Bulgaria: the golf destination you might not have considered

Mention European golf holidays and most British golfers will give you a familiar list.

Portugal. Spain. Turkey. Perhaps the Canary Islands.

Bulgaria probably will not be the first country that comes to mind.

And that is precisely why I find our June 2027 trip so interesting.

I am always looking for destinations that give golfers something slightly different. Somewhere with good golf, of course, but also somewhere that creates a genuine sense of discovery.

Pirin Golf, in the mountains of south-west Bulgaria, certainly does that.

Golf with mountains as the backdrop

Pirin Golf & Country Club sits close to Bansko beneath the Pirin Mountains.

This is not Mediterranean resort golf.

The landscape immediately changes the atmosphere.

Instead of playing with villas, beaches or the sea in the background, you are surrounded by mountain scenery.

The main course is an 18-hole layout designed by Ian Woosnam, former Masters champion and winning European Ryder Cup captain. The course works its way through rugged terrain and incorporates mountain vegetation, lakes, a river and a substantial collection of bunkers.

That immediately interests me as a coach.

A course with variety makes you think.

And golf becomes considerably more interesting when we stop seeing every hole as simply a question of how far we can hit the driver.

Mountain golf can ask different questions about club selection, trajectory, positioning and judgement.

For anybody joining me, that creates plenty for us to work on without standing on a practice ground discussing positions for hours.

Why playing plenty of golf matters

Our June 2027 hosted week is planned around seven nights at Pirin Golf Hotel & Spa, with all-inclusive accommodation, unlimited golf and coaching.

It is the unlimited golf element that particularly appeals to me.

One of the limitations of a conventional golf holiday is that you play a different course every day, make a few mistakes and then never see those holes again.

Playing repeatedly in the same environment gives you an opportunity to learn.

Perhaps you take driver from a tee on Monday and discover it leaves an awkward shot.

On Tuesday, you try something different.

Perhaps a particular green catches you out the first time you play it.

The next time around, you know where the sensible miss is.

That is course management in its most practical form.

And those are lessons you can take back to your home club long after the holiday has finished.

There is more here than golf

The Pirin Mountains themselves are one of Bulgaria's great natural landscapes.

The wider mountain range includes Pirin National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage property covering around 40,000 hectares. Its landscape includes glacial lakes, waterfalls, caves, coniferous forests, alpine meadows and high mountain peaks.

Nearby Bansko is better known to many British travellers as a ski destination, which perhaps tells you something about the landscape we are talking about.

In summer, however, the mountains provide a completely different backdrop.

And after several hours on a golf course, a good hotel matters.

Pirin Golf Hotel & Spa is a five-star property within the resort. The hotel has 71 rooms and living spaces, direct access to the spa, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, restaurants, bars and sporting facilities.

For me, that balance is important.

I like golfers to finish the round feeling that the holiday continues when they leave the 18th green.

Have something to eat. Use the spa. Sit down with a drink. Talk about the birdie you made and quietly forget the three-putt on the previous hole.

That is what a golf holiday is supposed to be.

You do not need to be an elite golfer

Occasionally people see the words "coaching trip" and assume they need to arrive with a low handicap and an ambition to practise for six hours every day.

Nothing could be further from the idea behind these holidays.

You need to enjoy golf.

That is the qualification.

My job is to help you get more from the game you bring with you.

For one golfer that might mean a technical adjustment.

For another, it might be sorting out the short game.

For someone else, we might discover they could knock several shots from their score simply by making more sensible decisions.

There will be coaching, certainly.

But there will also be plenty of playing golf.

Sometimes the unfamiliar destinations are the most memorable

There is nothing wrong with returning to the same golfing regions year after year.

There is a reason places such as the Algarve have become so popular.

But occasionally it is good to put the clubs somewhere they have never been before.

Bulgaria offers that opportunity.

A course designed by a Masters champion and Ryder Cup captain. A five-star golf and spa resort. A dramatic mountain landscape. Plenty of golf. A week with other people who enjoy the game.

And, perhaps best of all, the feeling that you have discovered somewhere rather than simply followed everybody else.

I am very much looking forward to seeing what Pirin has in store for us in June 2027.

Perhaps you would like to discover it with me.

Bulgaria Golf Week at Pirin

13 to 20 June 2027

Seven nights, all-inclusive accommodation, unlimited golf and hosted PGA coaching with Simon Buckley.

Find out more about the Bulgaria trip or contact me if you would like to discuss whether it is right for you.