Best golf courses on the Costa Brava

Golf Girona, a Fred Hawtree parkland from 1992, rounds out the cluster a few miles from the city centre; Hawtree rated it among his best for its old-fashioned, isolated feel.

“PGA Catalunya retained top spot as Spain’s No.1 ranked golf resort and placed in the Golf World Top 100 Resorts of Continental Europe.” Golf Business News, 27 October 2022

The pedigree is real: the Stadium Course has hosted the Spanish Open on multiple occasions, the 1999 Sarazen World Open and a long run of European/DP World Tour Qualifying School Final Stages. The gentler Tour Course (par 73, opened 2005) shares the same designers but offers wider fairways, which makes the resort a sensible base for groups of mixed handicaps. Stay at Camiral Hotel and you are roughly a 15-minute transfer from Girona Airport, one of the shortest airport-to-golf hops in Europe.

In Girona, the Ciutat de Girona Hotel puts the old town and its restaurants on your doorstep. On the Pals coast, the Hotel Terraverda at Empordà Golf and La Costa Golf & Beach Resort sit by the fairways, while the Aigua Blava Hotel in Begur is the pick for a cliff-top, coastal feel. For sea views and Mas Nou, the Park San Jorge Hotel at Platja d’Aro fits, and the Petit Palace Opera Garden covers a Barcelona city base.

Girona’s monthly highs run from about 13-14C in January, through 17C in March, 20-23C in May, peaking at 28-31C in July and August, then easing back through 25-27C in September, 21-22C in October and 16-17C in November. July and August are the two months to be wary of for midday golf, so book early-morning or late-afternoon tee times in high summer.

Here is the honest caveat: October is the wettest month, averaging roughly 82-95mm of rain, so an autumn trip trades comfortable temperatures for the highest chance of a wet round. July is the driest month at about 38mm, though it coincides with the peak heat. Winter (December to February) stays mild and playable around 13-14C, and it is the cheapest, quietest season, but it is also when the Tramuntana, the cold dry wind off the Pyrenees, blows most often and for days at a time. April is the windiest month overall, which is worth knowing if you have the exposed Empordà Links on your card.

Golf Planet Holidays is a ground-only, tailor-made operator: your package covers hotel, green fees and resort transfers, and flights are an optional ATOL-protected add-on rather than part of the price. From Girona Airport, typical resort transfers are short, about 25 minutes to Lloret de Mar, 35 to Tossa de Mar and around 40 to Palamós; from Barcelona, the southern resorts are roughly 1 to 1.5 hours by road.

A few practicalities: Spain runs one hour ahead of the UK all year, uses the euro, and UK passport holders travel visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180. Your passport must be less than 10 years old on arrival and valid for at least 3 months after you leave. From late 2026 UK travellers will also need an ETIAS travel authorisation, a visa waiver rather than a visa.

It works for low handicaps chasing Spain’s No.1 course, for mixed-ability groups who can pair the Stadium with the forgiving Tour Course, and for couples or four-balls wanting coast, dining and short transfers in one trip. The region is also strong on value across hotels and villas, which is part of why it recorded 67% growth in European golfers across 2013-2015. If your priority is a sea-view round, Club de Golf d’Aro Mas Nou is the only course that delivers it.