Take your golf game to the next level while enjoying some winter sun at these resorts in Spain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Portugal, and Cyprus.
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Abu Dhabi is a great destination for winter training with a teaching pro. The city’s average temperature reaches around 25°C during this period, with almost guaranteed sunshine making it hard to beat for the sun-seeking golfer.
The Abu Dhabi Golf Institute at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club enhances lessons with video analysis and TrackMan ball radar. Saadiyat Beach Golf Club also has its own high-quality academy with PGA professionals as tutors, as does Yas Links which also has a nine-hole par-3 floodlit academy course.
The academy at Abu Dhabi Golf Club is also exceptional, boasting the only two-tiered driving range in the UAE, and the whole nine-hole course, which includes par 4s and 5s, is floodlit. Saadiyat Beach Golf Club also has floodlit facilities.
Quinta do Lago, Algarve, Portugal
The three courses at Quinta do Lago all offer excellent quality golf. The South, North and Laranjal layouts are all of outstanding beauty and each offers a different test. At the resort there is also the Paul McGinley Golf Academy and the TaylorMade Performance Centre. The resort has become known for its winter golf camps specifically deigned for juniors as well as adults.
The academy was founded in 2011 by the captain of the 2014 winning Ryder Cup team. Its mission is to “cultivate and improve golfers by providing them with the tools and techniques used by professionals on tour”. Supported by state-of-the-art analytical and performance enhancing technology at its TaylorMade Performance Centre, all golfers are welcome. There’s half-day to five-day Golf School programmes, and the Junior Club offers weekly lessons all year round with Academy golf pros.
Camiral Golf & Wellness, Spain
Sergio Garcia’s Junior Golf Academy just happens to be located at one of Spain’s premier golf resorts which is home to two great courses, including the world-renowned Stadium Course. Its double objective is to “train the next elite golfers and to make golf more accessible to children from all walks of life, through the diffusion of special ‘Golf Adapted’ programs”.
The complex includes the Golf Hub, a coaching facility for all ages with 10 covered bays and the first venue in Spain to install GEARS Golf – a full swing club and body tracking system used by PGA pros.
Minthis Hills, Cyprus
Minthis Hills offers everything you would expect of a luxury golf resort, set in the vineyards of Paphos and home to a fantastic Mackenzie & Ebert 18-hole golf course. During the winter, you can take your game to the next level at the Minthis Golf Academy with one-on-one coaching with a PGA professional. There’s different lessons and courses, a driving range, putting and chipping greens and a 3-hole academy course.
La Cala Golf Resort, Spain
La Cala Golf Resort on the Costa del Sol is a fantastic option for a golf holiday with a four-star hotel and spa and three championship courses. Each was designed by acclaimed American architect Cabell Robinson, designer of 2023 Solheim Cup venue Finca Cortesin, La Reserva Club Sotogrande and Aphrodite Hills among others.
La Cala Golf Academy offers lessons and group classes for both beginners and experienced players, with multilingual professionals. It has a six-hole par-3 course, grass driving range as well as putting, chipping and bunker facilities.
Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club
The 18-hole layout at Dubai Creek is one of Dubai’s flagship golf courses. But there’s also the 9-hole Academy Course, a par-3 for less experienced players to master their skills or for better players to hone their game. The course is also floodlit so you can play late into the night, making golf more than just daytime entertainment, and it stays open until past 10pm. The course is spectacularly set against the backdrop of the Dubai Marina skyline.
Dubai Creek is also home to the Peter Cowen Academy, the most established in the region, run by a team of fully qualified PGA Professionals to assist and take you through every aspect of the game. Cowen is one of the world’s elite teaching professionals, a former tour professional who travels the world teaching some big names including Brooks Koepka.
Hyatt Regency Pravets Resort, Bulgaria
Located on the edge of Pravets Lake with superb views of the Balkan Mountains, this four-star all-inclusive hotel is just half an hour from Sofia. There’s an 18-hole, par 72 championship golf course designed by renowned architect Peter Harradine, designer of the National course at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
It’s one of the top golf courses in Eastern Europe and alongside it is the floodlit Pravets Golf Academy, one of the top learning facilities in Europe with a teaching studio, simulator, practice range bays and a dedicated short game area.
