Top 10 Golf Courses in Chile
Chile is a country of extraordinary geographical range — four thousand kilometres from the Atacama Desert in the north to Patagonia in the south, with the Andes forming an unbroken wall on the eastern border and the Pacific Coast on the west. Golf in Chile is concentrated almost entirely in and around Santiago, the capital, where a prosperous urban middle class has supported a cluster of private parkland clubs since the early twentieth century. Beyond Santiago, courses become sparse, though the ski resort communities of the Andes and the port city of Valparaíso add to the limited selection. Chile is not a golf destination in the international sense, but for visitors to Santiago on business or holiday, the standard of urban club golf is genuinely impressive.
1. Prince of Wales Country Club, Santiago
The Prince of Wales Country Club in La Reina, one of Santiago's eastern residential suburbs at the foot of the Andes, is the most prestigious golf club in Chile. The course was established in the early twentieth century with the patronage that its name implies and has been developed and maintained to a standard that reflects its status as the country's leading private club. The parkland layout benefits from the backdrop of the Andes — clear on winter mornings, obscured by summer haze — and the combination of mature trees, well-conditioned turf, and precise green complexes makes it a genuine destination course for visiting golfers with the right connections. Private.
2. Club de Golf Los Leones, Santiago
Los Leones, in Las Condes, is one of the best-known and most active golf clubs in Santiago. The course occupies premium real estate in the city's most prosperous district, surrounded by high-density residential development that closes in on the course from multiple sides. Despite its urban confinement, Los Leones maintains high standards and has hosted national competitions. The club's dual role as golf and social club makes it one of the hubs of Santiago's upper-middle-class life. Private.
3. Sport Francés Club de Golf, Santiago
The Sport Francés in Las Condes is the golf division of one of Santiago's most established multi-sport social clubs, with a history rooted in the French immigrant community that settled in the capital during the nineteenth century. The course provides a well-maintained parkland experience within the city limits, with the club's social facilities being a draw in themselves. The combination of golf, tennis, and swimming under one roof reflects the French tradition of the cercle sportif. Private, membership-based.
4. Club de Golf Valle Escondido, Santiago Region
Valle Escondido, in the hills above Santiago's eastern suburbs toward the Andes foothills, offers a course with more topographic interest than the flat urban clubs closer to the city centre. The name — 'hidden valley' — describes the property's situation in a fold of the Andean foothills, where the fairways use the natural terrain and the altitude adds visible distance to iron shots. The backdrop of the Andes is clearest here in the morning and in winter, when a coating of snow on the peaks above two thousand metres creates a dramatic setting. Private, with member introduction required.
5. Club de Golf Mapocho, Santiago
Club de Golf Mapocho sits beside the Mapocho river in the Vitacura district and provides a course that works its riverside setting into the layout in ways that create natural hazards and a sense of continuity with the natural environment. The mature trees along the river corridor give the course a sheltered character unusual in Santiago's relatively arid climate, and the conditions are maintained to the standard expected of a Vitacura address. Private.
6. Club de Polo y Equitación San Cristóbal, Santiago
The polo and equestrian club at San Cristóbal, on the northern side of the Cerro San Cristóbal hill that divides central Santiago from the northern residential suburbs, includes golf as one of its disciplines in the tradition of the Argentine-influenced estancia club model. The course is compact but uses the sloping terrain of the hill's lower flanks with some creativity, and the combination of horse culture and golf gives the club a distinctive atmosphere. Polo and golf together in a Santiago setting is, for visiting golfers, an experience with no obvious parallel in North America or Europe.
7. Centro Tiro Golf Ciudad Empresarial, Santiago
The Centro Tiro in Ciudad Empresarial provides golf in one of Santiago's newer corporate and commercial districts, north of the historic centre. The course serves the business community of the district and is accessible to non-members in ways that the traditional private clubs are not, making it an option for visiting business travellers who want a round without the social requirements of the more exclusive venues.
8. Aconcagua Par-3 Golf Club, San Felipe Region
The Aconcagua club, named for the highest peak in the Americas that rises in the Andes above the Aconcagua valley, provides a par-three course north of Santiago in terrain that introduces the mountain character of central Chile. Par-three courses are sometimes dismissed, but at altitude with the Andes providing constant scenery and the valley conditions demanding precise short-iron play, Aconcagua offers a genuinely different experience to the urban parkland courses of Santiago.
9. Club de Golf Papudo, Papudo
Papudo on the central Chilean coast north of Valparaíso is one of the few clubs in Chile that offers a coastal, rather than urban or mountain, setting. The course sits near the Pacific and the small beach resort community of Papudo, which has been a summer destination for Santiago families for generations. The sea air and coastal vegetation distinguish it from the tree-lined parkland of the capital, and a combination of a round at Papudo with time at the beach is a typically Chilean summer programme.
10. Club de Golf Marbella, Marbella Resort
The Marbella resort north of Viña del Mar in the Valparaíso region is Chile's most developed golf resort, with an eighteen-hole course that serves the resort's accommodation guests and day visitors. The course uses the coastal hillside terrain between the Andes foothills and the Pacific, with views of the ocean from the higher sections. Marbella is the accessible alternative for visiting golfers who cannot enter Santiago's private clubs, offering a complete resort experience that includes accommodation, beach facilities, and golf.
Chile's golf season runs year-round in Santiago, where the Mediterranean climate produces mild winters and warm, dry summers. The coast from Papudo to Marbella is best from October through April; summer months bring perfect playing conditions. The Andes backdrop is clearest in winter, when cold air from Patagonia clears the summer haze. Open the map to find golf courses across Chile and the rest of South America.