Glorious Golf & More

The Spectacular Algarve Coast Line

Monte Rei 9th Hole

Oceanico Faldo 18th Hole / ©Aidan Bradley

Qunita do Lago South

Vilamoura Old 5th Hole / ©Aidan Bradley

Penina Championship Course

Spend a week on The Algarve; Portugal’s Southerly coast and home to many of the superb, sunny golf courses which have gained Portugal such an enviable golfing reputation. Make sure to take a few relaxing half days or so on one of the numerous, picture-postcard beaches.

Itinerary

Day 1
Arrive Portugal
Spend 6 nights i the sunny Algarve

Day 2
Play Monte Rei Course
Sitting on a thousand acre estate of stunning Algarvean countryside, Monte Rei is an eye-dazzler to behold. There are spectacular mountain views and sea-scapes to take your breath away and a course that will beguile with its handsome good looks, but still demand you prove your worth with golfing skills that extend way beyond the average, especially when approached from the back tees. This Jack Nicklaus design opened in 2007 and in true Nicklaus style, is void of any trickery, taking a, what you see is what your get, approach. Plenty of tee positions bring this layout within the playing abilities of most, providing the appropriate tees are used.

Day 3
Play Faldo Course (Amendoeira)
The Faldo Course occupies the hillier portion of the Amendoeira estate, with a somewhat arid landscape and rocky outcroppings interspersed with a variety of water hazards coming in the form of lakes, ponds and meandering streams. There are serious elevation changes, complicated by the sea breezes wafting in from the Atlantic. The elevated greens are fed by some wildly sloping fairways, always filled with a sea of undulations to be wary of. Nick Faldo has come up with a masterly layout that is quite spectacular and demands strategy from start to finish.

Day 4
Play Quinta do Lago South
There are three separate championship courses at Quinta do Lago, The most famous being the South Course that has the distinction of having hosted the European Tour’s, Portuguese Open, on no less than 8 occasions. Gaining the reputation of being one of the foremost courses in Europe, it remains to this day, one of the flagship European Tour courses. Designed by American, William Mitchell in 1974 the South is the longest of the Quinta do Lago layouts, providing the big hitters with a definite advantage on the five par 5 holes. It’s championship status does not deter the amateur player and while the 8th, 15th and 18th are testing holes for even scratch and low handicap players, the course provides interest and challenge to all abilities.

Day 5
Play Vilamoura Old Course
The longest established and arguably the best of the Vilamoura courses, Vilamoura Old was designed around a low pine-encrusted hill. The holes, cut through tall ranks of pine, rise and plunge around this undulating site, putting a premium on accuracy off the tee. Few match par on this excellent championship layout. Most players agree that the key holes are the four par 3′s, each a subtle test of carry and accuracy, very different and potentially punishing.

Day 6
Play Penina Championship Course
This championship course, The Algarve’s first, was designed by three time British Open champion, Sir Henry Cotton in 1966 and has been highly rated by the golfing fraternity ever since. Essentially flat, it requires substantial, but accurate tee shots from the good player to equal par, with its range of ditches, water hazards and sand, all strategically positioned. The elevated greens, always kept in excellent condition, hold very well with true surfaces that encourage aggressive play.

Day 7
Depart Portugal