Portugal Tees It Up
Though they share the Iberian Peninsula and some of the finest weather in the world, the golf identities of Spain and Portugal were worlds apart for more than a century. But a softened political climate, the construction of a series of top-tier golf attractions and a general awakening to the country’s many charms has made Portugal a bucket-list stop for golfers.
Spain has long embraced golf. The Brits established the game with Spain’s oldest course, Real Club de Golf de Las Palmas in Gran Canaria in 1891 and the count has since grown to more than 400 courses today. The country has produced hall of fame names–Rahm, Ballesteros, Sergio e.g.–and hosted notable events.
But the sport didn’t find a real home in Portugal until about 50 years ago. The handful of courses, dating to the late 1890s, were humble. Then four decades of fascist rule, from the 1930s, painted golf as a foreign sport. After the revolution of 1974, a more open culture made up for lost time and more than 90 golf courses now operate there (with more coming).
Developers and designers constructed a series of elite golf attractions along the sun-drenched coastlines just south of Lisbon, down through the Portuguese Algarve through Faro. With the majority open to the public or operating as semiprivate, travelers can navigate the consistent climate from course to course and never play at a disappointing destination.
Starting at the northern reaches of this seaside run, arrival into Lisbon sets a player up for an 80-mile drive to the peninsula of Sol Tróia and the course that carries that moniker. Founded in 1980, oceanside Troia Golf bears all the earmarks of classic European continental golf. The challenging layout includes tight lies, sandy terrain, rugged tree lines and greens that are both soft on impact and quick for putts.
Troia shares genetics with many courses across the Iberian breadth as the brainchild of Robert Trent Jones—be he junior or senior. The RTJ Society reports, between the design icon and his successful son, Robert Trent Jones Jr., no fewer than 10 courses there bear an RTJ signature, including historic Spanish spots such as Valderrama and Sotogrande.
Jones Jr. reports that he often served as a translator for his father during their work in Spain. “I speak Spanish, so my father took me with Joe McMicking, the founder of Sotogrande, as I could interpret for him in the Gibraltar area in the 1960s,” Jones Jr. says. “I watched (my father) do magic at Sotogrande and elsewhere on the first golf courses away from the major Spanish cities.”
Now a legendary designer himself, Jones Jr. credits the region’s often perfect conditions and relative proximity to the east coast of the United States for driving the growing golf scene in Spain and Portugal. “It’s an easy destination and perfect as a second-home venue for the New York and Florida business people,” he says. “This golf gold rush is driven by the warm, California-like, Mediterranean climate. We’ll continue our work there for years to come.”
Early this year, Troia closed for renovation under the guidance of Jones Jr., a project that should last the year. However, hole No. 3, a par 4, will endure as it sits on Jones Sr.’s list of the favorite 18 holes of his design career. The 399-yard layout climbs up a gentle rise between bristles of trees to an undulating green revealing the course’s first uninterrupted view of the sea. In classic Euro golf fashion, if a golfer comes up short with an approach shot on No. 3, it’s best to leave the wedge in the bag in favor of a long putt or a bump and run on the firm, sandy seaside turf.
Packing up the clubs and beginning the journey southeast past Lagos to the Portuguese resort hubs in the Algarve, the sprawling development of Palmares Ocean Living and Golf offers three nine-hole courses for a mix-and-match round. Overlooking the Atlantic and the beach-lined Ribeira de Odiáxere, the highlight of Palmares—the Praia—is unique in the Portuguese golf realm. Another Robert Trent Jones Jr. design, it makes up the final nine holes of the set and is the region’s (and Jones Jr.’s) only links-style run with its very few trees, rolling hills and challenging bunkers. Of course, there are Scottish players who would scoff at the idea of playing links golf in a climate as fine as what the Algarve promises, but no designer can control the weather.
When the rare thunderstorm passes through (the region only sees rain about 30 days per year), delayed golf rounds offer a chance to enjoy the modern accommodations and refined cuisine in the clubhouse restaurant, the Michelin-starred Al Sud.
Eighty miles east, Monte Rei Golf and Country Club offers the classic vibes of a traditional country club with an elegant lounge, wood and leather-lined locker rooms and a well-equipped, formal clubhouse. But the real highlight in store is the Jack Nicklaus Signature 18 holes and its majestic routing.
Throughout his design career, Nicklaus never shied away from dramatic altitude changes and always respected the natural terrain of whatever stretch of land an assignment offered to him and his design team. Monte Rei’s real estate stretches throughout the Serra de Monchique foothills, and multiple holes set the tee box hundreds of feet above the fairway and green—offering a photo opportunity as rich as the playing experience.
The accommodations at Monte Rei vary between villas, suites and seasonal residences for buy-in members. Their spacious design mirrors Palmares in European modern white and stand equipped with complete kitchens.
From Monte Rei, it’s about 60 miles to the town serving as the heart of the Algarve, Vilamoura. Surrounding a bustling marina with its shops, restaurants and year-round yacht berths, this corner of Portugal’s Golden Triangle collects an impressive variety of golf courses, resorts and major brand hotels. That concentration of venues makes Vilamoura an effective all-purpose home base for exploring golf throughout the Algarve.
