Real Las Palmas Golf Club

The oldest Las Palmas Golf Club is the REAL CLUB DE GOLF DE LAS PALMAS, founded in 1881. That makes it also the oldest Golf Club of the whole of Spain. This golf course is located at a spectacular sight: at the very edge of the impressive volcanic crater Bandama. Due to its location this club has been nicknamed Bandama Golf.

The Real Club is home to some fantastic Golfers such as Carlos Suneson from the challenge tour, Maria Castillo, the Spanish ladies senior amateur champion, Pedro Lindhart, from the Senior tour, and Rafael Cabrera Bello, from the European tour.

Below you can see the golf club on the left of the crater, with the clubhouse overlooking the mountains and the course. In the top right of the picture you can the city of Las Palmas.

The Difficulty

The Bandama Las Palmas Golf Club is not very long, but don’t let that fool you. Every hole is tree lined and a lot of holes have raised greens or doglegs. This course is a thinking course and a challenge for every level of golfer, even more so when the wind is blowing.

The Tees

On this course there are 4 colored tees, here with my recommendations:

• Red:       Normal tees for ladies
• Orange: For low handicap ladies, senior gentlemen and beginners
• Yellow:  Normal tees for gentlemen
• White:   Only low handicap golfers and professionals

The Fairways

The condition of the fairways vary quite often. Sometimes they can be in fantastic condition and sometimes they can be a little dry due to the fact that the course relies on the rain.

It rains quite often at Bandama as it is in the north of the island and 600 meters above sea level and therefore belongs to a different climatic zone on the island. It feels like a southern European climate similar to the Italian Toscana in late spring and early summer.

This much rain provides different conditions for this golf course. All the other golf courses on Gran Canaria rely heavily on being regularly watered.

There are not many undulations on these fairways, so you don’t have to worry much about the ball rolling into trouble.

Just look at this spectacular view from the 18th hole:

The Greens of the Oldest Las Palmas Golf Club

I have to say these are the best greens on the island and it is a pleasure to putt on them, even though I do three-putt on them quite often. The greens are very quick, normally around 11 on the Stimpmeter.

They are very receptive with a lot of breaks on these greens. Sometimes you cannot see the breaks as they are very subtle due to the surrounding landscape. So, be very careful when putting on these greens as they can catch you out a lot.

The Clubhouse

The clubhouse is situated on the edge of the volcanic crater and has a panoramic view over the course and the mountains. As soon as you enter the clubhouse, you can feel the exclusive ambience and the history of the place.

In the main lounge, the walls are lined with photos of the history of the oldest Las Palmas Golf Club, from when it was originally built. Here you can chill while admiring all the memorabilia decorating the walls.

It is also a pure pleasure to have a cold beer after the round, sitting on the clubhouse terrace while watching the players hitting their shots into the 9th and 18th. Here the view from the terrace:

The Hotel of the Las Palmas Golf Club

The Bandama Golf Hotel is situated on the course and is literally 10 metres from tee one. It is a beautiful, quaint hotel with 33 rooms, an outdoor swimming pool and a gymnasium. This hotel is a perfect place for holiday makers. You are away from the main tourist areas and if you just want to enjoy some golf and relax – this is absolutely the perfect place to stay.

You can book a golfing package straight away when booking the hotel, which can include golf access and bed and breakfast. It is also be a perfect place for hikers to stay as there is some beautiful places to hike around the area of the course including walking round the peak of the volcano which has some fantastic panoramic views over Las Palmas, the Atlantic Ocean and surrounding villages.

And if you fancy a bit of night life, you are only 10 min drive away from the vibrant city of Las Palmas.

My favourite Golf Course

The REAL CLUB is my favourite golf course on Gran Canaria. I would strongly recommend every golfer that visits the island to go and experience the beauty of this course.

The reason I love this place so much, is because of its history, its location with the outstanding views, and it being a parkland course. I try to play this course as much as I can, either in tournaments or just for a social game.

The Las Palmas Golf Club is a 50 minutes drive from where I live in Puerto Rico, which is situated in the south of the island. The temperatures can be as many as 10º C different from the south to the north where Bandama is situated. I always tell the players that are going to a Bandama to dress appropriately just in case. It can get a little cold up there, especially in the winter season.

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