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BARCELONA - The world's most renowned cities rarely make for great golf trips.
Too much traffic. No centralized golf resort for convenience. Nothing's cheap. Too many private clubs and not enough good public ones. The list of reasons to skip the big cities is long.
There are a few memorable international exceptions, though. There's Melbourne, Australia, with the Sandbelt courses; Dublin, Ireland, with its links courses; London, England, with its heathland courses; and one you might not have considered before - Barcelona, Spain, with, well, the full package.
If you're still not sold on Barcelona as a golf destination, maybe that will change by 2031, if not sooner. Multiple golf publications reported last fall that the Stadium Course at Camiral Golf & Wellness, a well-heeled resort in Girona just north of Barcelona, is the favorite to host the 2031 Ryder Cup Matches, more than three decades after the memorable tussle at Real Club Valderrama in southern Spain in 1997 marked the first time the Ryder Cup had been held in continental Europe.
Barcelona's culture of fine food, golf, wine, beaches, history, mild Mediterranean climate and architecture provides such a magical elixir that, once you go, you'll immediately start planning a return. When comparing Barcelona's golf scene to that of Melbourne, London or Dublin, it can't really keep up. However, once visiting golfers tee up courses like a future Ryder Cup site, a 10-time Spanish Open venue and the host of the DP World Tour's annual Q School and 2022 ISPS Handa Championship - followed by a taste of the Spanish culture - they will head home full of lasting memories.
We sure did. My wife, daughter and I spent eight days last June on a whirlwind adventure seeing as much of the region in and around Barcelona as we could. If touring the city by e-bike, tram and boat, plus exploring churches, museums, Mediterranean beaches and mountain wineries and monasteries aren't your vibe, play only golf instead. Worldly golfers will understand, though, that these off-course experiences are what make special places like Barcelona truly exceptional golf destinations. If you're only playing golf on a trip like this, you're doing it all wrong.
Much of our itinerary was set up through Welshman Ian Denham, who founded Barcelona Golf Travel in 2003. Denham's expertise delivers the best of food, wine, golf, tours and whatever else you seek. When we had a last-minute hotel snafu, he delivered the most wonderful replacement in Costa Brava a short walk from an idyllic beach. It's always wise to have a local guide in your corner.
Wining and dining around Barcelona
We spent our first 36 hours in Costa Dorada, an hour's drive south of the city, with a night at the H10 Imperial Tarraco Hotel in Tarragona, and a round at INFINITUM, the annual Q School host that's spent a lot of money upgrading its 36 championship holes. You can read more about that experience by clicking on the image below.
From there, an hour's drive into the mountains led us to Terra Dominicata, an adults-only hotel and winery in the Priorat wine region of Spain known for bold reds. This intimate 26-room retreat was once a Carthusian monastery at the foot of the Sierra del Montsant. The whole experience felt like a spiritual journey in the Montsant Natural Park. The hotel owners have cultivated the monks' former farm to serve up their vines, olive trees and orchards to fortunate guests. The rooms, without TVs, were so charming. Our junior suite had a mini-swing in the middle of it.
After sipping our way through the barrels of the winery, dinner at the Mater Terrae Restaurant was an elegant affair of glass bread (a Spanish delicacy), watermelon salad and fresh fish carved from the bone at the table.
Our next wine tour - a 90-minute jaunt back toward the city - brought a contrasting experience in another wine region of Catalonia. The Familia Torres, dating to 1870, is the largest producer in Penedes, which creates about 95 percent of the world's Cava, a Spanish sparkling wine. Its sprawling facilities were beyond impressive.
Filled to the brim with good drink and food, we walked it off by exploring the beaches and the historic town of nearby Sitges. Unfortunately, we had less than 12 hours there, staying at the ME Sitges Terramar overlooking the water. We could have lingered longer, but it was time to trade wine glasses for golf clubs.
