Top 10 Golf Courses in Greece
Greece came to golf late compared with its Mediterranean neighbours, but the arrival of the Costa Navarino development on the Peloponnese in the early 2010s changed the conversation entirely. Suddenly Greece had international-standard resort golf, and the game has been growing its footprint across the country ever since. The climate is an obvious asset: the Mediterranean summer offers long, dry, sun-drenched rounds from April through October, and the winter months in Crete and the southern Peloponnese allow year-round play at the best facilities. The landscape provides extraordinary scenic backdrops — olive groves, ancient ruins, Aegean views — that give Greek golf a distinctive character no amount of architectural effort can manufacture. Open the map to see where Greece's courses are concentrated and how they relate to the main tourist regions.
1. Costa Navarino — The Dunes Course, Messenia
The Dunes Course at Costa Navarino is Greece's finest golf hole and the layout that put the country on the international golf map. Designed by Bernhard Langer and opened in 2010, the course stretches across coastal dune terrain above the Bay of Navarino, taking its name from the natural sandy landforms that shape several holes. The routing covers around 6,900 metres from the championship tees and borrows the vocabulary of links golf without copying it directly — the sandy subsoil, the exposed sea wind, and the naturalistically shaped bunkers all recall the Scottish coast, but the olive trees, the Ionian light and the visible ruins of ancient Pylos give the Dunes Course an irreplaceable sense of place. The par-4 14th, played from an elevated tee across a valley of dunes toward a green set against the sea, is the signature hole. Costa Navarino is a full resort with luxury hotel accommodation; visitor tee times at peak season should be booked well in advance.
2. Costa Navarino — The Bay Course, Messenia
The Bay Course, also at Costa Navarino and also designed by Bernhard Langer, opened shortly after the Dunes Course and takes a different approach to the same spectacular landscape. Where the Dunes Course uses the coastal topography aggressively, the Bay Course is set further inland through olive groves and Mediterranean scrubland, creating a parkland-style layout with a distinctly Greek sensibility. The course plays to around 6,800 metres and features a more varied mix of hole types than its sibling, with several strong par 3s that demand precise distance control. A multi-round visit to Costa Navarino combining both courses offers the best introduction to championship golf in Greece, and the resort's infrastructure — accommodation, dining, spa — supports an extended stay comfortably.
3. Glyfada Golf Club, Athens
Glyfada is the grandfather of Greek golf, an 18-hole course established in the southern suburbs of Athens during the 1960s and long the home of the country's competitive golfing community. The course was designed on land originally occupied by the American military and subsequently developed into a tree-lined parkland that sits somewhat improbably within Athens' sprawling urban fabric. At around 6,200 metres, the course is not long by modern standards but the mature pines that line virtually every hole create a demanding corridor game where accuracy off the tee consistently matters more than distance. Glyfada has hosted numerous Greek Amateur and national championships and the membership includes the core of Greek competitive golf. Visitor access is available with some restrictions; the club is easiest to book on weekday mornings.
4. The Crete Golf Club, Hersonissos
The Crete Golf Club near Hersonissos on the north coast of Crete is the southernmost golf course in Greece and one of the very few in the eastern Mediterranean that can genuinely be described as a year-round venue. The 18-hole parkland layout was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and opened in 2003, stretching to around 6,400 metres through undulating terrain with views of the Cretan mountains to the south and the Aegean to the north. The Jones design features his characteristic fairway bunkering, which creates risk-reward decisions from the tee on several of the par 4s and 5s. The 12th hole, a par 3 played from a plateau tee to a green surrounded by deep bunkers, is the most photographed on the course. Green fees are competitive and the course accepts visitors freely throughout the year, making Crete an appealing winter golf destination for northern Europeans.
