Golf Courses Near Palma: Which to Play

Staying in Palma gives you the widest choice of golf on the island without a long drive. The table is the short version. The sections after it are what I would tell you if you asked me which one to book.

Quick answer

The handicap figures are each club's maximum, and every course except the pitch and putt requires a handicap certificate. Real Golf de Bendinat is also 15 minutes from the city, but it plays like the southwest courses, so it is in my southwest Mallorca comparison.

Son Gual: the strongest round near Palma

Son Gual is my most-played course and my favourite on the island. Thomas Himmel's 2007 design sits about 20 minutes from the city, and it seems to make its own weather. I can leave a calm morning at home in the southwest and find it blowing properly on the 1st tee. It stays that way for four hours.

The greens are fast and raised. In January they were cut so tight that one of my playing partners reached for her putter with about 30 yards of fringe still to cover. The bunkers sit exactly where a slight mishit finishes, and a short-sided chip to a raised green is hard to stop. The closing stretch from the 15th is among the best four holes in European golf. The best views over the Bay of Palma come between the 8th and the 12th.

One thing to check before booking: the limit is 28 for men and 36 for ladies. If your game is rusty, I would not make this the first round of the trip. More detail in the Son Gual review.

The Arabella courses: Son Muntaner, Son Vida and Son Quint

Three 18-hole courses and a pitch and putt share one estate in the Son Vida area, a few minutes apart and booked through the same Arabella Golf Mallorca system. I have played all three full courses. The numbers show how differently they are set up: the handicap limit is 36 at Son Muntaner and 54 at the other two, and only Son Muntaner includes the buggy.

Son Muntaner

Son Muntaner was named Best Golf Course in Spain at the 2025 World Golf Awards, and having played it, the title is earned. The greens are the clearest reason: on a Saturday morning with a full tee sheet they rolled pure and held their pace all the way round, with room to get quicker into summer. The service from arrival to the 18th green is at the same level, and the restaurant is worth staying for.

This is a positional course. The opening six holes are tight, with water and defined landing areas, and the layout does not show you everything from the tee. The back nine gives the driver more room, but the greens stay small and look bigger than they are from distance. The 7th is a short par 3 with a severe drop where most people come up short. The 15th has an olive tree of roughly a thousand years in the middle of the fairway, protected as a natural monument, and the hole was built around it. Once you see how the landing areas work, the design feels fair, and a good shot gets a clear reward.

It is 15 minutes from the cathedral, and the buggy comes with the green fee from March to late November, which you will want on the climbs to several tees. One thing to note: bunker sand was inconsistent when I played, firmer in some bunkers and softer in others. It has dynamic pricing, from around €99 at quiet times to €260 at peak, so with flexible dates the same round can cost less than half as much. Full detail in the Son Muntaner review.

Son Vida

Son Vida opened in 1964, the first course on the island, and Seve Ballesteros won the 1990 Open de Baleares here in a playoff. From the yellow tees it measures 5,470m, short by modern standards, and that number misleads people. Most of the greens slope hard and several have two tiers, so an approach on the wrong tier leaves a very difficult putt.

The first 12 holes run between houses and the hotel with little spare ground, and the buildings mark the edge of many of them. The last six open out, with more space and clearer choices from the tee, and they are the better holes. The 14th is a 327m dogleg left with water short of the green, where a good drive leaves a short pitch. The 18th is a 460m par 5 with water up the right and the hotel behind the green.

There is no driving range, only a net and a putting green, so warm up at Son Muntaner's range two minutes away. The card has two versions of the course: par 70, with the 2nd as a 191m par 3, or par 71 with it as a 259m par 4. Sheraton guests get a lower rate, and my client paid €88. More in the Son Vida review.

Son Quint

Son Quint is the newest of the three and the one I would book for a group with a wide spread of handicaps. The limit is 54, there are four tee positions, and the front nine is flat and an easy walk. It is an easy course to walk, and even hitting irons off the back tees there is plenty to think about. Several greens sit above the fairway and they are firm, so a short-sided chip runs away from you.

