Costa Navarino (International Olympic Academy Golf Course)

Overview: Costa Navarino's International Olympic Academy Golf Course presents a par-72 round over 18 holes on the Navarino Hills above Navarino Bay in Messinia. José María Olazábal designed the course across rolling terrain, with the Ionian Sea, olive groves and the rugged landscape of the Peloponnese shaping the visual setting. Costa Navarino's official material gives the course a length of 6,366 metres, approximately 6,960 yards, and describes a routing that blends into the surrounding landscape rather than clearing it away. Wind, elevation changes and long views make this a very different proposition from the resort's lower coastal courses.

History: The course was developed as part of the Navarino Hills project and officially opened in spring 2022 alongside The Hills Course. It grew from a partnership between Costa Navarino, the International Olympic Academy and the Hellenic Olympic Committee, with golf used as a vehicle for education, participation and the values of Olympism. The two new courses expanded Costa Navarino to four 18-hole layouts within a compact area, placing a modern golf destination close to Ancient Olympia and the wider historical landscape of Messinia. The project also included ecological and sustainability work to protect the character of the hills.

Did You Know? This is the world's first golf course to carry the International Olympic Academy name. The partnership is more than a title: the academy, the Hellenic Olympic Committee and Costa Navarino created the course to connect golf with Olympic education and the idea of sport as part of everyday life. Its position near Ancient Olympia gives that message a particularly meaningful setting.