16M BY EUROSTAR
The one with the licence question
Nearly 700 courses of nine holes or more, a Ryder Cup venue on the edge of Paris, and Tom Simpson courses from the 1920s outside Paris and at Biarritz. French clubs ask for a federation licence or a handicap certificate, and the heritage clubs around Paris take visitors on weekdays only.
- Le Golf National, Albatros · Hubert Chesneau & Robert von Hagge, 1990 · 2018 Ryder Cup
- Chantilly, Vineuil · Tom Simpson, 1920
- Fontainebleau · Tom Simpson, 1920
- Terre Blanche, Le Château · Dave Thomas, 2004
- Biarritz Le Phare · opened 1888
- Chiberta · Tom Simpson, 1927
Read this before you book a group
The Albatros takes handicaps of 28 or lower, and a player without a French federation licence pays €290 in high season against €145 for a licence holder. It reopened on 1 September 2026 after two years of railway works. Chantilly takes visitors on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday mornings and is closed on Thursdays. Fontainebleau is members only at weekends. Morfontaine and Les Bordes are private. Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche takes outside players only on corporate days and summer weekdays, with a French licence. Biarritz Le Phare asks for a licence and an index of 36 or under; Chiberta the same at 35, and it closes on Thursdays.
| Getting there | Eurostar to Paris 2h 16m · Nice 2h 15m · Biarritz 1h 45m · LeShuttle 35 min |
| Courses | about 690 of nine holes or more |
| Best months | Paris May–Sep · Côte d’Azur Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct |
| Avoid | Paris Nov–Feb · Biarritz Nov–Apr for rain |
| January | Paris 5.4°C · 9.9 wet days · Nice 9.5°C · 5.8 |
| July | Paris 20.9°C · 7.4 wet days · Nice 24.1°C · 1.8 |
What we check first
Which clubs will accept a UK handicap certificate in place of a French licence, and on which days of the week they will take twenty visitors. Both answers change the itinerary more than the green fee does. Biarritz Le Phare is €80 to €110 a round by season; the Albatros is €160 to €290 for a visitor without a licence.
Climate averages (monthly mean, days with 1 mm or more of rain): Météo-France, Paris-Montsouris and Nice, 1991–2020.
The pattern
The thing that ruins a group trip is never on the front page
Across all six regions the restrictions that matter come in the same five kinds, and every one of them sits in a club’s terms and conditions. Nobody reads them because they are dull. We do, because a society of twenty-four is a different animal from a fourball.
| What it is | Where it bites | Example we found |
|---|---|---|
| Handicap ceiling | Excludes part of your membership | Ballybunion 24 / 36 · Camiral 28 / 36 · Albatros 28 |
| Cancellation ladder | Larger group, longer lock-in | Monte Rei: no fixed right at 24+ · Costa Adeje: 30 days at 13+ |
| Visitor time windows | Caps how many of you can play in a day | Valderrama 12:00–13:00, Mon–Thu · Chantilly weekday mornings |
| No society booking | The course you came for is not for sale to a group | Old Course: ballot or applications of 8 |
| Licence pricing | Your group pays a different tariff | Albatros €290 without a French licence, €145 with |
Every row above comes from the named club’s own conditions. Terms change, so we re-check before we quote.
Side by side
Six regions, one table
| Destination | Airport | From London | Courses | Best months | The catch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Costa del Sol Spain | Málaga AGP | 2h 55m | 50–70 | Feb–May, Sep–Nov | The famous course barely takes visitors |
| Costa Brava Spain | Girona GRO | 2h 00m | 12–14 | Apr–Jun, Sep–Oct | One London route into Girona |
| Canary Islands Spain | Tenerife South TFS | 4h 35m | 8 + 7 | Year-round; May–Oct for price | Winter costs double |
| Algarve Portugal | Faro FAO | 2h 55m | 30–40 | Mar–Jun, Sep–Oct | Large groups lose their cancellation rights |
| UK & Ireland Scotland · Ireland · England | Edinburgh EDI · Dublin DUB | 1h 30m | 550 (Scotland) | May–Sep | The great links do not take society bookings |
| France Paris · Riviera · Biarritz | Eurostar · Nice NCE | 2h 16m | about 690 | May–Sep | Licence rules and weekday-only clubs |
Course counts are shown as ranges where official figures differ. Climate averages from each country’s national meteorological service: AEMET, IPMA, the Met Office, Met Éireann and Météo-France.
Next step
Tell us the group and the month.
Give us the number of players, the spread of handicaps and the week you have in mind. We will tell you which of these places works for that group, including when the answer is none of them.
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