Santander Golf Course

Santander Golf Course occupies the corporate campus of Banco Santander in Boadilla del Monte, twenty minutes from central Madrid. Opened in 2005 on what was once waste ground, the site was reshaped with millions of cubic metres of earth to create the parkland setting golfers see today. Rees Jones and Seve Ballesteros co-designed the course, and within a year of opening Golf Digest ranked it among the three best in Spain, later naming it one of its 100 Best Outside the United States.

Length defines the challenge here. From the back tees Santander stretches out to among the longest courses in Spain, its par fives asking real questions of even accomplished players, while multiple sets of forward tees keep the round approachable for less powerful hitters. Water hazards gather with particular intent on the back nine, and the fairways move through gently rolling terrain that rewards a controlled ball flight over raw distance. Expect a full complement of bunkers to punish anything loose off the tee.

The clubhouse matches the ambition of the course, with a driving range, academy, and locker rooms among the facilities on-site, and buggies included as standard. Note that Santander sits within a working corporate campus, so bring photo ID for the gate. This is a course built to test, in a setting built to impress — worth the drive out from Madrid.