Some sleuthing into accommodations points to two prime suspects for golf travelers. European visitors gather at the Hilton Vilamoura As Cascatas Golf Resort and Spa. A heavy concentration of tourists from the United Kingdom, Germany, Scandinavia and other spots in Western Europe fill the lobby with a U.N.-worthy symphony of languages. Alongside the Hilton’s more than 170 rooms and suites, guests can access the 7 Seven Spa with its Turkish bath—a find that would be rare in the United States.
American golf tourists assemble in well-mannered herds at the sprawling Domes Lake Algarve, Autograph Collection. Set on 60 acres of waterside gardens, the Domes offerings hold more than 190 rooms, including long-term rental apartments for golfers looking for months-long seasonal stays. Both the Domes and Hilton properties enjoy central locations in the heart of Vilamoura to serve as proper home bases to access the five courses sprinkled throughout the region.
The crown jewel of the Algarve is the Dom Pedro Old Course at Vilamoura, less than a 10-minute ride from either the Domes or Hilton. The 57-year-young Old Course, which was designed by Frank Pennink, might not have the track record of its similarly named relative in St Andrews, Scotland, but one has to give Portugal a little time to build its golf history.
The Old Course kicks off with one of the stateliest opening holes in golf. From the elevated tee, the player looks down a gentle slope lined with stone and maritime pines spaced out like a long series of Roman pillars. The first shot demands a focused drive as those trees and their dislodged pine straw mean trouble for an otherwise manageable second shot to a small green. Jones knew drama and how to use a landscape, which No. 1 at the Old Course demonstrates with ease.
Ricardo Lopes, golf director at the Old Course, sees the property as an important building block in a country eager to build a golf community that welcomes new generations of players.
“There’s a belief in the golf industry of Portugal that the country right now has only about 15,000 serious players,” Lopes says. “That’s out of a population of about 10 million people. So, there’s not only room to grow the game here, but there’s a real need to do it. We’re always eager to welcome the foreign player to Portuguese golf, but growing the game within the country would provide [Portugal] with a steady base of players regardless of whether or not it’s high season.”
Lopes insists he’s seeing signs of some outstanding young golfers developing at the country’s training centers. In the vicinity of Vilamoura stands the single largest golf development in the Algarve. Quinta do Lago feels like its own golf-centric city. Housing communities, condos, restaurants and shopping malls settle in around three championship-length courses. The South hosted the former Portuguese Open. Golf Architect Paul McGinley finished up a redesign on the park-style North. Finally, the Laranjal is the most naturally scenic as it winds along orange groves and water features.
Regardless of the course or the hour, wise players get to their Quinta do Lago tee time early so as to hit that first driver dead on the dot. Turning out foursomes every eight to 10 minutes to keep things flowing on the 54 collective holes can result in the occasional traffic jam between tee boxes and a terse kick up the cart’s backside by El Marshal.
A quiet alternative to Quinta do Lago is the resort course at Pine Cliffs. Nearer to Faro and its airport, the resort is home to a quiet, walkable nine holes with a more casual tee-time system. If caught on the right day, a resort guest can practically walk onto the course at will. The Martin Hawtree design is a compact, executive design with no par-5 holes and occasional sea views.
The most exclusive (and the newest) golf facility near Vilamoura is The Els Club. The course, founded and designed by its namesake Ernie Els, opened to its first 100 founding members (50 men and 50 women) in 2025. Following in the tradition of the other Els establishments in Dubai, Malaysia and his native South Africa, the Vilamoura version will remain exclusively private.
Lopes and his fellow Vilamoura golf professionals eagerly await the Els Club’s hosting of the region’s first PGA Champions Tour event, the Portugal Invitational, at the end of July 2026.
“We see the stories of antitourism protests in Barcelona and Madrid,” he says. “If Spain doesn’t want a golf traveler’s money, we welcome it here. The Champions Tour event should do a lot to put eyes on golf in this country.”
The semiprivate La Reserva Club Sotogrande is a modest drive from the main resort. Its members get the first shot at tee times, but hotel guests are welcome to play with the remaining schedule. Designed by Cabell B. Robinson, the course winds its way around the luxury residential development that shares its name. However, unlike those golf runs that exist to sell homes, La Reserva never has the feel of playing in somebody’s backyard.
La Reserva plays like a true resort course—18 holes for pleasure in place of cold-hearted challenge of a golfer’s skill. The fairways are generally wide and welcoming with bowled edges to offer friendly rolls back into play for errant tee shots. The greens remain challenging to make sure the player still earns those pars and bogies.
When choosing a time to tour the Golden Triangle and the Algarve, there’s a tradeoff involved. High seasons are spring and early autumn. The weather is reliably warm and dry without the heavier temperatures encountered in high summer. However, the courses are at peak occupancy with full foursomes rolling out every 10 to 12 minutes, depending on the venue. The year’s busiest part also sees supply and demand push the hotel rates and golf packages a tick or two higher. Still, everything from the restaurants to all hotel amenities are open and running at full speed.
However, visiting from November into the New Year means the golf courses are open, far less busy and more flexible for tee- time scheduling. Accommodations are more affordable because hotel management is eager to fill rooms left empty by European clients who stay home for Christmas. But those guests enjoying a cheaper per-night rate may find some restaurants and hotel offerings closed for the slow season.
The winter weather could mean occasional rain, but temperatures rarely dip lower than mid-50s. With a smile from Mother Nature, golfers can find themselves playing in December sunshine on a wide-open course designed by the legends of the business.
