Destination Golf Global (Spring 2020) * | Page 34

Golf Santo da Serra 1 Golf Santo da Serra 4 Take a minute and step out beyond the bunkers behind the par three 4th green and look around you. The valleys below are deep. There are some wonderful holes here across all three nines but you will be hard pushed to find a better stretch that starts with the towering drive off Machico’s 1st hole – a downhill dogleg to the left – and ends with the bunker-drenched par three 8th. After 18 holes on the Desertas and Machico nines we enjoyed lunch in a very comfortable clubhouse before tackling the Serras nine. Here the 1st and 6th share a dogleg double green… which led to a putting competition with a difference! 34 Destination Golf .TRAVEL Madeira, with its three courses, offers a lot more than golf and it is a destination that will inspire you to bundle a few rounds with other tourist activities. We explored the island from the north western tip of Porto Moniz, where pools of crystal blue water have been created within the rock formations and are refilled by the tides, to the south eastern tip where hikers strike out to reach the farthest point on the island, Ponta de São Lourenço, with dramatic clifftop walks. Is it any wonder that Madeira has been named ‘World’s Leading Island Destination’ for the past five years? Everywhere you look and everywhere you go it is easy to see why it keeps winning. And now golf is firmly a part of that.