Villa Padierna Golf Club: the course and homes for sale nearby

Three courses share one hillside estate in Benahavís, around the Anantara Villa Padierna Palace hotel. Flamingos, par 71, is the original and is laid out like the garden of an Italian villa: each hole has its own trees, from pines and olives to cypresses; columns, statues and marble bridges stand beside some fairways; and a stream feeds a chain of lakes that come into play from the 1st green onwards. The club singles out the 4th, a par 3 from a high tee, as its most photographed hole.

Alferini, par 73, is the longest and toughest of the three, with several holes playing steeply up or down. The club calls the water-guarded par-3 14th its signature hole and the downhill 18th its finest. It staged the Ladies European Tour's Andalucía Costa del Sol Open de España in 2022. Tramores is the short course – mostly par 3s, a handful of par 4s and a single par 5 – aimed at beginners, juniors and anyone short of time.

Flamingos accepts handicaps up to 28 for men and 36 for women, Alferini 24 and 32; Tramores has no limit. The club allows about four and a half hours on Flamingos and five on Alferini, where it advises a buggy.

Reviewers generally rate the condition of the courses highly and often mention attentive staff and the views. Their recurring reservations concern cost rather than golf: buggies, parking and drinks soon add up. Tight fairways with few places to bail out punish a wayward drive on both main courses.

There is a large driving range, a short-game area and an academy, all open daily, and the Hole 55 clubhouse looks out over the Mediterranean. Spring and autumn are the peak seasons; in summer, book early.

The resort lies in the hills of Benahavís above the A-7, between San Pedro de Alcántara and Estepona, and the club puts Málaga airport about an hour's drive away.

The Villa Padierna and Los Flamingos urbanisations around the courses mix villas and apartment complexes on the slopes. In our listings near the course, in Los Flamingos and the rest of Benahavís, apartments are the largest group, with a strong share of detached villas and a smaller number of townhouses.

We represent buyers only; before arranging a viewing we confirm how far the home is from the courses and what you would actually see from it.