5. Porto Carras Golf Club, Sithonia
The Porto Carras course on the Sithonia peninsula of Halkidiki is part of the vast Porto Carras resort that has occupied this forested Aegean coastline since the 1970s. The golf course — designed by Juan Garrido with a later redesign — winds through pine and olive woodland above the resort's private marina, with Aegean views appearing through the trees on several higher holes. The course plays to around 6,000 metres and its relatively modest length is offset by the undulating terrain that produces a variety of uphill and downhill lies. The resort atmosphere, the wine estate adjacent to the property, and the clear Aegean swimming make Porto Carras a compelling destination for golfers travelling with non-playing companions. The course is open to resort guests and day visitors throughout the summer season.
6. Afandou Golf Course, Rhodes
The Afandou course near Faliraki on Rhodes is one of the older established courses in the Greek islands and has long served the island's considerable golf-tourist market. The 18-hole layout was designed by Donald Harradine and stretches through open Mediterranean terrain to around 6,300 metres. The course is public and operates on a pay-and-play basis, making it the most accessible golf facility in the Dodecanese. The exposed coastal character means wind is rarely absent, and the late afternoon breeze that builds off the Aegean is a consistent factor for players on the finishing holes. Rhodes is well-served by direct charter and scheduled flights from northern Europe, and the combination of reliable sunshine, good hotels and affordable golf makes it a natural destination for budget golf holidays.
7. Costa Navarino — The Hills Course, Messenia
The newest addition to the Costa Navarino portfolio is the Hills Course, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and set in the elevated terrain inland from the bay. The Hills Course offers a markedly different experience from the Dunes and Bay layouts — the elevation provides cooler playing conditions in summer, wider panoramic views across the Peloponnese, and a more aggressive use of gradient and slope in the design. At around 7,000 metres from the tips, it is the longest course at the resort and the most demanding. The three Costa Navarino layouts together give the resort a depth of golf provision that puts it in genuine competition with the established European golf capitals, and a three-round visit sampling all three courses has become a recognised bucket-list experience for serious golfers.
8. Nauplia Golf Club, Argolid
The Nauplia area in the northeastern Peloponnese has a modest golf facility that caters primarily to the region's growing leisure tourism rather than the serious competitive market. The nine-hole course is short and unpretentious, but the historical setting — Nauplia was the first capital of modern Greece and is surrounded by Venetian fortresses and Mycenaean ruins — gives a round here an atmosphere that more impressive courses cannot match. For golfers touring the classical sites of the Peloponnese, the ability to play nine holes in view of the Palamidi fortress is worth more than the course's modest technical specifications might suggest.
9. Corfu Golf Club, Ropa Valley
The Ropa Valley course in Corfu is the most established golf facility in the Ionian Islands and one of Greece's oldest operational courses. The 18-hole layout was designed by Donald Harradine in the 1970s on the flat floor of Corfu's central agricultural valley, and the mature trees that have grown up around the fairways now give the course a quite different character from its original open-meadow layout. The course plays to around 6,000 metres and its proximity to the main Corfu resort strip makes it a convenient choice for island visitors wanting to add golf to a beach and sightseeing itinerary. Equipment rental is available and visitor access is open throughout the Greek golf season.
10. Thessaly Golf Club, Larissa Area
Central Greece's golf offering is limited, but the Thessaly Golf Club provides a serviceable nine-hole layout on the Thessalian plain and serves a local membership drawn from the farming and professional communities of the region. The course is flat and open — this is Greece's bread basket, the great fertile plain surrounded by mountains — and the distant view of Mount Olympus from certain parts of the course provides the compensatory scenery that the flat design does not generate through topography. The club is primarily for local members but welcomes visitors as part of its effort to grow the game in a region not traditionally associated with golf.
Planning Your Golf Trip to Greece
Greece's golf season runs effectively from March through November at the southern venues, with May through October being optimal across most of the country. Costa Navarino in Messenia is the natural centrepiece of any dedicated golf visit, offering world-class courses in a full resort setting; Crete is the best winter option for northern Europeans. Green fees range from around EUR 35 at smaller regional courses to EUR 120–160 at the Costa Navarino championship layouts. Kalamata Airport serves the Costa Navarino region, while Crete has major airports at Heraklion and Chania. Open the map to match courses to your travel itinerary and confirm which venues offer visitor tee times during your visit.