Golf Las Américas

A garden course a few minutes from the beach.

Golf Las Américas is the most convenient course on Tenerife for anyone staying in Playa de las Américas or Los Cristianos. It sits about a kilometre inland from the resort centre, wrapped by apartments and hotels, yet inside the boundary it feels like a garden: palms, pines, cactus, native dragon trees and a string of ponds and streams. John Jacobs designed it, and it opened in 1998. It suits a holiday where golf is one part of the week. Tee times are sold online, and the club publishes its seasonal rate card.

Golf Las Américas green fees and tee times.

Tee times are sold on the club’s own website, which recommends online booking, or you can phone the club on +34 922 752 005. Older club pages describe a small transaction fee taken online, with the rest of the green fee paid at reception, so check the payment terms at checkout. Where2golf lists a handicap limit of 28 for men and 36 for women, and the club may ask to see a certificate, so bring one. In high season the club reserves its cheaper twilight rounds from 3pm and its morning nine-hole rounds for Canary Islands residents, so visitors should plan on the full 18-hole rate. Juniors pay half.

The round, in perspective.

The course is a par 72 of 6,051 metres from the back tees, as listed by where2golf. It is two contrasting loops. The front nine is hillier and climbs to the highest point of the property, with a view across the Atlantic to La Gomera on one side and Tenerife’s volcanic ridges on the other. Where2golf picks out the long par-three 5th, which needs a carry over water from tee to green. The back nine is flatter and more compact and runs closer to the resort, apart from the uphill par-four 15th and downhill par-five 16th. Ponds, streams and small waterfalls come into play more often coming home. The Hello Canary Islands tourism site notes that the course sits in a natural amphitheatre that shelters it from much of the wind.

Know before you go.

Handicap limit

28 men, 36 women (as listed by where2golf)

Spikes

Soft spikes only

Buggies

GPS buggies for hire; many players walk

Twilight

From 3pm; residents only in high season

Juniors

50% of the adult rate

Make the trip work.

The course is the easiest in the south to fit around a family beach holiday. The resort strip is minutes away, so a round can sit between a morning at the beach and dinner in town. The winter rate of €150 drops to €110 in April, which makes an Easter-side trip better value. Where2golf notes that many players walk, but the front nine has real slopes, and buggies with GPS are available. The club has a driving range, putting and pitching areas, a pro shop, a restaurant and a golf school, so a lesson on day one is easy to arrange.

Tenerife South (TFS) is about 20 minutes west along the TF-1 motorway. Take exit 28 towards Las Américas, then follow the signs to Golf Las Américas from the roundabout south of the motorway. From hotels in Playa de las Américas or Los Cristianos it is a short taxi ride, and some golfers walk. A car is only needed for the other southern courses.

Where it is.

Nearby: 1. Golf Costa Adeje (6 km) · 2. Golf del Sur (11 km) · 3. Abama Golf (14 km) · Compare all Tenerife & Gran Canaria tee times

Somewhere to settle in.

The Hotel Las Madrigueras, a colonial-style five-star hotel now marketed as 1881 Tenerife Madrigueras Golf Hotel, stands beside the course. Any of the beach hotels in Playa de las Américas or Los Cristianos puts you within a few minutes of the first tee. Self-catering apartments in the streets around the course are a cheaper base for a week.

Make a trip of it.

Golf Costa Adeje is ten minutes north, and Golf del Sur and Amarilla are about 20 minutes east towards the airport. Abama is the longest drive in the south, at around half an hour. Los Cristianos harbour, just south of the course, is where ferries leave for La Gomera, and day trips there are easy. Whale and dolphin boat trips leave from the marinas along this stretch of coast.

Find your season.

The course is open all year. The club’s rates peak from November to March and fall in April; third-party listings also show lower rates in May and September. The resort is at its busiest around Christmas, Carnival in February and Easter, so book tee times when you book flights.