Golf and the city life in and around Barcelona
I dropped the girls off at the five-star Majestic Hotel & Spa Barcelona so that I could play 36 holes at the Real Club de Golf El Prat, the premier private club closest to the city center. El Prat, the home club of former NBA player-turned-golfer Paul Gasol, has hosted 10 Spanish Opens. With 45 holes designed by Greg Norman, visiting golfers can book the Pink and Yellow courses through various golf packages.
The enjoyable Yellow Course serves as a tuneup to the Pink Course, the tournament venue. The Pink starts out with a few narrow holes through the woods before rising into some really cool hilly land on the back nine. It featured the best stretch of holes among the five courses I played. The strategy and flow of the back nine was equally matched by the scenery. I'd rank it among the top 3-4 courses Norman has created.
After four days of driving, parking the car and touring the city for 48 hours felt like a real vacation. Barcelona is a fascinating place hemmed in by the Mediterranean on one side and Montjuïc hill on the other. Lunch one afternoon on the Majestic hotel's rooftop restaurant at La Dolce Vitae revealed panoramic views of the entire city.
Eventually, we walked the Paseo de Gracia, an upscale thoroughfare right outside the hotel that's packed with tourists, and marveled at the La Boqueria, the city's largest outdoor food market. To cover more ground, we booked an e-bike tour exploring the Olympic stadiums, capitol and Montjuic Castle, a military fortress reachable by tram that overlooks the entire city and the Port of Barcelona. That excursion ended with a boat ride along the coast.
The highlights, of course, were the artistic brilliance of Architect Antoni Gaudí and the whimsical world of Park Guell, a public park that's a social media influencer's dream.
Gaudi's buildings, especially the Sagrada de Familia, are revered the world over. The basilica of the Sagrada de Familia has been under construction for 142 years with a target for completion in 2026.
Once you see the elaborate exterior of the church, you'll understand why it's taken so long. Hundreds of statues depict religious scenes dating back centuries and tell stories best pointed out and explained by a guide. You could easily spend a full day studying it in depth.
Playing Spain's likely future Ryder Cup host
Camiral has yet to be officially awarded the 2031 Ryder Cup, but the match seems perfect timing-wise. Spain's major champions Seve Ballesteros, Jose Maria Olazabal, Sergio Garcia and Jon Rahm are all Ryder Cup legends. If the game can unify again, it makes sense to showcase their legacies outside Barcelona.
It will take significant investment to redesign the Stadium Course for the spectator and player demands of a modern Ryder Cup, but the bones are there. During my 36-hole day at the club, I couldn't help but shake the feeling that this was Europe's TPC Sawgrass. The Stadium Course is a fearsome opponent with water seemingly everywhere. Being a mid-handicap, I enjoyed my round more on the Tour Course, which would be akin to Dye's Valley Course at TPC Sawgrass. They're both softer versions of their brethren that play the role of bullies.
I was hoping to stay at Camiral - formerly named PGA Cataluyna - but a major charity golf event (which Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal attended after missing Wimbledon that week due to injury) had the property sold out. GolfPass does offer a golf package to the resort as well.
Our replacement accommodations weren't as luxurious, although the charm factor of Hotel Sa Punta in Costa Dorada further north felt like a worthwhile trade. We stumbled upon a seaside hike, where stairs up and down the cliffs took us past a nude beach to a neighboring town.
Our final adventure provided a lasting taste of the artistic and spiritual side of Barcelona - the monastery of Santa Maria de Montserrat perched on the cliffs of the mountain of Montserrat. It's home to the Black Madonna, a wooden statue depicting the Baby Jesus on the lap of the Virgin Mary. Many people make a pilgrimage just to touch the statue.
It's amazing that such spectacular mountain scenery could be less than an hour northwest of the city. The breathtaking tram ride also led to another cool discovery, a Picasso paining in the monastery's art gallery. How many other golf destinations - big city or small - can deliver that?
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