Madrid or Mallorca for Winter Golf? What Changes When the Island Goes Quiet
Your home course closes in November, or plays to temporary greens until March. So every winter you head south for a few days of proper golf, and for many golfers in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, south means Mallorca.
You know the island. Two hours on the plane, a hotel you like, courses you have played before. Then one January you arrive and half the resort is shuttered. The golf is fine. It is everything around it that has gone to sleep.
If you are weighing Madrid or Mallorca for winter golf this year, the short answer is this: Mallorca is wonderful in spring and autumn, and Madrid is at its best when the island goes quiet. Here is what actually changes between the two from November to March, and how a Madrid winter golf break works in practice.
Madrid or Mallorca for winter golf: the short answer
Choose Mallorca if you want sea views, you are happy with a quiet hotel and early nights, and you travel in late February or March when the island starts waking up.
Choose Madrid if you want three or four good rounds and a city that is fully open when you come off the course. A capital of more than three million people has no low season. The restaurants, museums, bars and theatres run in February exactly as they do in May.
Both have playable winter weather. The real difference is what happens between the 18th green and breakfast the next day.
What goes quiet in Mallorca between November and March
This is not a criticism of the island. It is how its tourism has always worked. Much of Mallorca’s coastal resort business is built around summer, and a large share of the beach hotels close from early November until spring. The local press has reported for years that November to March accounts for only a small slice of the island’s visitors.
Many of the courses keep playing through winter. What changes is the rest of the trip. The harbour restaurant you remember may be closed. The resort town can feel empty by six in the evening. If you stay in Palma, the city keeps going; it is the coastal resorts that go quiet.
For a golfer who wants a good round in the morning and a good evening after it, that is the gap Madrid fills.
Why Madrid has no winter low season
Madrid is not a holiday resort that waits for summer. It is a working capital, and winter is when it is busiest indoors: exhibitions open, the restaurant season is in full swing and the streets are full on a Thursday night in January.
That changes the shape of a golf trip. You play in the late morning, have lunch at the club or back in town, and still have the whole afternoon and evening. The Prado, a long lunch, tapas in La Latina, a football match at the Bernabéu or the Metropolitano. None of it is seasonal.
It also matters if a partner or a friend who does not play is coming. Our guide to a Madrid golf trip with a non-golfing partner shows how the days fit together.
Winter golf weather in Madrid: what to expect
Madrid sits on a high plateau, around 650 metres above sea level. That gives it a dry, bright winter: cold first thing, comfortable by midday.
AEMET, the Spanish state weather agency, gives the long-term average daytime maximum in central Madrid as around 10°C in January and 12°C in February, with roughly 150 hours of sunshine in each of those months. Rain is not the main variable. Frost is.
On clear nights the grass freezes, and clubs hold the first tee times until it lifts. That is why we book winter rounds from mid-morning. You lose nothing: by eleven the sun is on the course and the jumper comes off by the turn.
Two more things Mallorca regulars notice. The ball flies a little further at Madrid’s altitude, which we explain in golf at altitude in Madrid. And daylight is shorter than it feels: sunset is around six in January and nearer seven by late February, so one round a day is the rhythm. For the month-by-month picture, see the best time to play golf in Madrid.
| Winter factor | Mallorca (coastal resorts) | Madrid |
|---|---|---|
| Golf | Many courses keep playing | Courses play all winter, with mid-morning starts on frosty days |
| Hotels | A large share of resort hotels close until spring | City hotels open all year |
| Evenings | Quiet outside Palma | Restaurants, bars, theatre and football as normal |
| Weather | Mild, with sea air | Dry and sunny, cold mornings, mild middays |
| Getting around | Usually a hire car between courses | Central hotel and transfers; the main courses are within about 40 minutes |
Thinking about a winter break in Madrid instead of the island? Send us your dates between November and March, how many golfers are travelling and how many rounds you would like. We will come back with the courses, a central hotel and transfers in one plan, with every tee time set for after the frost. Tell us your winter dates.
The Madrid courses that make a winter trip work
You do not need a long list. You need the right two or three courses in the right order.
