Desert Springs Golf Club

Desert Springs Resort is Europe's only desert golf course, a design that leans into the arid drama of Almería's southeastern corner rather than fighting it. The course was laid out across the Resort's Indiana-themed grounds in the late 1990s, the Contraviesa mountains forming a jagged backdrop to a layout that plays through dry riverbeds, rocky outcrops, and indigenous desert scrub. It's an unusual setting by any European standard, and the course makes no attempt to disguise it — water features serve as strategic hazards rather than cosmetic additions, and the sandy, sun-baked terrain gives the whole round a character found nowhere else on the continent.

Almería is Spain's sunniest province, which means near-guaranteed playing conditions year-round. The surrounding Vera region has grown into a serious expat golf destination, but Desert Springs remains its centerpiece attraction, drawing touring professionals for pre-season conditioning camps as well as resort guests.

This is genuinely destination golf, not a course you stumble upon. The remoteness is part of the appeal — a round here feels deliberately removed from the manicured, tree-lined templates that dominate European resort golf.