Golf in Italy or Spain? An Honest Comparison

Spain’s great advantage is concentration. Around the Costa del Sol and Sotogrande, championship layouts sit shoulder to shoulder, so a week can mean a different course each morning with barely a transfer between them. Bases such as Fairmont La Hacienda Costa del Sol at Alcaidesa and SO/ Sotogrande Spa & Golf Resort put you at the heart of that density, while the islands add variety — Pula Golf Resort on Mallorca, La Costa Golf & Beach Resort on the Costa Brava at Pals, and the year-round warmth of Gran Canaria. It is golf as the main event, played at pace.

Italy plays a different game. The courses are spread across dramatically varied landscapes, and the journey between them is half the point. You might tee off beneath Mount Etna at Picciolo Etna Golf Resort & Spa, then move to the rolling Tuscan hills of La Bagnaia Golf & Spa Resort near Siena, the Sicilian coast at Verdura Golf & Spa Resort, or the Sardinian shoreline at Is Molas Resort. Add Acaya in Salento, Borgo Egnazia in Puglia, Le Robinie near Milan and the lakeside elegance of Chervo at Pozzolengo, and you have golf set against scenery that few destinations can match.

If your priority is dependable golf in the cooler months, Spain has the clearer case. The Costa del Sol plays comfortably through winter, and the Canary Islands — with Seaside Grand Hotel Residencia on Gran Canaria as a refined base — offer some of the most reliable December-to-March golf in Europe. For a group escaping a grey British winter, Spain is the sensible answer.

Italy comes into its own a little later and a little earlier. Spring and autumn are its golden seasons, when Tuscany, Puglia and the Italian Lakes are warm, fragrant and blessedly unhurried, and the Stresa resorts on Lake Maggiore — the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromees and Grand Hotel Bristol — are at their most romantic. Sicily and Sardinia extend the playing season at either end, so a trip to Verdura or Is Molas need not wait for high summer.

Choosing between them is really a choice of mood. Spain is sociable, easygoing and built for golf: short transfers, lively resort towns such as Marbella — where Amare Beach Hotel makes a stylish base — and city extensions to Barcelona, Girona or Murcia when you want a change of scene. It is a destination that lets a golf group settle into an effortless daily rhythm.

Italy is more layered. The golf is excellent, but it shares the stage with the table, the cellar and the landscape. A few nights at Borgo Egnazia in Puglia or La Bagnaia outside Siena is as much about long lunches, spa afternoons and ancient towns as it is about the card. For those who travel to feel a place as deeply as they play it, Italy lingers longest in the memory.

Choose Spain for a focused, golf-led week — particularly a society or a group of keen players who want to tee off daily, keep transfers short, and play through the winter. The density of courses around Sotogrande and the Costa del Sol, and the year-round warmth of the Canaries, make it the most efficient golf trip in Europe.

Choose Italy when the destination matters as much as the golf — for couples, mixed groups, or players who want their rounds wrapped in food, wine, scenery and culture. From Sicily to the Lakes, Italy turns a golf holiday into a journey. And because we tailor every trip to both countries, there is nothing to stop you alternating year on year — or letting us blend the best of each into something entirely your own.