Santo da Serra Golf Club looks over the bay of Machico, where the Portuguese navigators first landed on Madeira Island.
Its original course, built in 1937, was redesigned in 1991 by the famous golf architect Robert Trent Jones Sr. who created a completely new and spectacular 27 hole golf course in one of the most beautiful natural landscapes.
The 3rd and 4th holes of the Machico Course are the signature holes of the course, unforgettable to any golfer who plays them.
The Machico and Desertas course are the Championship course where the Madeira island Open is played, part of the PGA European Tour. The Serras course is a delightful alternative with lakes, mountain views and a flatter terrain.
There are four optional tees on each hole, a player can choose different game levels - enjoying a simple relaxing game or testing yourself against the course as the pro´s do.
Golf stars, including many Ryder Cup players, have attested to the excellent quality of the fairways and greens. The semi-roughs and roughs show meticulous care and attention to the courses conditions.
The course is a true botanical garden, ornamented with four beautiful lakes and scenic views.
Santo da Serra Golf offers a complete range of facilities to its players and guests, including a comfortable clubhouse with panoramic restaurant, lounge, bar and terrace with stunning sea views. "Una Clubhouse muy bonita" was how Seve Ballesteros described it in 2001 when he took part in Madeira Island Open.
The training grounds are fully equipped with a magnificent practice area, that has two putting-greens, a chipping green, bunker green and a driving range with three different tee positions, one of them covered. The pro-shop offers the latest golf clothes and club merchandise, and if you need rental clubs they are available onsite as well as trolleys and buggies.
The Golf Academy offers technical training with a qualified golf professional and may be booked for individual or group lessons.
Located five minutes away from the modern motorway that connects Funchal to the airport, the capital city is just 15 minutes away.
Santo da Serra is ranked as the 12th Best Golf Course amongst the 75 existing in Portugal.
History of Santo da Serra Golf
We can go as far back as the 1920's to find the origins of golf in Madeira Island played here at Santo da Serra Golf Course.
Photographs testify to the game being played here as early as 1933, on the grounds in front of the old clubhouse Estalagem Serra Golf. This original 9-hole course was composed of only par 3 holes.
In 1935 work started on the Santo da Serra Golf Club's Favellas Course. This nine hole course were opened on the 25th February 1937. Designed by an unknown architect, the course was 2.396 meters long, with a par 35, with three par threes, four par fours and two par fives. Surrounded by eucalyptus trees and grass bunkers, the course was naturally maintained year round.
The Clubhouse was based in the Pousada da Serra Hotel and much later, between 1965 and 1991, from the Casa de Chá do Santo da Serra.
On the 11th March 1967, the National Minister of Education created the Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra (Madeira) which continued with the management of the golf course.
In 1988, by public concession, awarded by the Regional Government of Madeira - Sociedade Planal, S.A., took over responsibility for the construction and development of a new 27 hole golf course designed by the famous North-American architect Robert Trent Jones Sr.
By the 30th September 1991, when the 18 hole Machico and Desertas Courses were opened, golf was limited to six of the nine holes of the original course.
The Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra revoked its rights to the golf course in favor of 140 rounds of golf per week for the use of its members. Simultaneously, Planal, S.A. created the Golf Club of Madeira.
In January 1993, the first Madeira Island Open took place. An important tournament on the PGA European Tour calendar. Mark James was the winner.
Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra officially took golf to Porto Santo in 1996. It opened a driving range there in the summer in a bid to develop the game on that island. In 1997 the Club presented the Regional Government of Madeira plans to build an 18 hole golf course on Porto Santo, between Pico Ana Ferreira and Ribeiro Salgado.
On the 12th October 1996, via the Regional Government of Madeira, Planal, S.A. passed the golf course development concession to
the Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra. Madeira Golf Club members were merged into the Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra. On 28 May 1998, the Club constitution was registered by public deed, officially naming it the Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra.
The Club inaugurated the Serras Course on the 10th October 1998, completing the initial 27 hole project. An elegant new Clubhouse was, in turn, inaugurated on the 13th September 2000.
