Mallorcan Duo Listed in World’s Top 1,000

The second edition of the Rolex World’s Top 1000 Golf Courses has been published – and features only two courses from the sunshine island of Mallorca: Alcanada and Son Gual.

Only 23 Spanish courses made the ‘cut’ in the weighty tome, published by D’Algue Selection, so the two Mallorcan layouts can consider themselves in an elite group.

Both were rated at 80 out of a possible 100, and, given that only six European courses – and none on the continental mainland – attained the highest rating possible, the achievement of merely being included in a ‘world’s best’ can be seen in its true light.

Club de Golf Alcanada confirmed its position as one of the top venues on the continent after being named the best golf course in Europe for the fourth year in a row at the world’s leading travel trade show. The stunning layout finished top among readers of leading German magazine Golf Journal’s 2011 poll of most popular courses outside Germany and received its award at international exhibition event ITB Berlin.

Situated in the north region of Mallorca in a breathtaking location overlooking the Bay of Alcudia, Alcanada’s 18-hole championship course was designed by award-winning golf architect Robert Trent Jones Jnr and opened in 2003. Magnificent mountain and sea views and a mixture of pine and olive groves provide the splendid setting for a round at Alcanada and, despite its tender years, the course is already recognised by the golf industry as one of the finest venues in Spain and Europe and, with Son Gual, is a founder member of The Leading Golf Courses of Spain collection.

The €30m Son Gual golf course opened in 2007 and features large lakes, 66 bunkers, 800 olive trees – some over a thousand years old – wild flowers in the rough areas and vineyards in several areas around the course.

Just four years after Golf Son Gual opened, it was recognised by Golf World magazine as the number one on the island and ninth best in Spain. In May 2009 it hosted the Mallorca Senior Open and received gushing praise from a number of the participants: former Ryder Cup captain Ian Woosnam even compared the greens to those at Augusta National.

The 1991 Masters winner said:  “It’s a bit like Augusta. There are a lot of slopes on the greens. You’ve got to get the ball on the right side of the hole – if you don’t you’ll be struggling. Miss it on the wrong side and you’re dead.”

Tennis superstar Rafael Nadal, who was born on the island, is a frequent visitor when his schedule allows.

There are around 32,000 golf courses around the world, and a team of 200 independent, qualified inspectors, across the world, have reviewed the courses within their area for the 2012 version of the guide – the first edition being published in 2010. The balance of the guide remains largely unchanged with a little over a third of the courses listed found in the United States, while the great old courses of the British Isles, together with mainland Europe, form the next largest group.

In all there has been a turnover of a little more than 10 per cent, with 107 new entries of which 35 are to be found in the USA.