Golf in Sardinia: Courses, Wine & Spa

Golf: three single courses, three different pedigrees

Sardinia has no course cluster the way Tuscany or Lombardy do: each of its three areas is built around one or two courses. Pevero Golf Club on the Costa Smeralda is a 1972 Robert Trent Jones Sr. design set among the bays of the coast. Is Molas Golf Club near Pula is the historic course of the south, with multiple Italian Opens on its record. Golf Club Is Arenas on the west coast is ranked No.3 in Italy by Leading Courses, 18 holes cut through a maritime pine forest. None of the three areas has a second course worth a detour, so the choice of base is really the choice of course.

Vermentino, Carignano and Vernaccia

Each corridor has its own denomination. The Costa Smeralda is Vermentino di Gallura, made by Capichera in Arzachena and Siddura. The south is Carignano del Sulcis, with Agricola Punica in Santadi, Cantina Santadi itself, and Argiolas in Serdiana, whose Turriga is the island’s best-known red. The west coast is Vernaccia di Oristano, Contini 1898’s historic wine, with Sella e Mosca further north in Alghero.

One grand spa, one real hot spring, and nothing on the Costa Smeralda

Forte Village Acquaforte Spa in the south is the grand resort spa of the island, a 34.7km drive from the Sardinia Outlet Village if shopping is also on the list. The west coast has an actual natural hot spring at Fordongianus, 28km from the course, an ancient Roman thermal site rather than a resort amenity. The Costa Smeralda has no thermal entry at all in this guide: it is the luxury course-and-wine base, not the spa one.

When to go, and which base

Unusually, all three corridors rank May as their best month, and the numbers barely differ, 21 to 22C with four to five washout days everywhere, so timing does not need to drive the choice of base the way it does elsewhere in Italy. Airports do: Costa Smeralda is 23km from Olbia, South Sardinia 29km from Cagliari, while West Sardinia sits 67km from Alghero and over 100km from either Cagliari or Olbia. Pick Costa Smeralda for Pevero and Gallura Vermentino close to the airport, South Sardinia: Is Molas & Chia for the historic course, the Carignano wine and Forte Village’s spa near Cagliari, and West Sardinia: Is Arenas & Sinis for Is Arenas and Vernaccia country if you don’t mind the longer drive in.