Around 320 days of sunshine, a ring of Nicklaus Design courses around the Mar Menor, the three course La Manga Club, and green fees that rarely clear 120 euros. Murcia is Spain's best value warm weather golf trip. Here are the courses to build around, a sample five night structure and indicative 2026 costs.
Photograph: Grand Hyatt La Manga Club Golf & Spa, Murcia, via Google
A Murcia golf package suits the golfer who wants volume, sunshine and a controlled bill. The Costa Calida, Murcia's coast around the Mar Menor lagoon, was built for this trip: a dense ring of modern resort courses, most carrying the Nicklaus Design stamp from the former Polaris World developments and now run by GNK Golf, all within about 40 minutes of one another. Add La Manga Club's three courses above Cartagena and you have a week of golf without a single long transfer. It is the natural pick for buddies groups chasing four or five rounds, for winter sun escapees, and for couples who want one base for the whole stay.
It is also the budget counterweight to Spain's glamour coasts. Where a Spain golf holiday built on Sotogrande or Marbella can absorb 200 euros a round, the Murcia circuit mostly runs 50 to 120. The trade is fame for value: outside La Manga's South Course, few of these layouts trouble our list of the best golf courses in Murcia, but GNK conditioning is high and the golf is honest. For a marquee bolt on, Las Colinas sits just over the border on the Costa Blanca, half an hour from the Mar Menor.
The anchor of the region. The South Course, laid out by Robert Dean Putman in 1971 and later renovated with Arnold Palmer's design firm, hosted the Spanish Open from 1973 to 1977. Putman's North is the friendlier sibling, and the Dave Thomas West of 1996 climbs through pine forest toward Calblanque. The Grand Hyatt sits at its center, and indicative 2026 South fees run around 119 euros in spring and autumn.
Six Nicklaus Design courses now trade as GNK Golf, and El Valle, routed through a rocky desert valley, is the pick, with indicative fees of 52 euros in low season to 81 in high. La Torre is the confidence building par 68 with a DoubleTree by Hilton on site, Hacienda Riquelme is a 6,356 meter par 72 grassed entirely in Paspalum, and Mar Menor Golf, a Dave Thomas and Nicklaus Design collaboration, anchors the most complete resort village.
The big ballpark. Dave Thomas opened this one in 2005 at around 6,700 meters off the tips, one of the longest courses in Spain, though wide fairways and big greens keep it playable from the forward boxes. The Ona resort hotel on site makes it the value base for a full week, and Miguel Angel Jimenez has called it one of the country's best.
Technically over the provincial line at Pilar de la Horadada, but every Murcia itinerary borrows it. A par 72 of 6,237 meters, it has become one of the busiest online tee sheets in Spain. Pricing is dynamic by demand, with high season late starts from around 65 euros, so book this one earliest.
Designers, dates and layouts verified June 2026. Green fees are indicative club published or third party figures for the 2025 to 2026 seasons, vary by date, time and demand, and change without notice. Always confirm directly before booking.
Fly into Murcia International at Corvera, or Alicante if the schedule suits, and check into your base near the lagoon. An afternoon round at Mar Menor Golf or Roda Golf shakes off the flight.
The best of the GNK cluster. Play El Valle in the morning light, then give the afternoon to Cartagena's Roman theater and harbor, 25 minutes south.
The round the trip is built around. The Spanish Open came here five years running in the 1970s, and the closing stretch still bites. Lunch at the resort, then the North for anyone with 36 in their legs.
Drive inland to Fuente Alamo for the Dave Thomas giant. Pick your tees honestly and enjoy the width.
Cross into the Costa Blanca for the finale: Lo Romero, or Las Colinas if the group wants one more upscale scalp. Both sit within about half an hour of the northern Mar Menor.
Corvera is rarely more than 40 minutes away, so a morning nine before an afternoon flight is a real option. A seventh night usually buys a second La Manga course or a La Torre warm down.
Drives on this routing rarely top 45 minutes, and most legs are 15 to 30. The GNK courses share a central booking office, so multi course passes take one call.
| Style | Per person, 2026 | What it usually includes |
|---|---|---|
| Resort stay and play break | From around 445 pounds | Operator listed 2026 rate: 3 nights bed and breakfast at the Grand Hyatt La Manga Club with two rounds across the resort's three courses, March departures |
| Mar Menor value week | From around 849 pounds | Operator listed early 2026 rate: 7 nights bed and breakfast at Ona Hacienda del Alamo with four rounds, including Hacienda del Alamo twice plus Mar Menor and Saurines |
| Luxury La Manga week | From around 700 pounds upward | 5 nights at the Grand Hyatt with four rounds; scaled from the operator's listed 3 night rates and rising in spring and autumn |
Indicative third party figures for the 2026 season, excluding flights. We are a guide, not an operator, and never quote our own pricing. Always confirm directly before booking. Find a Mar Menor base.
Murcia's claim of roughly 320 days of sunshine a year means there is no closed season, only a price curve. March to May and October are the sweet spots, and exactly when the British and Scandinavian groups arrive, so those tee sheets and the Grand Hyatt's golf packages need booking three to four months out. July and August bring real heat, the cheapest fees and a culture of dawn starts. Winter is the insider play: January and February rates sit at the bottom of the range. Book Lo Romero and the La Manga South time first, since both sell on demand based pricing, then build the GNK rounds around them. Our guide to the best stay and play resorts in Spain covers how La Manga and Hacienda del Alamo compare as bases.
We hold the La Manga South times before demand pricing climbs, build GNK multi course passes, and match the base to the group. Tell us roughly when and who is traveling, and one concierge costs it to the head and replies within one working day, with no obligation.
La Manga Club's South Course, laid out by Robert Dean Putman in 1971 and host of the Spanish Open from 1973 to 1977, is the region's marquee round, with the Putman designed North and the Dave Thomas West alongside. Around the Mar Menor, the Nicklaus Design portfolio now run by GNK Golf includes El Valle, La Torre, Hacienda Riquelme and Mar Menor Golf, while Hacienda del Alamo, a Dave Thomas course of around 6,700 meters from 2005, is one of the longest tests in Spain. Lo Romero, just over the border at Pilar de la Horadada, makes a strong final day.
Indicative 2026 green fees run from 52 to 81 euros at El Valle depending on season, up to around 119 euros on La Manga's South Course in the spring and autumn windows. Operator packages for 2026 start from around 445 pounds per person for three nights bed and breakfast with two rounds at the Grand Hyatt La Manga Club, while a seven night stay at Ona Hacienda del Alamo with four rounds has been listed from around 849 pounds per person for early 2026. We are a guide, not an operator, so always confirm directly before booking.
Spring and autumn are prime, with warm days, firm turf and the highest demand. The region claims around 320 days of sunshine a year, so winter golf is genuinely good and January and February are the bargain months, while July and August are hot, with the lowest fees and a culture of early tee times. For March to May or October travel, book tee times and rooms three to four months ahead; winter and midsummer trips can usually be arranged inside a few weeks.
Murcia International Airport at Corvera, code RMU, opened in January 2019 and is the closest airport to nearly all of the region's golf resorts, with Ryanair and easyJet serving UK cities and Dublin. Alicante sits roughly an hour north of the Mar Menor courses, carries a far deeper flight schedule, and works especially well if you are adding Costa Blanca rounds such as Las Colinas or Lo Romero on the way down.
Tee time releases, new openings and the booking windows worth moving on first. Every other week.
Researched and written by the GolfForKings editorial desk. Indicative fees and package ranges verified June 2026. Last reviewed: June 2026.