The Dunes Course at Costa Navarino: Greek Golf Beside the Ionian Sea
Greece’s first signature-designed golf course moves between coastal links-style holes, olive groves and the winding Sellas River. Bernhard Langer’s design gives the landscape a central role in the strategy.
The Dunes Course is the first signature-designed golf course in Greece, but its identity is broader than a seaside setting. Designed by Bernhard Langer in association with European Golf Design, it follows a varied piece of Messinian landscape where the Ionian Sea, the Sellas River and groves of olive and citrus trees shape the route. The course changes character as it moves inland, creating a round that feels connected to the local environment rather than imposed upon it.
From the Ionian shoreline to olive and citrus groves
The course opened in May 2010 beside The Romanos and The Westin resort properties at Navarino Dunes. The seaside holes incorporate links-style features, while the inland sections move through olive and fruit groves. The Sellas River meanders through parts of the site, bringing water into the landscape in a way that feels natural to the setting.
Langer and European Golf Design used wide fairways and large, undulating greens to make the course accessible from different teeing positions, while steep-faced pot bunkers and the surrounding landforms provide definition and strategic pressure. The distant mountains are reflected in the shapes of the terrain, so the course’s architecture and landscape remain closely connected.
Wide targets, tiered greens and a changing coastal wind
The Dunes Course plays to par 71 and measures 6,581 yards from the back tees. Multiple teeing options allow players to choose a length suited to their game, but the course still asks for precise approaches. Large greens are often tiered or strongly contoured, so finding the putting surface is only part of the task; leaving the ball on the correct level can make the next putt much more manageable.
The first hole introduces the course’s risk-and-reward character: a visible water hazard sits to the left, while the fairway bunkers shape the preferred line. The par-five seventh climbs into the prevailing wind and becomes more demanding as the player approaches the green. Near the coast, wind and links-style ground movement change the flight and run of the ball; further inland, the olive groves bring a softer, more sheltered setting.
One course within a broader coastal golf landscape
Navarino Dunes is one of several distinct golf areas within Costa Navarino. The Dunes Course is the original signature layout, while The Bay, The Hills and the International Olympic Academy Golf Course offer different landscapes and playing experiences elsewhere in the destination.
That variety makes The Dunes a natural starting point for a golf trip to Messinia, but it also has a clear identity of its own: a championship course that moves from the sea to river and orchard, using the natural contours of the Peloponnese as part of the game.
