Clube de Golf Santo da Serra

In the hills of Santo António da Serra, with open views over Machico Bay, Clube de Golf Santo da Serra combines tradition and mountain terrain in a layout that demands constant attention. The club opened in 1937 with a nine-hole course and, in 1991, Robert Trent Jones Sr. redesigned the property to create the current 27-hole, par-72 layout.

The course is arranged in three nine-hole loops: Machico, Desertas and Serras. The Machico and Desertas combination forms the championship course, which for years hosted the Madeira Islands Open on the European Tour. Serras, slightly shorter, offers a more forgiving alternative without losing character.

At more than 600 metres above sea level, altitude and wind influence club selection and distance control. The design makes use of rolling ground, with changes in elevation, natural ravines and fairways that are wide yet carefully contoured.

The greens have plenty of movement and are usually protected by strategic bunkers. Among the most talked-about holes is the par-3 4th on Machico, which forces you to play over a deep ravine, along with several par 4s where positioning from the tee dictates the second shot. Beyond the technical challenge, the course is set amid dense vegetation and views of the Atlantic. It is neither flat nor predictable; it demands strategy, trajectory control and patience when the wind blows. Santo da Serra keeps the historic heartbeat of golf in Madeira alive with a layout that balances challenge and landscape.