"I can’t justify in words the experience of playing this course, as the cool ocean breeze serves as a welcome reprieve from the blazing sun. The feeling of pure bliss as you stand on the tee at this Par 3 hole and see the view pictured at right.
You need to experience it for yourself.
The Santo da Serra Golf Club is quite simply one of the prettiest golf courses in the world. I have played in every corner of the world, from the Americas to the Far East, but I have never enjoyed my rounds as much as I did on this 27-hole golf course, which is home to the Madeira Open."
Azzy Asghar, 2011. www.epicureanlife.co.uk
Home to the Madeira Island Open, Clube de Golf Santo da Serra is simply stunning. A mountainside layout where wide-open holes and tight tree-lined doglegs are played out before the superb vistas of the Atlantic Ocean, this golf course enchants and enthalls from beginning to end. A layout whose location is incomparable to anything else in Portugal, or indeed Europe, and as such should feature very highly on golfers' must-play lists.
Golf World magazine
http://www.todaysgolfer.co.uk/
"This 27 Hole layout by Robert Trent Jones Sr. has hosted the Madeira Open for over a decade. Tougher and more challenging, the terrain is hilly though not as steep as Palheiro, kicking off with a steep downhill slope to a dog-leg left. From the tee box you can enjoy breathtaking views of the course which falls beneath your feet. The 4 hole is the most dramatic hole on the course with a sheer drop behind to the sea. On a clear day you can see Porto Santo. The greens are deceptively tricky and it's worth taking your time to read them in order to score well.
Alicia Harney, Women & Golf Magazine, March/April 2009
"It was a great honour to play on the Madeira Island Open, the course is fantastic, the Clubhouse very beautiful, the food even better and the caring phenomenal. I hope to return..."
Severiano Ballesteros, March 19th, 2001
"Santo da Serra is undoubtedly one of the most spectacular courses on the European Tour. Fine views of mountain tops and the Atlantic Ocean only add to the enjoyment of playing this course"
The EUROPEAN TOUR YEARBOOK 2001, Official European Tour Publication
"Madeira Island Open on the stunning Santo da Serra course".
GOLF MONTHLY, May 2001
"The improvements to the facilities at Santo da Serra met with universal approval from the players, particulary the extended clubhouse on which £1 million has been spent."
GOLF WEEKLY, March 22 - 28, 2001
"The course is extremely picturesque, with stunning sea views".
EUROPEANTOUR.COM - Official website of the PGA European Tour
"...The recently opened Clubhouse, set at the highest point of the spectacular layout, bathing Trent Jones' most scenic creation..."
Sun Golf 15th April 2001 - 14th June 2001
"Many congratulations on having hosted the best Madeira Island Open ever. The course being in fabulous condition.....".
MIKAEL ERIKSSON - Madeira Island Open PGA Tournament Director
"The Santo da Serra course was redesigned by Robert Trent Jones... and ranks among the most spectacularly scenic venues on the European Tour. Pine, mimosa and eucalyptus trees and exotic flowering shrubs add to the beauty of the steeply undulating course, which also boasts difficult, demanding greens."
European Tour News - Official Publication of the European Tour
"When played in glorious sunshine ... the course is a wonder to be behold".
The EUROPEAN TOUR YEARBOOK 2001, Official European Tour Publication
"Santo da Serra is one of the most scenic courses on Tour."
Sun Golf 15th April 2001 - 14th June 2001
"I felt quite confortable in the area because the sub-tropic terrain there is very beautiful... I am looking forward to going back to Madeira very much indeed. As I said it is a beautiful place, one of the most beautiful in Europe, and going back as defending champion gives me a really good feeling about it".
NICLAS FAST (Sweden) winner of 2000 Madeira Island Open in EUROPEANTOUR.COM - Official website of the PGA European Tour
"With the spectacular Santo da Serra course basking in glorious sunshine the stage was set for something exceptional."
EUROPEANTOUR.COM - Official website of the PGA European Tour
"The tournament (Madeira Island Open) too has quickly established itself as one of the favourites thanks largely to the excellence of the layout, redesigned by Robert Trent Jones on the site where de original nine-hole course had existed since 1937, and the propensity for enthralling golf and exciting finishes."
EUROPEANTOUR.COM - Official website of the PGA European Tour
"One of the most spectacular holes on the course is the par three fourth. It might be the most pleasing aesthetically, but it will not be a creature of beauty to players who misjudge the demanding tee shot."
"The previous hole, the par five third, is also a spectacular test of golf. The drive is along the ravine while the second presents a choice - play safe on a similar line or attempt to go for the green right across the ravine."
EUROPEANTOUR.COM - Official website of the PGA European Tour
"The players were unanimous in their praise for the condition of the Santo da Serra course..."
Sun Golf 15th April 2001 - 14th June 2001
"The par-3 fourth is one of the key holes - there is a ravine in front and a sheer drop down the mountain if you go over the back of a very narrow green. You can walk off there with any score from a birdie to a double bogey."
NICLAS FAST (Sweden) winner of 2000 Madeira Island Open in GOLF WEEKLY, March 15 - 21, 2001
"The third is another hole where you can't afford to come up short of the green or you will be in trouble, and long you have the bunker to contend with. You don't even want to play the bunker either because it's a difficult shot from there and not a given birdie. If the pin is back left it's very risky to go for a back left pin there. There will be a lot of birdies there but a few bogeys as well."
NICLAS FAST (Sweden) winner of 2000 Madeira Island Open in EUROPEANTOUR.COM - Official website of the PGA European Tour
"There are a lot of spectacular holes along the mountainside stretch, especially on the front nine.The 4 th hole, it is a fairly long par three with actually nothing to hit but the green and the bunker behind it. If you miss it long you are in the sand and if you miss it short, you're gone. So that's why I was particulary pleased with my four threes there last year. Anybody would take that any year, definitely. You're not going to walk off there with four pars easily, you have to work for them. It tends not to be a hole you bogey either, it's either a par or a double bogey or worse. It's tough and can really affect your whole round because it's the toughest hole on the outward nine and comes so near the beginning."
NICLAS FAST (Sweden) winner of 2000 Madeira Island Open in EUROPEANTOUR.COM - Official website of the PGA European Tour
"The new pond on the 16th makes a marvellous feature..."
The EUROPEAN TOUR YEARBOOK 2001, Official European Tour Publication
