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Algarve

An incredible total of forty-two 9-hole or 18-hole layouts can be played at twenty-five different golf clubs within the Algarve zone of the Federação Portuguesa de Golfe and more than half the courses strung out along this 100-mile southern-facing coast feature in our Portuguese ranking list of top courses in the country. The North and South courses at Quinta do Lago have recently benefitted from substantial upgrade investment and they're both ably supported by the nearby Laranjal layout which has its own separate clubhouse. The Old, Victoria and Pinhal courses at Vilamoura also feature in our national listings, while the Laguna course closed in 2021 to undergo a complete renovation of every hole from tee to green. The Millennium course also operates from the same clubhouse as the Laguna. Other courses meriting closer examination include the Jack Nicklaus signature design at Monte Rei (North) and Joe Lee's late 1980s layout at San Lorenzo. Further west along the coast, the Praia and Lagos nines at Palmares appear prominently in our listings, as do the eighteen holes from the Amendoeira (Faldo) layout.

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  1. Set in the picturesque foothills of the Eastern Algarve, with sweeping views of the Serra do Caldeirão mountains to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.

  2. Palmares is billed as the golfing “jewel in the crown of the Algarve” and it’s certainly an eclectic golf course, which originally opened in 1975, with distinct flavours.

  3. Quinta do Lago (South)

    Algarve, Portugal

    American architect William Mitchell raised the bar in terms of golf course architecture here at Quinta do Lago by importing American standard greens, tees and bunkers. In May 2020 the South course closed for major renovation work which took more than a year to complete.

  4. Dom Pedro Old is the original and eldest course at Vilamoura but it's also the best. Grand, pine-lined, strategic and in tune with Mother Nature.

  5. San Lorenzo Golf Course

    Algarve, Portugal

    San Lorenzo is a classy golf course, routed in a figure of eight on sandy undulating terrain​ alongside the Atlantic, with fairways bordered by umbrella pines and the marshland bird sanctuary of the Ria Formosa.

  6. Quinta do Lago (Laranjal)

    Algarve, Portugal

    The Laranjal course is the new kid on the block at Quinta do Lago and the reputation of their third course already is growing.

  7. Quinta do Lago (North)

    Algarve, Portugal

    The South course at Quinta do Lago is the layout that most avid golfers rush to play, but the North course, formerly called the Ria Formosa, named after the Nature Reserve, is definitely worth savouring.

  8. Amendoeira (Faldo)

    Algarve, Portugal

    Faldo’s course at Amendoeira calls for golfers to play strategically, avoiding the desert scrub bunkers, rocky outcrops, wandering water hazards and olive trees that lurk in wait for errant shots.

  9. Dom Pedro (Victoria)

    Algarve, Portugal

    After an investment of €18m in 2004, the fifth golf course at Dom Pedro opened for play. Arnold Palmer designed the Victoria and it’s a big layout that was built with tournament play in mind.

  10. Vale do Lobo is one of the Algarve’s most senior golf resorts, founded in 1969 and it is currently the largest luxury resort in Portugal. The Royal course mixes nine of Henry Cotton's original holes with nine fashioned by Rocky Roquemore in the 1990s.

  11. The Quinta de Cima course has been designed with tournament play in mind and its inbuilt degree of difficulty is meant to attract the more accomplished amateur as well as the professional golfer...

  12. The Ocean course at Vale do Lobo is perhaps the understudy to the Royal layout, but nevertheless it’s a solid sandy course and it stands up on its own two feet.

  13. Quinta da Ria

    Algarve, Portugal

    Opening for play in 2002, the Quinta da Ria golf course was designed by architect Rocky Roquemore, and it's a traditional par 72 layout measuring 6,016 metres from the back tees.

  14. Morgado Golf Course

    Algarve, Portugal

    Golfe do Morgado is one of the newer courses to be laid out in the Algarve and it’s also one of the region's tougher layouts.

  15. Espiche Golf

    Algarve, Portugal

    Designed by South African architect Peter Sauerman, the course at Espiche Golf Club is set in an Ecological Reserve, where the landscape has been left as undisturbed as possible.

  16. The future is bright for the Christy O'Connor Jnr. course at the Amendoeira Resort, which opened in October 2008, in fact, the architect “wanted one hole where it was just oranges”…

  17. Penina was built on land that was originally used for growing rice and it was the Algarve's first golf course which was fashioned by Sir Henry Cotton.

  18. Vale da Pinta

    Algarve, Portugal

    The Vale da Pinta golf course, set in the Pestana Golf Resort near Carvoeiro in the Western Algarve, is a course that accepts the ‘quality’ label with ease.

  19. Donald Steel created the course at the Vila Sol Golf Resort without the need for excessive contouring or the creation of unnatural hazards.

  20. The original layout at the Pinheiros Altos Golf Resort consisted of the Pines and Olives nines but the addition of the 9-hole Corks circuit in 2007 ousted the Pines from fashioning half the leading eighteen holes at this 27-hole facility.