The back nine plays like a different course, with more blind shots and tighter lines as the hills get closer. The 12th is a 195m par 3 almost entirely over water. The 13th is a dogleg-left par 5 off a narrow tee. If you walk, follow the buggy path between holes: the signage is not always clear, and twice we set off the wrong way for the next tee. More in the Son Quint review.

Palma Pitch & Putt

Palma Pitch & Putt is nine holes, par 27 and 638m in total, with no handicap certificate needed. It sits less than 100 metres from Son Quint's driving range. It is an hour of wedges and putting, a first round for a new golfer or a junior, or a warm-up the evening before a full round.

Which Arabella course first

If you are playing one Arabella round, book Son Muntaner. For two, play Son Quint first on its flat front nine, then Son Muntaner as the main round. Son Vida is the third choice, for the history or if you are staying at the Sheraton. It gets busy around the 1st tee by mid-morning, so book early.

T Golf Palma: the quiet one under the flight path

Jack Nicklaus designed T Golf Palma, his only course in Mallorca. It opened in 2006 and was fully renovated in 2022, and I gave it 9/10. We had the 7:30 first tee time and nobody in front of us. For most of the round there is no building in view, only the planes coming over from the airport.

The course makes you think from the tee. The 8th is 334m with water down the entire right side, and even a safe iron left of it leaves a wedge into a narrow sliver of green. The 15th has water right, trees left and a second carry over water into the green. The 18th is the hardest tee shot to line up on the course: a drive that looks safe from the tee can still go missing.

The greens are fast, small and undulating, and the rough grabs the club, so a missed green usually leaves a harder chip than it looks. The limit is 28 for men and 34 for ladies. The range is one of the biggest near Palma, with 42 bays, 14 of them covered. Full detail in the T Golf Palma review.

Son Termes: character at a lower price

Son Termes is par 70 and 5,285m, in the Tramuntana foothills near Bunyola, 25 minutes from the city, with green fees around €90 to €110. I played it with a friend on a 20 handicap who was running low on balls by the back nine. The rough is tight and several tee shots leave very little room. Some are blind: on the 13th, even from the middle of the fairway, you have close to 175 metres to a flag you cannot see.

Short holes give a good player chances. Several par 4s are driveable or close to it, and the par 5 6th is reachable for a long hitter. The back nine climbs steeply, so most players take a buggy, and on a clear morning the upper holes look across to Castell de Bellver and the cathedral. Expect goats.

One thing to note: the greens are good but below the level of Son Gual or Alcanada. For the price, I think that is a fair trade. More in the Son Termes review.

Son Antem: two resort courses near Llucmajor

Son Antem is a resort with two courses, a hotel and one of the largest golf academies in Europe, about 25 minutes south of Palma. West is par 72 and 6,293m, flat and easy to walk, in open countryside with no houses in view. The 16th is the best hole, an uphill dogleg-right par 5 through the trees to a small, protected green.

Where West falls short: a large part of it is flat and asks little from the tee, so you can play those holes on autopilot. The green fee, €109 to €145, is close to Son Gual's. On a Sunday at 7:50 there were already three or four groups waiting on the 1st, so book a weekday morning. More in the Son Antem West review.

East is the more open of the two, with wide fairways and five lakes, and its handicap limit is 54 against West's 36. For a higher handicapper, East is the Son Antem course I would book.

Maioris: a first or last round near the airport

Maioris is about 25 minutes from Palma on the Llucmajor side, close enough to the airport to fit around a flight. It is par 72 and 6,300m, with a handicap limit of 54, a driving range with grass as well as mats, and an all-grass chipping area. The last holes include two significant climbs, so take a buggy if your legs are tired from travelling.

How I would plan three rounds from Palma

• First round: Son Quint, T Golf Palma or Son Antem West. Flat walking or a quiet early tee time, and room off the tee while you shake off the flight.
• Main round: Son Gual if your game is in decent order, Son Muntaner if you want the buggy included and the shortest transfer.
• Third round: Son Termes for something different at a lower price, or the drive north to Alcanada or west to T Golf Calvià.

Take the first tee time wherever you can get it. At T Golf Palma we had the course to ourselves at 7:30, and at Son Quint the early start meant a quiet course and freshly cut greens.