Alcanada Golf Club in Mallorca: a review

Alcanada Golf Club has a beautiful course in north east Mallorca and is considered by many as the best course on the island

Alcanada Golf Club has a beautiful course in north east Mallorca. It is situated between towering mountains and sea, so offers excellent views in both directions.

The best view is from the raised 13th tee, where you hit down and towards the Bay of Aucanada with the mid-19th century lighthouse standing on the small island of Aucanada in the background.

“You would never tire of this view, would you?” said one of my playing companions.

The first hole at Alcanada Golf Club is a tough one to encounter first up. The hole is essentially in an L shape, which an expanse of barranco forming the inside of the smaller bar of the L. This you have to cross to get to the green, or the last section of fairway, depending on how you approach it.

Two balls lighter, I teed it up on the 2nd.

The 7th hole has a camera behind the tee which will record your drive here. You get a ticket from the pro shop before your round, then within 60 seconds of playing your tee shot on you can scan the bar code into the machine and it will send a copy of the film of your swing to a computer in the clubhouse, where you can study it and have it emailed to you.

Of course, if you shank it horribly, you can just not scan your ticket and your shame can remain a private one shared only with your playing companions.

But if your drive is not the best, just enjoy the view from the tee as the course tumbles down in front of you towards the sea.

The best holes however are among the later ones. The short par-5 13th probably stands out as most people’s favourite at Alcanada Golf Club. A downhill left-arcing 496 yards from the tips it also gives you a chance to have a happy memory of the hole on the scorecard as well.

The long par-3 17th is the best of the short holes on this Robert Trent Jones II-designed layout. It is a simple design, with a quartet of bunkers in line diagonally, with the green tucked away on the left behind them.

You climb to the 19th hole, and its terrace offers yet one final splendid view of a site full of them, across the course towards the lighthouse.

On this terrace was a group of golfers debating whether Alcanada Golf Club or Son Gual is the best golf course on Mallorca, an island not short of good golf courses.