Sports and the Outdoors

Corfu Golf Club. It's been called golf's best-kept secret, and, indeed, Corfu Golf Club combines a superb test of a golfer's skills with an outstanding natural environment. The course, in the delightfully rural Ropa valley and surrounded by lushly wooded mountains, was designed in the 1970s by the famous Swiss-based architect Donald Harradine, who blended the natural features of the landscape with man-made hazards to create a course that can be enjoyed by all categories of golfers. Players enter on footbridges crossing the Ropa River, and walk among lakes and streams and between copses and avenues of indigenous trees. Nature lovers may spot otters, turtles, wild birds such as herons and kingfishers, and other native creatures. Back at the clubhouse, attractively built of local stone, the atmosphere is laid-back and welcoming, and the pro shop well stocked. A restaurant serves snacks and meals at reasonable prices. Ermones, Corfu, 49100. 26610/94220; www.corfugolfclub.com. €35 for 9 holes, €55 for 18 holes.