Top 10 Golf Courses in Brazil
Brazil is the largest country in South America and, despite golf's relatively elite social positioning there, hosts a meaningful number of quality courses spread across a continent-sized territory. The game arrived in Brazil with British engineers and merchants in the late nineteenth century, and the oldest clubs in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro carry that heritage in their architecture and their membership culture. More recently, resort developments in the northeast and in the wine-growing south have added layouts that appeal to international visitors. Golf in Brazil is expanding — the 2016 Rio Olympics brought the sport to the national conversation in a new way — but it remains concentrated in the prosperous south and southeast.
1. São Paulo Golf Club, São Paulo
The São Paulo Golf Club is the oldest golf club in Brazil, founded in 1901 by British workers in the ABC industrial zone southeast of the city. The course has been relocated and revised over the decades, but the institution retains its primacy in Brazilian golf — it is the club against which all others are measured, and membership is highly coveted in the city's business community. The layout is a classic parkland design set in mature urban surroundings, with the kind of established trees and precise conditioning that only a century of devoted maintenance can produce. Private; visitor access by member introduction.
2. Gávea Golf & Country Club, Rio de Janeiro
Gávea in Rio de Janeiro is the most dramatically situated course in Brazil and arguably one of the most spectacularly sited in the world. The course occupies terrain in the Tijuca district, surrounded on multiple sides by the Atlantic rainforest of the Tijuca national park, with the granite monoliths of Pedra da Gávea and the Corcovado visible from several holes. The combination of tropical vegetation, mountain backdrop, and the unmistakable skyline of Rio creates a setting that no course in a temperate climate can rival. The layout is compact and not punishingly long, but the terrain demands imagination and local knowledge. Private, with access by introduction.
3. Comandatuba Ocean Course, Bahia
The Comandatuba Ocean Course at the Transamerica Ilha de Comandatuba resort is the standout destination course of Brazil's tropical northeast. Located on an island accessible by boat near Una in Bahia state, the layout was designed by Dan Blankenship and stretches along the coastline with the Atlantic Ocean framing multiple holes. The resort is essentially self-contained, offering accommodation, beach access, and golf in a tropical setting that has attracted international visitors and Brazilian holiday golfers since its opening. Visitor play is straightforward through the resort booking.
4. Rosário Golf Club, São Paulo State
Rosário, in the Atibaia valley north of São Paulo, represents the quality of private club golf that has developed in Brazil's most economically active region. The parkland layout uses the hilly terrain of the Serra da Cantareira foothills with mature native Atlantic Forest trees framing the course. The club has attracted serious competitive golfers and serves as a venue for national events. The elevation of the Atibaia region provides slightly cooler temperatures than the city itself, extending comfortable playing conditions through the year.
5. Terravista Golf Course, Bahia
Terravista at Trancoso in southern Bahia is a newer destination course that has established itself among the most photographed in Brazil. The Tom Weiskopf and Phil Jacobs design sits on clifftops above the Atlantic, with several holes positioned on the cliff edge in ways that create vertigo-inducing views over the ocean below. The course plays through native Atlantic Forest on the inland holes and opens dramatically onto the coastal escarpment. Access is through the resort, and Trancoso has developed a reputation as an upscale beach and golf destination.
6. Campo de Golfe do Clube Campestre, Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte's Clube Campestre, one of the most prestigious clubs in Minas Gerais state, offers a parkland course in the hills surrounding the state capital. The course uses the natural topography of the region, with some elevation change that adds variety to an otherwise urban parkland setting. The club is embedded in the social fabric of Belo Horizonte's upper professional class and provides a representative example of traditional Brazilian club golf in the interior.
7. Cantegril Clube de Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul
Bagé, in the pampa country of Rio Grande do Sul near the Uruguayan border, is one of the more unexpected locations for golf in Brazil. Cantegril offers a course that reflects the flat, open character of the southern pampa — wide fairways, dominant wind, and views across cattle country that bear no resemblance to the tropical courses of the northeast. The club is part of a broader recreational complex and represents golf in the pastoral south of the country. Visitor access is generally straightforward.
8. Golf Club Caxias do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul
Caxias do Sul, the wine and industrial capital of the Serra Gaúcha, supports a golf club that serves the city's substantial Italian-descended population and business community. The course sits in the rolling hills of the serra country with vineyards and native araucaria pine forests providing the backdrop. The climate of the Serra Gaúcha — cooler and more temperate than tropical Brazil — makes year-round golf viable, and the region's food and wine culture makes it a rewarding destination for golfers who want more than the course itself.
9. Gramado Golf Club, Rio Grande do Sul
Gramado, the famous alpine-style town in the Serra Gaúcha that mimics a Swiss or German village in the Brazilian subtropics, has a golf club that fits its tourist-oriented identity. The course provides an accessible and scenic experience for the many visitors who come to Gramado for its chocolate shops, fondue restaurants, and mountain scenery. It is not the most demanding layout in the south, but for a golfer visiting the region for non-golf reasons, the Gramado course is a pleasant addition to the itinerary.
10. Garden Hill Golf Club, São Paulo State
Garden Hill, in the São Paulo metropolitan area, represents the tier of semi-private and resort golf that has expanded around Brazil's largest city to serve the substantial demand from corporate and recreational golfers who cannot access the most prestigious private clubs. The course is professionally maintained and regularly used for corporate events, offering a standard of play sufficient for visiting golfers who find the private clubs closed to them.
Brazil's golf season is effectively year-round in the tropical northeast and in São Paulo, where the climate is subtropical with no genuine winter. The Serra Gaúcha and southern Brazil experience genuine cool winters — playing is possible but layering is required from June through August. Green fees at private clubs require member connections; resort courses such as Comandatuba and Terravista can be booked directly. Open the map to explore Brazilian golf from Rio to the pampas.