“T

here’s an awful lot of coffee in Brazil”. In fact there’s an awful lot of almost everything in Brazil, including bauxite, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, phosphates, platinum, tin, uranium, petroleum, hydropower, timber and 200 million people.

Golf in Brazil

Riches it possesses, beyond the imagination – but little money. They don’t do things by halves in Brazil. There is fabulous Rio de Janeiro, its carnival, its Copa Cabana and Ipanema beaches and its Sugar Loaf Mountain. There are limitless, primordial rainforests of the Amazon basin, a reasonably new futuristic capital city (Brasilia) in the middle of nowhere; empty deserts, lush savannas and wild highlands.

Following three centuries under the rule of Portugal, Brazil became an independent nation in 1822 and a Republic in 1889.  This largest and most populous country in South America overcame more than half a century of military intervention of the government of the country when in 1985 the military regime peacefully ceded power to civilian rulers.

A view of Rio de Janeira, photo by Josh Hewitt

Surviving, struggling and somehow managing to thrive a gain despite all, is a fun loving, football crazy, car mad population of staggering ethnic complexity and every known complexion. The soccer stadiums hold four million fans – all at once – and Brazil has won more than its fair share of the soccer World Cup and bred two motor racing world champions.

Distances are vast in this enormous land – 4320 km from north to south and a little more from east to west it is the 5th largest country in the world covering nearly half of South America.

The Hotel do Frade course

One of the fastest growing sectors in Brazil is tourism. In 2005 they catered for approximately 5.5 million visitors, placing them as the fourth largest tourism destination in the American continent. Of these approximately one million were from Argentina, 800.000 from the United States and nearly 400.000 from Portugal. The money they left behind confirmed tourism an important economic field for Brazil that generated nearly 700.000 new jobs.

In the past few years to cope with demand by locals and visiting golfers many new golf courses have been built. At present Brazil has 107 golf courses and another thirty are now under construction nationwide, especially along Brazil’s exquisite coastline. Golf courses can now be found in twelve Brazilian states. In its capital, just ten minutes from the city centre, the Brasilia Golf Club boasts a beautiful lakeside course designed by Robert Trent Jones. Its growth has been startling in the past five years – although still modest compared with the United States and Europe, about 25.000 Brazilians play golf on a regular basis – a big increase from just six thousand in 2000. Among its new golf course projects is one financed by Donald Trump and designed by Jack Nicklaus.

Bird's eye view of Comandatuba in the Bahia region

Brazil has 30% more golf courses, 40% more driving ranges and three times the number of golf stores it had five years ago. The Brazilian Golf Federation has even created a Brazilian Golf Tourism Bureau to promote the country as an international golf destination. Its members consist of golf courses, hotels, tour operators, and airlines.

Golf has captivated soccer world cup winners Ronaldo and Kaka, formula one driver Rubens Barrichello and three times French Open tennis champion Gustavo Kuerten. They are among a growing core of celebrities frequently shown chipping and putting on courses across Brazil. A speaker for the Brazilian Tourist Board said: “This has been crucial for the growth of golf in Brazil. When people see their idols playing golf they begin to get interested in the game too”.

The dramatic Terravista course, Bahia

Sao Paulo - the heart of industrial, commercial and entrepreneurial Brazil - is also the main reference for Brazilian golf. Sao Paulo has more golf clubs and players than the rest of Brazil put together.

So, if you are planning a holiday or business trip to Sao Paulo, there are plenty of courses waiting and many reputed hotels with access to arranging tee times.

But, just because Sao Paulo is prominent in the Brazilian golf panorama doesn’t mean that there aren’t many other places to play, including in the middle of the Amazon basin.

Vista Verde

If you are interested in Brazil’s immense rainforests, think of going to Manaus, an unexpected city, born from industrial dreams, but more and more, a major hub to the surrounding rainforest. Once there, besides local cruises on the river and visits to the ecological parks, the exploration of forest treks, or visits to the «caboclos» settlements – and you’ve guessed it, there is also an opportunity to play golf.

Another major travel attraction in Brazil where a golf course is also to be found is Iguassu, in the mid south, near the frontier with Argentina and Paraguay. Iguassu boasts the world’s biggest waterfalls, a natural phenomenon far beyond Niagara Falls. The local Bourbon Iguassu Golf Resort hotel has an excellent golf course.

Iguassu Falls, photo by Josh Hewitt

A visitor from Oslo, Norway summed up his golfing experience in Iguassu: “I shot a drive from Brazil. The ball crossed Argentina and landed in Paraguay. Scene: where the mighty rivers Iguassu and Parana meet; in borderland of the three South American countries. Not far away from this border triangle lies an excellent jungle course, where the jaguar's roar can be heard and many a strange bird can be seen. Iguassu Golf & Resort is a very good choice indeed, with is superb restaurant, strongly needed after a 6600 meter (7128 yards) round from championship tees. This area is most famed for its waterfalls, maybe the most spectacular 275 thundering cascades in the world. The area (state) called Missiones was made famous through the prize winning movie "The Mission" and through Graham Greene's novel "The Honorary Consul". If going to see the waterfalls, take your clubs.”

The Porto Alegre course

Rio de Janeiro also has several top courses not far from its southern beaches, and a few minutes away from Copacabana or Ipanema.

Also in the Rio de Janeiro region, you can find golf courses in Buzios – the Saint Tropez of Brazil –, and, in the opposite direction, in Angra dos Reis, a luxury resort, with majestic greens, connected to a top local hotel: Hotel do Frade Golf and Resort. These places are both about an hour’s drive from Rio.

Carnaval in Brazil