San Lorenzo - Algarve - Portugal

I have just come back from a week's golf holiday in the Algarve having played 5 golf courses during the week.We paid 80 € to play San Lorenzo following the reviews from others; but both my playing partner and I thought the course was in really bad condition. The greens were covered in sand, the course is not very picturesque compared with other courses in the area and the condition of the fairways was just not up to par.My recommendation is save your money and play at another course.

Recently returned from a week in the Algarve which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Our top two courses were here and Quinta South. San Lorenzo is just a great place to play and I would recommend to anyone. Turning up the course and facilities felt calm and quiet and after being invited to tee off early we all hit drives down the middle, and the pleasure of playing a course like this just got better. 6,7 and 8 are great holes and 15, 16, 17 and of course 18 are brilliant.

played San Lorenzo 3 times in mid March and once at Quinta South with another single figure golfer. We would come back and play San Lorenzo again every year based on the experiences this year. Yes the clubhouse and practice range is a tiny bit limited, but the golfing experience more than makes up for that with many memorable holes. We might try Quinta North next year, rather than South, as North is suposed to have recently been smartened up to a high standard, but San Lorenzo would be a must again for at least 2 rounds !6,7,8,9 are all stunning holes, but the finish of 16,17 and 18 is equally good.

Was it the wheather (mostly cloudly and very gusty wind) that diminished the pleasure of what is supposed to be one of Portugal's better courses? When I enjoy a golf course, I usually can visualize months later the holes that impressed me. Apart from the 6th alongside the river and its awesome view from the tee, I don't think I will remember San Lorenzo as a lasting golf experience. Too much a feeling of playing in a artificial surroundings. It feels like a tourists' golf but misses that little extra of a true championship course.The greens were rather slow.Overall maintenance is certainly excellent. Club house looks like a worn swiss chalet. Not very pleasant. If you want to score, a reconnaissance game is required for some holes (6, 8, 18).A greenfee of 126€ was limit but acceptable.

This is a beautiful course laid out alongside the picturesque Ria Formosa estuary. Well bunkered throughout, this undulating layout winds its way through and around the many umbrella pines. Although the majority of the Bermuda fairways are tree lined, water hazards dramatically come into play on a handful of holes on each of the two nines. My personal favourites on the front 9 would be the 6th and 7th which both border the nature reserve. Not only are they visually superb but great fun to play. The excellent par-5 8th bordering a large lake follows and after an uphill tee shot on the 9th you are left with one of the best approach shots of the round. The back 9 is not quite as strong visually but still has much to offer, the pick of the holes possibly being the last three. The long par-3 16th with its well protected raised green is particularly tough and both the 17th and 18th have water to contend with from tee to green. The 18th also has one of the most demanding 2nd shots of the round over water to a well defended small green. The off course experience and course conditioning may well be a little bit behind the standard set by Montei Rei but San Lorenzo is still one of the best courses in Portugal. Brian W

Was expecting much much more. Has some nice holes along the shoreline but to be honest I was a little disappointed given the very steep green fee. Enjoyed Palmares much more.

This is definitely a very good course to play which is well worth playing if in the area.The course has a great variety of holes on it. The front nine leads to a fantastic run of holes on the lagoon which really do require testing shots to keep out of the water. Knowing your carry lengths for mid irons is really important to score around here. Water comes into play a lot, as well as carries over deep and punishing bunkers.While the back 9 is less dramatic than the front the holes have a good range of challenges and are a pleasure to play. It would be fair to say though that maybe the front 9 spoils you a little as the quality decreases from the 10th. The 18th is a strong finishing hole though which requires a carry over water for a tee shot before being faced with another carry over water for the approach to the green. It's a classic risk and reward hole - the further up to the hole you go the shorter the club you will have in - play safe off the tee an face a daunting carry for the approach.A few points regarding the set-up in the club. The greens were tined and top-dressed when we played but they did it in a really intelligent way. They were effectively split in half, top-to-bottom and one half was dressed and the other running as usual, the pins all on the 'good' half - great idea.Two watch-outs. The insects were out by the lagoon for our afternoon round and they were biting ferociously, some repellent would have been a good idea. Also, they are hell-bent on monetising their visitors to the max and may have gone a little too far in my opinion. Green fees are steep at 170 Euros but you know about that before turning up so fair play. However, a sleeve of three Pro V1s came in at 22 Euros! Water was in small bottles at 4 or 5 Euros a go, at Vilamoura Old we had 2L bottles for less!Anyway, the golf was really good. OK, it's not in your top, top drawer of European courses - it's too 'resort' in setup for that - but it's great fun to play. Just watch out you don't get stung by the mossies or the pro shop!

Totally agree with the previous reviewers who question the customer "service" at San Lorenzo. Our party of eight played here in January and, having agreed a price of 120 Euros per person some time before our trip, found a far cheaper offer online for the day of our visit. We asked for the deal to be matched and were greeted with a surly attitude - unhelpful in the extreme. We eventually accepted buggies at no extra charge and set off for the practice area which, to be blunt, is woefully inadequate for a course which ranks itself right up there with the best in Europe. About ten grass bays and the tiniest putting green I have seen. Having warmed up, we made our way to the tee and the starter didn't even bother emerging from his hut - we were given no information regarding pin positions, yardages etc. The course itself has some memorable holes, especially those down on the coast, but I'm afraid by the time we actually played it the damage had been done. And things got no better when we got back to the clubhouse - no caddy staff to help unload the buggies, and when we walked through the otherwise empty shop to get to the bar the shop staff never even raised a smile. Sorry, but for 120 Euros I expect far better - the staff could do with spending a day over at Monte Rei, where they can see how it should be done.

There are some parts of the San Lorenzo course that are similar to many of the other established Vilamoura courses but overall this has the edge on most of them. The main reason is that there are five absolute stand-out holes that all deserve a special mention… The 6th is one of the best par-4’s in the area, an elevated tee with fairway, the estuary, sand dunes and then the Atlantic all in view - the fairway turns left at landing point and a small green awaits. The 7th like the previous hole has the marsh-land to contend with on the right and at high-tide the hole looks stunning. Completing this great runs of holes is the 8th, which is my choice of best hole on the course; here we have a par-5 that winds snake-like along the lagoon and has strategy written all over it; four bunkers on the left at landing point, two more also on the left for the lay-up and so much water down the right-side – brilliant design. The final two holes to describe come right at the end of the round…. The 17th is a par-4 with a lagoon running the full length of the hole on the left and although there is plenty of fairway, watch out for yet another clever design, this time there are two bunkers that are banked on the right-side slope, which would be the ideal place to attack the green. The last hole will stick in the memory for a while; a really tough par-4 with more of the lagoon down the left but unlike the 17th the approach to the green is at a semi-target green, heavily bunkered and to be honest just very tough but so much fun. The Algarve is one of the great golf destinations as most know, if you have San Lorenzo on the play list you will be happy – might need a few extra balls though as the estuary and the lagoon seem to be attracted to them!

I played here 36 holes last week and thoroughly enjoyed the test. You have to use every club in the bag, make strategic decisions to negotiate the course and you are presented with probably the most varied scenery on the Algarve. After quite a gentle and enjoyable winding start you reach the epic views and no bail out holes alongside the Rio Formosa. The breeze becomes a wind, the pulse quickens, the grip tightens and the emphasis of the test changes entirely. What stands out here is the quality of the layout and the proximity of the bird life as you play around the course which fringes the Rio Formosa on a good few holes. We found it to be in very good condition and a very good varied test thoroughly deserving of a high ranking. For me it is better than the Oceanico Old course Vilamoura and the service is better too. JCB Lay