The Basque Country is a golfer’s paradise: these are the best courses to improve your swing
The Basque Country is a golfer’s paradise: these are the best courses to improve your swing
Golf is a sport with a long tradition in the Basque Country. We invite you to join us in discovering some of the most important golf courses in the region, which stand out for their design and for the uniqueness of the landscapes that surround them: Izki, Uraburu, Real Golf Club de San Sebastián, Meaztegi, Basozabal, Larrabea and Real Golf Club de Zarauz.
Izki Golf
Izki Golf is in the Izki Natural Park, the largest natural Pyrenean oak reserve in Europe. This magnificent place allows nature to fuse with a technical, eighteen-hole course comprised of 98 hectares and a total of 7 kilometers. Designed by Severiano Ballesteros, this course is a true innovation in terms of its architecture, the layout of its holes, its raised and fast moving greens, and its wide fairways surrounded by oaks and holly. This fact makes playing at Izki a unique experience to enjoy golf and nature in its purest state. It is one of the best courses in the north of the Peninsula.
Uraburu Golf
Located just 20 minutes from Bilbao and designed by José María Olazabal, this is a course where the terrain’s orography takes on great importance given the steep slopes where some of the holes are located. Its altitude, atop the western slope of the mountain range, makes it an imposing watchtower over the valley. It can be considered a mountain course, but at the same time it offers a very interesting golf experience in which the design featuring wide fairways and demanding greens makes the eighteen-hole course (par 71) a real challenge.
Real Golf Club de San Sebastián
Real Golf Club de San Sebastián is one of the pioneer golf courses in the country. It was founded in 1910 in the town of Lasarte-Oria and moved in the 1960s to a 50-hectare site on the slopes of Mount Jaizkibel in Hondarribia, very near the mouth of the Bidasoa River and the border with France. The course was designed by Pierre Hirigoyen, an international player during the 1930s. Featuring eighteen holes (par 71), this is a very entertaining, winding course – thanks to its location in a hilly area. The layout has a magnificent design surrounded by centuries-old trees, with the majority of the fairways moving along gentle slopes. The course’s greens are large and their most noteworthy feature is their speed.
Meaztegi Golf Club
Designed by Severiano Ballesteros, Meaztegi is located in a spectacular place: the old La Arboleda mines, in the area known as Greater Bilbao. The course runs through a natural space that has been completely recovered from the intense mining activity undertaken during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The eighteen-hole course and the nine-hole Pitch & Putt course both take advantage of the characteristics of the terrain, using various elements that have been recovered from the old mining activity. The two courses at Meaztegi Golf Club are prepared to allow all players to enjoy, whether they be beginners or professionals. Being located in the Triano Mountains, at an average height of 400 meters, one can contemplate spectacular panoramic views of the sea and the El Abra Port.
Real Nuevo Club Golf de San Sebastián Basozabal
In San Sebastián, just fifteen minutes from the center, is this high-class and demanding course designed by José María Olazabal. It is located on mountainous terrain and features eighteen holes (par 72). The course is a magnificent watchtower from which one can see the peaks of the most famous mountains in this part of the Basque Country.
Larrabea Golf Club
Built on an impressive estate once owned by an “indiano” (a Spanish emigrant who sought their fortune in America and returned to Spain rich) and created in the last third of the nineteenth century, the Larrabea Golf Club is where Jon Rahm got his start. It is located just 15 minutes from Vitoria-Gasteiz (at the foot of the Albertia Mountain and between the Uribarri Ganboa and Urrunaga Reservoirs) and its 18-hole course respects and makes the most of the original orography. It is a course with wide fairways and fast, challenging greens.
Real Golf Club de Zarauz
This club is located on the shores of the Cantabrian Sea, along the Zarautz Beach, and the holes run among sand dunes with spectacular views of the sea, making this course unlike any other. It was inaugurated in 1916 by King Alfonso XIII and Queen Maria Christina. With its 100 years of history, it is the fourth oldest club in Spain, and has stayed at the same location since it was built. The golf course is located in an environmentally protected area, the Inurritza Biotope, and features a total area of 18 hectares between the north of the beach and the left bank of the Inurritza Estuary. The nine-hole course follows the style of the British links course. It is characterized by having few trees as well as by the absence of water obstacles – except the sea, which is very present throughout the course due to its proximity. The holes run along the coastline and parallel to the sea. This proximity has caused the soil to have high salinity levels, favoring local flora and fauna of great value. There are unbeatable views of the golf course, the sea, and Mount Pagoeta from the clubhouse’s two terraces.
Golf
