Mallorca is not where most golfers look first. Portugal gets the serious handicapper, Spain gets the Costa del Sol crowd, and Ireland gets the links pilgrim. Mallorca ends up on the shortlist for its beaches and flights, and golf becomes an afterthought. That is a mistake, because the island has one truly outstanding course in Son Gual, a handful of genuinely good ones, and enough variety to fill a four- or five-round trip without redundancy.
I have been sending golfers to Mallorca since DGE Golf launched in 2007. The island has changed considerably in that time: Son Gual opened in 2008 and immediately reset expectations, several older resort courses have been refurbished, and the transfer infrastructure from Palma airport has improved enough that you can reach most courses within 30 to 50 minutes of landing. The rankings below reflect sustained experience, not a single press trip. Green fees are 2026 high-season rack rates; they are always negotiable in shoulder season and through a specialist.
The courses cluster geographically in three areas. The Palma cluster, within 20 minutes of the city, covers Son Gual, Son Muntaner, Son Vida, and Maioris. The northern route adds a 50-minute drive to reach Alcanada but rewards the journey. The western and southern resort belt, running from Calvià through Llucmajor, contains the older resort courses that are more convenient than exceptional. Plan your base before selecting your courses rather than the other way around.
Son Gual Golf
The standout course on the island by a meaningful margin. Thomas Himmel carved Son Gual into the Mallorcan countryside south of Palma, working with the natural limestone outcrops, olive groves, and dramatic elevation changes rather than bulldozing them flat. The result is a routing that feels genuinely earned, not manufactured. Wide landing zones from the tee, then increasingly demanding approach angles as you close in on fast, undulating greens. Views across the Serra de Tramuntana mountains on clear days are exceptional. The conditioning is the best in Mallorca year-round. If you are playing one course on the island, this is it.
Best for: Serious golfers who want the best course Mallorca has to offer. All handicap levels.
Golf Alcanada
Built on a headland above Alcúdia Bay in the island's north, Alcanada earns its reputation as the most scenic course in Mallorca. Robert Trent Jones II used the natural coastal terrain to create repeated framing views over the Mediterranean. The lighthouse just offshore is visible from most of the back nine. The course plays firm and fast, with tight entrances to receptive greens and enough exposure to the sea breeze to demand patience from the tee. The drive north from Palma takes about 50 minutes, which most golfers consider well worth it. Book a tee time in the morning to avoid afternoon wind.
Best for: Golfers after spectacular scenery combined with a genuine test of ball-striking.
Golf Son Muntaner
Part of the Arabella Golf complex on the Son Vida estate above Palma, Son Muntaner is the more demanding of the two Arabella courses. Rossknecht designed a tight, strategic parkland layout through dense pine and carob, with barely any flat lies and a series of approach shots that reward precise distance control. The views over Palma Bay from the upper sections of the course are among the best you will find from a golf fairway in the Balearics. Strong mid-handicappers will get the most from this course; it has a way of punishing lazy iron play that higher handicappers may find frustrating.
Best for: Mid-to-low handicappers. Golfers staying in or near Palma who want a proper test.
Golf Son Vida
The oldest golf course in Mallorca, Son Vida opened in 1964 and occupies the same hillside estate as Son Muntaner. It is considerably more forgiving — wider fairways, shorter rough, and a layout that allows golfers of all abilities to post a score without embarrassment. It lacks the modern drama of Son Gual or the coastal views of Alcanada, but it has a relaxed, classic feel that suits a first round or a recovery game after a difficult day elsewhere. The Castillo Hotel Son Vida adjoins the course, which makes it the easiest course on the island to build a golf-stay package around.
Best for: Higher handicappers. Golfers staying at Hotel Son Vida. Mixed-ability groups.
Pula Golf
Pula is the best course in eastern Mallorca, which is a different region from the Palma-centric clusters and requires deliberate planning to include. Gancedo built a hilly, technical layout through mature pines and almond trees near the village of Son Servera, with a par-70 card that plays considerably longer than the scorecard suggests. Elevation changes are constant, putting a premium on course management rather than distance. The green fee is honest value and the course is rarely crowded, which makes it a worthwhile day trip from resorts on the east coast.
Best for: Golfers based in eastern Mallorca resorts (Porto Cristo, Cala Millor). Low handicappers.
Golf Son Antem East
The Marriott Son Antem resort operates two 18-hole courses (East and West) on flat agricultural land south of Palma. The East course is the stronger of the two, with water features creating genuine risk-reward decisions on several holes. The overall terrain is less dramatic than Son Gual or Alcanada, but the conditioning is consistently reliable and the Marriott infrastructure around it, driving range, short game area, multiple restaurants, means it functions well as a resort golf day. Green fees are notably lower than the top-tier courses and can dip further with resort packages.
Best for: Resort guests at the Marriott Son Antem. Groups wanting comfortable, well-serviced golf.
T-Golf & Country Club
Previously known as Poniente Golf, T-Golf occupies a wide valley west of Palma near the resort strip of Magaluf and Santa Ponça. Folco Nardi's original design is mature now — established pines line the fairways and the overall feel is more settled than younger courses nearby. It does not challenge the top three on this list for design quality, but it is accessible, well-priced, and convenient for golfers staying in the western resorts who want a straightforward 18-hole round without a long transfer. The driving range facilities are good.
