Golf Son Muntaner

The verdict

Son Muntaner is the senior course of the four that make up Arabella Golf, the resort cluster that sits in the wooded hills of Son Vida a short drive above Palma. Opened in 2000 to a design by the German architect Kurt Rossknecht, it plays as a par 72 of about 6,500 metres and has collected a shelf of awards, including repeated recognition as the best course in Spain. It is the kind of course that flatters a good round and exposes a loose one.

What sets it apart is the land. Rossknecht routed the holes through mature pine, holm oak and ancient olive, with the fairways rising and falling across the Tramuntana foothills and the Bay of Palma glinting in the distance. The conditioning is immaculate, the greens are large and subtly contoured, and near the fifteenth stands Sa Capitana, an olive tree reckoned to be a thousand years old. It is parkland golf of real pedigree, and the obvious centrepiece of any Mallorca trip.

The holes worth the trip

Son Muntaner rewards the thinking golfer from the opening tee. The fairways are generous enough to let you open your shoulders, but the premium is on the correct side, because the greens are large and the pin position dictates the right angle of approach. Rossknecht uses the natural slope of the Son Vida hills to feed and repel shots, so a drive that ignores the contour leaves a far harder second than the yardage suggests.

The middle of the round climbs and falls through the trees, with holm oak and pine framing tight, shaded corridors and the occasional glimpse of the Bay of Palma. The par 3s are particularly well judged, asking for committed long irons to greens that fall away at the edges, and the par 5s tempt the bold with reachable second shots guarded by bunkering cut into the hillside. Around the fifteenth you pass Sa Capitana, the thousand year old olive that has become the course's emblem.

The closing stretch brings the contours into sharp focus, with greens that demand exact distance control and putts that break more than the eye reads. It is a course of subtlety rather than brute length, which is precisely why it rates so highly with good players. Played as the headline of a Mallorca trip, with Palma and its restaurants fifteen minutes down the hill, Son Muntaner delivers the kind of polished, strategic test that keeps discerning golfers coming back to the Balearics.

Where to stay nearby

Son Muntaner is the headline of the Arabella estate, and the two hotels on the doorstep make for the easiest base. The Castillo Hotel Son Vida, a hilltop castle hotel, and the St Regis Mardavall on the coast both offer golf packages across the four Arabella courses, so you can play, eat and sleep within the same estate with the first tee minutes away.

For a wider Mallorca itinerary, Palma and its old town are fifteen minutes down the hill, with the Arabella siblings Son Vida and Son Quint a short shuttle away, and the cluster around the bay offering enough golf for a full week without changing hotel. Palma airport is about twenty five minutes away and well connected across Europe, which makes Mallorca one of the simplest premium golf trips to arrange.

Looking for a base? See our recommended hotels and resorts across Son Vida and Palma.