Quinta da Ria (Ria)

Decisions, decisions! Is it a 6 or 7 iron? Will the putt break left or right? Do we take on the water or play safe? When arriving at Faro on the Portuguese Algarve, do we drive east or west from the airport? West will take you, along with the vast majority of other golfers, to the well known and impressive courses of Quinta do Lago, Vale de Lobo, Vilamoura and onwards towards the famous Penina. Next time you land, why not point your hire car in the opposite direction and experience the golfing delights that can be found in the Eastern Algarve especially at the excellent Quinta da Ria Golf Club.

Stretching from Faro along the coast towards the border with Spain, the unspoilt natural woodlands and wetlands form a major part of the Ria Formosa Nature Reserve. Beautiful, rugged and wild, the protected land, known locally as "Sotarento", provides Quinta da Ria and its sister course Quinta da Cima with a wonderful haven away from commercialisation and a promise of no villa-lined fairways and years of noisy building sites.

Opening for play in 2002, the Quinta da Ria course was designed by the well known architect Rocky Roquemore, and is a traditional par 72 layout measuring 6,016 metres from the back tees. Quinta da Ria is a fairly flat, parkland course where there’s usually a challenging breeze with which to cope. As with other Roquemore courses, such as Quinta do Brincal on the Lisbon coast, Quinta da Ria is designed to provide a good challenge for all standards of golfer. Wide landing areas have been created to receive well-struck shots, but trouble aplenty awaits any ill-advised or poorly executed ones. Five strategically placed lakes, numerous bunkers and carob and olive trees add to the challenge of reaching the greens in regulation. Once on the short stuff, the golfer will be faced with large, fast greens with many subtle borrows and undulations.

Quinta da Ria is a good course with some excellent, well-designed and tough holes; special mention should go to holes 5, 10, 13 and 16. The 5th is a cracking par three that has two different teeing areas, both require a good shot over a lake to a shallow green well guarded by bunkers. The par four 10th is a killer hole. Measuring 422 metres from the back tees, with out-of-bounds all down the left side and a large lake guarding the green from 100 metres out. This hole will require your best drive and then a long second over the lake. A par will be worth celebrating.

The par three 13th measures 188 metres from the back tee that runs parallel with the Ria Formosa. This is a tough one-shotter into the prevailing wind, with bunkering almost completely encircling the green that measures a measly 22 metres wide. The par five 16th is a potential card-wrecker with a fairway that doglegs right and then left between two large lakes to a green that is tucked closely behind the second lake. Be sensible off the tee, avoiding the water and you may walk off with a par. Try too much with either tee or approach shots and a watery grave awaits.

Quinta da Ria is an excellent new course set in an unspoilt and quieter part of the Algarve and we thoroughly recommend the trip east.