Centro Nacional de Golf: the round that fits around the city
Centro Nacional de Golf is inside the city, home of the Spanish Golf Federation, with wide fairways and the Madrid skyline behind several holes. It is the easiest winter round in Madrid: a short transfer from a central hotel, and the afternoon is yours.
If a morning starts frosty, a delayed tee time here costs you an hour, not the day. That makes it the natural first round of the trip, the day you land or the morning after.
Golf Santander: the big round of the trip
Golf Santander, west of the city in Boadilla del Monte, is the championship round. Lakes, mature trees and a layout that asks for every club in the bag. It plays nothing like the coastal courses a Mallorca regular knows, and it is usually the course the group talks about on the flight home.
Put it in the middle of the trip, once everyone has a round in their legs.
Courses for a third or fourth morning
RACE and La Dehesa, both to the north, are good choices for a third round. La Herrería, beside El Escorial in the foothills of the Guadarrama, gives the most beautiful day of the week. In midwinter, frost lasts longer up there, so we keep it for a later tee time or a milder day.
Golfers often ask about the historic member clubs too, such as Real Golf La Moraleja and Real Sociedad Hípica Española Club de Campo. Visitor access there depends on each club’s rules and the dates. We ask on your behalf; we do not promise it. Our guide to private golf courses in Madrid you can play explains how it works.
A four-day winter golf break in Madrid
This is one way to shape it. Courses and order depend on what each club confirms for your dates.
Day 1: arrive and play nine or eighteen
Madrid-Barajas is around 20 to 30 minutes from the centre, depending on traffic, and it has direct flights from most major German, Swiss and Austrian airports. With a morning flight you can be on the tee at Centro Nacional early in the afternoon. Dinner in town.
Day 2: Golf Santander
Transfer at around ten, tee off after the frost, lunch at the club. Back at the hotel by late afternoon, with the evening in the city.
Day 3: a northern course
RACE or La Dehesa in the morning. In the afternoon, a museum, a market or simply a long lunch.
Day 4: La Herrería or a last city round
La Herrería and El Escorial if the flight is late; Centro Nacional again if it is early. Either way, the airport is close.
We drive the group in a transfer rather than a hire car. Winter mornings on the ring roads are slow, and nobody wants to be the designated driver after dinner. More on that in golf in Madrid without a car.
Keeping both: Mallorca in spring, Madrid in winter
You do not have to give up the island. Madrid for the dark months, Mallorca again when it reopens in spring: the two trips do different jobs.
If you have also looked at Portugal, our comparison of Madrid and the Algarve for golf covers the same question from another angle.
Frequently asked questions
Is Madrid good for golf in winter?
Yes. Winter in Madrid is dry and often sunny, with cold mornings and mild middays. AEMET puts the average January maximum at around 10°C. Tee times from mid-morning avoid most frost delays.
Are golf courses in Madrid open in January and February?
Yes, the courses we work with play through winter. The occasional frosty morning delays the first tee times; it rarely loses the day. Holidays such as 1 and 6 January need checking with each club.
Is Mallorca quiet in winter?
Much of the coastal resort side closes from early November until spring, though many courses keep playing and Palma stays open. The island is quieter, which some golfers enjoy and others do not.
How many rounds fit into a winter golf break in Madrid?
One a day is the comfortable rhythm, so three rounds in a long weekend or four in four nights. Short daylight makes a second round unrealistic.
Do I need a car for winter golf in Madrid?
No. With a central hotel and transfers, the main courses are within roughly 15 to 40 minutes, depending on the course and traffic.
How far ahead should I book a winter golf trip to Madrid?
For weekends, holidays and groups, book in autumn. Midweek dates for two or four golfers are more flexible. Our guide on how far in advance to book golf in Madrid has the detail. And if you are thinking of the festive weeks, see golf in Madrid at Christmas and New Year.
Plan your winter golf in Madrid
You already know you will play somewhere this winter. The question is whether the evenings will be as good as the mornings.
Send us your dates between November and March, how many golfers are coming, how many rounds you want and whether anyone travelling does not play. We will check what each course confirms for those days and send you one plan: tee times set for after the frost, a central hotel, transfers from the airport to the first tee and back, and a total that does not change when you arrive.
Request your winter golf proposal for Madrid