Golf on Mallorca is for tourists and ex pats. There is little infrastructure to entice locals into the game: no driving ranges and the only par-3 course, Santa Ponsa III, is for members only. If golf is aimed principally to attract the pound, so, too, are the island’s properties. Property consultant Madeleine Brooks (www.madeleinebrooks.es) estimates that a staggering 60% of property sales are to Brits. The market is strong with, depending on who you talk to, prices rising between 8% and 14% annually. ‘This is the time of year British buyers tend to come over. The south-west market is always strong, but prices are already so high here that other areas are more interesting,’ says Madeleine Brooks. ‘There is no typical type of property Brits look for, but if there is a typical area, it is around Andratx in the south west, as that it was they have heard about.’
Property Sales Mallorca.com (www.propertysalesmallorca.com) are offering a fully renovated two-bedroom 18th-century townhouse in the historic centre of the market town of Andratx at ?375,000. Andratx has its own course, justly reckoned as one of the toughest on this island. If the golf is going badly, you can at least enjoy the view of the Bay of Camp de Mar from the 8th.
Nearby is Santa Ponsa, mainly members only, but Santa Ponsa I is open to visitors. Flat and forgiving off the tee, it encourages you to get out the driver, especially at the generously wide 645-yard 10th. Seve Ballesteros and Japer Parnevik went head-to-head down the 18th seven times in the sudden-death play-off in the Balearic Open of 1988, before the Spaniard chipped in for victory. Racing to catch his plane afterwards, Ballesteros just missed it, exclaiming at the airport “But they should have waited for me – I am the champion!”. First Mallorca (www.firstmallorca.com) have a two-bedroom villa, sold partly furnished, within walking distance of the club for ?430,000. Only a few miles away, Poniente has a delightfully rural feel, where hitting a birdie is a distinct possibility. Quite literally – chickens roam the course, which uses as its clubhouse a converted farmhouse. The short par-4 8th, , which tumbles away from the tee past a large hill to a tucked-away green set against spectacular backdrop of countryside and mountains, is a gem.
One of the upcoming property places is the beautiful, rural area around Pollença in the north of the island, where Balearic Properties (www.balearic-properties.com) have a 17th-century five-bedroom farmhouse set within 18 acres for sale at ?790,000. There is a splendid nine-hole course about two miles south of the town. The pick of its excellent designs are the par-3 4th across the edge of a lake and the closing par-5. This is holiday golf at its best: a beautiful, well-maintained course, challenging yet not overly intimidating.
A nine-holer suits the visitor, as the knowledge gained on the first nine can be used to good effect for the second circuit. However the resident might prefer an 18-hole course, and one such is the beautiful Alcanada GC, seven miles to the east. The holes here have either as their backdrop the mountains or the sea. Forgiving off the tee, the greens are tricky to read. Those interested in a restoration project might be tempted by a traditional Mallorquin farmhouse, just over five minutes away from the course and with it own well and views to the mountains and bay of Pollença. The floor space is 1,850sq ft and it is on the market at ?380,000 with Balearic Properties.
Val D’Or uses the terrain imaginatively with fairways which slope across their width and rise and fall flamboyantly along their length, often reaching a crescendo with a green perched about the fairway. The 3rd played from a tee towering over a sloping, twisting, dipping fairway is magnificent. Nearby, in Cal D’Or, Balearic Properties are offering a four-bedroom villa on a hillside overlooking the coast for ?835,000.
Son Vida opens with a nine cut through a valley before opening out on its back nine laid out through meadowland. It has an intimate almost garden-like feel in places and some fun designs. First Mallorca are selling a five-bedroom residence in neo Classical-style in Son Vida. Set in half an acre, it is on the market at ?3m.
Son Vida is close to the capital, Palma de Mallorca. Indeed, about a dozen courses are within half an hour’s drive of Palma. For a slightly different holiday home, do you fancy an 18th-century palace? If so, you are in luck – Savills (www.savills.co.uk) are selling one in the heart of the old city, close to the cathedral. Partly restored, it needs further restoration, and is to be sold either as a whole, with an asking price of ?5m, or as apartments.
Listen to our property correspondent, Penny Churchill, on buying golf properties here
