Why Corfu is one of those golf destinations that stays with you

There are golf destinations you visit because of the golf, and there are places where the golf becomes part of a much bigger experience.

For me, Corfu falls firmly into the second category.

I have been fortunate enough to spend time on the island, and it is somewhere I am always very happy to return to. There is an ease about Corfu that suits a golf holiday. It is beautiful without feeling too polished, relaxed without being sleepy, and different enough from home to make you feel that you have properly gone away.

And then, tucked away in the heart of the island, there is the golf.

A golf course with a sense of place

Corfu Golf Club sits in the Ropa Valley, around 14 kilometres from Corfu Town. The course was commissioned from golf architect Donald Harradine in 1967 and officially opened in 1971. More than half a century later, it remains a wonderfully distinctive place to play.

What appeals to me is that it feels very different from the purpose-built golf resorts many of us know.

You are playing through a green Ionian landscape rather than between rows of holiday apartments. Trees, streams and water all come into play, and the closing holes in particular ask some interesting questions. The 18th is a risk-and-reward par five where a lake and a stream influence the route towards the green.

It is the sort of course where you gradually learn where to play and, perhaps more importantly, where not to play.

That makes it particularly good for a hosted coaching holiday.

Golf coaching is not always about changing your swing. Quite often, the greatest improvement comes from learning how to use the swing you already have.

Where should you position your tee shot?

When should you attack?

When should you accept that a bogey is considerably better than turning one mistake into three?

Playing a course more than once during a trip gives us the chance to put those decisions into practice rather than simply talking about them on a driving range.

Then there is Corfu itself

You could come here purely for the golf, but you would be missing half the point.

Corfu is one of the Ionian Islands, and its landscape is strikingly green by Greek island standards. Olive groves, hills, beaches and small villages give it a character very different from some of the more arid Mediterranean destinations.

Corfu Town is another reason the island feels special.

Its Old Town was inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2007. Corfu spent roughly four centuries under Venetian rule before periods of French and British administration, and those layers of history remain visible in its fortifications and architecture.

For a golfer, I think that matters.

When I choose somewhere for a golf trip, I do not want the destination to become irrelevant once we leave the course. I want people to remember where they have been.

A good golf holiday should give you stories that have nothing to do with what you scored on the seventh.

Golf holidays are better when they are shared

There is another side of these trips which is difficult to explain until you have experienced one.

People arrive for the golf, but very often they remember the company just as much.

You spend time together on the course, over dinner and around the resort. Golfers who did not know each other on the first morning are usually swapping stories by the end of the week.

That is why I particularly encourage solo golfers to consider joining us.

You do not need to assemble four friends before you can have a good golf holiday. A hosted trip provides the group for you.

And because I am there as a PGA Professional, there is always someone available to talk through the golf as well.

If something appears in your game during the week, we can look at it. If you have a question about a shot you keep struggling with, ask me. If we can save you three shots simply by making better decisions around the course, even better.

I am not interested in turning your holiday into seven days of swing theory.

I want you to enjoy your golf.

Why I keep coming back to Corfu

Perhaps that is ultimately the appeal.

Corfu does not ask you to choose between a golf holiday and a proper holiday.

You can have both.

There is excellent golf, sunshine, history, beautiful scenery and time to enjoy being somewhere completely different from home.

Add some coaching, a small group of people who enjoy the same game and the luxury of having the arrangements made for you, and I think you have the ingredients for a very good week indeed.

If Corfu has been sitting on your list of places you might visit one day, perhaps it is time to put the clubs on the plane and see it from the fairway.

Interested in joining one of my hosted Corfu golf trips?

Explore the upcoming trips or get in touch with me directly. You are very welcome whether you are travelling with friends, as a couple or on your own.

Simon

PGA Professional