GREECE Costa Navarino Dunes, Bay, Olympic and Hills 72 Holes

Course overview

For golf, you’ll be very hard placed to find a better all-in-one golf resort in Europe and beyond than Costa Navarino.  The Dunes course is adjacent to the main resort, the Bay is a 15-minute drive and the Hills (with two courses) is 20-minutes.  There is a transfer service running to/from the three other courses every 20 minutes from the Dunes and the Dunes is a three-minute walk from The Westin Reception, and seven minutes’ walk from The Romanos.  After your game, your clubs are cleaned and you can ask for the clubs to be taken to the clubhouse where you will next play.   It’s all very easy, efficient and slick.

The two new Olazabal courses (Hills and Olympic) have matured very quickly and both are excellent and very scenic layouts that encourage your game with wide fairways and a variety of decent hazards around the large greens.      Over the winter 22/23, the last remaining tidying-up will be completed and I would strongly suggest starting your golf programme with a couple of rounds at the Hills and/or Olympic – they might be longer than the two older courses but they are more playable and they have five or six sets or tees so you can choose the right length for you.   GPS buggies and practice at the three superb practice facilities are included in every round.

The greens at all four courses putt well even at the end of the day when you have a few inevitable pitch and scuff marks to deal with.  My recommendation is to play early (09.30 or earlier) to avoid the “holiday four-balls”, have a good lunch and then have a free afternoon to explore or relax.   Playing later – particularly on the Bay – can lead to slower rounds.

Bernhard Langer designs difficult golf courses and The Dunes is no exception.  The greens are a bit tricked up and the Greenkeeper was obviously in a foul mood as several of the pins were on downward slopes.  The layout is varied and superb but you just need to be patient and cautious on the greens (my Handicap is 2 and I had 44 putts, my teenage son is a good player and he had 52 and I won’t tell you how many my daughter had!).  Perhaps you can better understand how/where to attack the greens after a couple of rounds but it’s frustrating at the beginning.  Nevertheless, beautiful and very enjoyable and The Dunes is probably the course that is the most rewarding to play once you’ve got to know it.

The Bay course receives many accolades but it’s not my favourite at Costa Navarino.  It is relatively short and with a strangely-high Slope rating.  Make sure you take enough club to go past the pin and you should post a good score.  Of all the courses, the Bay is the hilliest and, arguably, with the best coastal views but it does have the longest paths from green to next tee so the buggies are welcome.  Lesser players have more chance of getting into a pickle at The Bay as there are a few holes which can swallow up a wayward shot so play can be a little slow.  I would suggest playing Four Ball or teeing off early so that you can play at your preferred pace. The ultra-smart Mandarin Oriental hotel is being built near the beach on the back nine of The Bay so there was the inevitable “works-effect” on the course when we played it but I know everything will be looking super-good come next summer when the hotel opens.

Of all four courses, the Bay has probably the best holes but also probably the least good.  I think the Hills and the Olympic are more “reliable” and the Dunes, if you’re playing well, will please you the most.   As I’ve mentioned before, start off with the Hills and Olympic, move onto the Bay when you and your game are nicely relaxed and take on the Dunes when your game is peaking.

The three clubhouses are all impressive with service to match.   Watch out if you don’t like TaylorMade golf balls as the golf courses are managed by Troon and Troon has recently signed an exclusive deal with TaylorMade…It’s another minor critique as I would hope for a more complete choice of golf balls from such splendid set-ups.

Golf Course Yardages

White Tees

• The Dunes             6624 yards, Slope 141
• The Bay                 6175 yards, Slope 141
• The Hills                6876 yards, Slope 126
• Olympic                 6713 yards, Slope 129

Red Tees

• The Dunes            5342 yards, Slope 132
• The Bay                4848 yards, Slope 127
• The Hills                5418 yards, Slope 120
• Olympic                 5240 yards, Slope 115

Golf Course Location