Best for: Golfers staying in Magaluf, Santa Ponça, or the Calvià area. Higher handicappers.
Club de Golf Santa Ponsa I
One of the original resort courses built to service the southwest Mallorcan package hotel boom in the late 1970s, Santa Ponsa I has aged gracefully. The layout winds through Mediterranean scrub and mature pines with a rhythm that keeps the game moving — useful for groups on a schedule. It hosted several European Tour events in the 1980s and early 1990s, giving it a course history that the newer resort tracks lack. Neither the toughest nor the most scenic course on the island, but honest value and a reliable choice for a supplementary round.
Best for: Resort golfers in the Santa Ponça area. Groups who want an easy logistical day.
Golf Park Mallorca Maioris
Maioris is the budget-friendly workhorse course south of Palma. The layout is flat and straightforward, with wide fairways and receptive greens that keep scoring accessible for all handicaps. It does not compete with Son Gual or Alcanada on design ambition, but the conditions are well-maintained, the green fee is among the most competitive in the region, and the proximity to Palma airport (under 20 minutes) makes it a convenient first or last round of a trip without requiring a hotel transfer into the city.
Best for: Golfers on tighter budgets. Convenient airport-adjacent round on arrival or departure day.
Real Golf de Bendinat
Bendinat is a nine-hole (played as 18 from different tees) short course in the hills above Bendinat, a residential area west of Palma. Par-62, it plays under 5,000 metres from the back and is explicitly not a course for golfers chasing a serious examination. What it offers instead is character: mature trees, tight fairways, sloping lies, and a clubhouse atmosphere that belongs to another era of the game. A first round here for a high-handicapper joining a group of low-handicappers can level the field in a way a championship layout never could. Good fun, inexpensive, not to be taken seriously.
Best for: High-handicappers. Golfers joining a group trip who want an evening nine without pressure.
When to go golfing in Mallorca
Mallorca is technically playable twelve months a year, but the conditions split clearly into three windows. March through May is the best overall period: temperatures between 16–22°C, courses recovered from the quiet winter, green fees at spring rates, and tee sheets with space. The island is less crowded than in summer, and the Tramuntana mountains are still capped with a little snow in the early weeks — unusual to see from a fairway.
September and October run a close second. The summer heat has broken, courses that took a battering during the high season are recovering well, and green fees have not yet dropped to full off-season rates, which means the quality-to-price ratio is excellent. October in particular is the month serious golfers tend to favour.
June through August is peak tourist season and peak heat. Tee times before 8am or after 5pm are the only sensible windows in July and August. Midday rounds on exposed courses like Son Gual can reach 35°C on the fairways. The courses are at their busiest, green fees are at their highest, and the island's roads around Palma are noticeably congested. It is not unplayable, but it is the hardest version of a Mallorca golf trip.
November through February is quiet and cheap. Many courses cut their rack rates by 40–50%. The risk is a stretch of rain — Mallorca's wet season runs roughly November to January and while the island averages only 450mm of rainfall per year, it tends to arrive in concentrated bursts. Course closures are rare but not unheard of. For golfers with flexible dates and a relaxed attitude to weather, a winter trip can represent extraordinary value.
How to plan a Mallorca golf trip
A standard Mallorca golf break runs four to six nights with three to five rounds. The biggest logistical mistake is basing yourself in a beach resort on the east or north coast and expecting convenient access to the Palma-area courses. The drive from Cala Millor to Son Gual is 75 minutes each way. That is manageable for one special round but unsustainable across a multi-day trip. Base in or around Palma, the Son Vida area, or the western coast, and you can reach nine of the ten courses on this list inside 45 minutes.
For accommodation, the Son Vida estate offers the most golf-immersive option: Castillo Hotel Son Vida sits between the two Arabella courses, with Son Gual a 15-minute drive away. The Gran Meliá de Mar at Illetes, west of Palma, is another strong base with good transfer times to the Calvià and Palma-area courses. For groups who want to mix beach time with golf, the Portals Nous area strikes a reasonable balance.
Hire cars are almost mandatory unless you are committing to one or two courses on the Son Vida estate. Taxis between Palma and the courses exist but the costs add up quickly across a week — €40 each way to Son Gual or €90 return to Alcanada makes a hire car the obvious alternative for groups of two or more.
Tee time booking at Son Gual and Alcanada requires advance notice: both courses run limited visitor numbers and high-season mornings sell out weeks ahead. Son Gual in particular caps daily rounds to protect conditioning. Book at least four to six weeks out in spring and autumn, and eight to ten weeks in advance for July and August if you want the mornings. The Arabella courses (Son Muntaner and Son Vida) are easier to get into but still warrant booking two to three weeks ahead in shoulder season.
Mallorca competes directly with the Algarve and the Costa del Sol for the European golf break market. It wins on variety of experience — combining excellent golf with a genuinely attractive island — but loses on sheer depth of top-tier courses. If golf is the only priority, the Algarve's concentration of championship layouts within 40 minutes of each other is hard to beat. If you want golf alongside culture, food, and an island rather than a purpose-built resort strip, Mallorca makes the stronger case.
See our Golf Vacations in Spain complete guide for mainland comparisons, or the Costa del Sol guide if you want Valderrama and Finca Cortesin in the same trip.