Lighthouse Golf Course

Lighthouse Golf Course is the 18-hole course of the Lighthouse Golf & Spa Resort, set on the clifftops of Bulgaria’s northern Black Sea coast a few kilometres from the seaside town of Balchik. It was designed by Ian Woosnam, the former Ryder Cup captain, and is part of the Cape Kaliakra golf coast, a cluster of three courses within a few minutes of one another.

The layout mixes sea views with strategic fairway bunkering, so it offers plenty for good players without overwhelming holiday golfers. The hole-by-hole card adds up to par 71, with four par 5s and five par 3s, and the longest hole, the par-5 16th, measures 519 metres from the Black tees. Four tee colours (Black, Yellow, Blue and Red) let you choose how long the course plays. The club’s headline figures on the same page quote par 70 and 6,536 metres, so check the scorecard on the day.

Practice facilities are extensive. The academy runs a 300-metre driving range with 24 bays, distance markers and 8 covered bays, plus a short-game area, putting green and bunker practice zone, and PGA professionals give lessons in several languages. The 200-square-metre pro shop stocks clothing, clubs and accessories, and the clubhouse houses the 19th Hole Bar & Grill with a patio overlooking the course.

The five-star hotel beside the course adds indoor and outdoor pools, a spa, several restaurants and bars, tennis courts and a free summer shuttle to the beach, which makes Lighthouse a common base for golf trips that also take in nearby BlackSeaRama and Thracian Cliffs.

The resort has been welcoming guests since 2008. In 2018 the course hosted a European Tour senior event, and it has won Bulgaria’s Best Golf Course title from the World Golf Awards several times, while the hotel has repeatedly been named the country’s best golf hotel.