Five Incredible Golf Courses for Passionate Golfers

As we begin to emerge and many courses across begin to reopen, we detail a set of exceptional courses in Portugal for passionate golfers.

Here are the TOP five that any golf enthusiast will covet, by Golf Concept.

1st Oitavos Dunes, Cascais

Where Blue Meets Green Meets Yellow

Situated on the beautiful vila of Cascais, Oitavos Dunes rolls out an Arthur Hills design that peers down at the Atlantic Ocean at every turn and traverses three distinct landscapes, from dense stands of umbrella pines to sprawling, scrub-covered dunes to open, coastal transition areas bracketed by vegetation and buffeted by sea breezes.

20 minutes west of Lisbon, Oitavos Dunes and The Oitavos Hotel are situated in the pretty coastal town of Cascais, alongside Sintra’s Mountain and Europe’s most westerly point, Cabo da Roca.

Oitavos Dunes is the only Portuguese Golf Course in the prestigious Golf Magazine’s Top 100 Golf Courses in the World.

2nd Vidago Palace, Vidago

A palace with centuries of tradition and a challenge for even the most experienced!

On the north of Portugal, we find the most amazing golf course.

The award-winning Vidago Palace Hotel Golf Course was redesigned by the firm Cameron & Powell from an original by Mackenzie Ross built in 1936. The course has now been rebuilt from scratch to meet USGA specifications for greens and tees and has been transformed into a par 72 course, making it a potential venue for international championships, while maintaining the identity of the original design and faithfully reflecting the beauty, the qualities unique to this sport, the spirit and the distinctive flavour of the location.

The main features of the Vidago Palace Hotel Golf Course include raised tees and greens, and bunkers and greens strategically sited so that perfect vision is called for to judge differences in elevation. As a result, the Vidago Palace Hotel golf course will challenge and delight even the most experienced player.

3rd Monte Rei

The Algarve’s premier exclusive golf and country club

A truly unique design: with water coming into play on eleven of the eighteen holes, Monte Rei golf course features an enjoyable series of eight par-4s, five par-3s and five par-5s in a challenging and distinctive layout. Monte Rei golf course presentation is highly individual, each hole a design gem blending effortlessly into this natural canvas, from its ingenious shape and sculptured bunkers to the impressive presentation and attention to detail making every golf hole as remarkable as the next.

In addition to the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course, consistently rated number one in Portugal, and a magnificent clubhouse Monte Rei also offers state of the art luxury accommodation to suit all tastes.

4th Troia Golf

An Engaging and Challenging Course

Opened in 1980 and designed by the North American golf architect Robert Trent Jones Senior, TROIA GOLF was recently rated by The Golf World magazine has the 17th top golf course in Continental Europe and is listed under the 2017 “Top 100 Golf Resorts in Continental Europe”.

There are some special details. Two holes worth mentioning in particular – no. 3 and no. 18: Hole 3, a par 4 that fits perfectly in the landscape with a magnificent sea view, was considered by Robert Trent Jones Senior one of the best he has ever designed, and he included it in his ideal 18-hole golf course.

Hole 18 is a par 5 left dog-leg, with an elevated green and protected by three front bunkers. Troia is amazing, a place to remember!

5th Royal Obidos

Where Luxury and Tranquility meets with nature

The golf course at the Royal Óbidos Spa & Golf Resort has received its own “real” treatment of world golf legend Severiano Ballesteros. Applying his art in the design of golf courses, the renowned golfer has created a truly exceptional course here, honoring the high quality standards of the resort.

Designed to integrate subtly with the natural surroundings, taking advantage of the undulating terrain, this 6,400 meter course attracts golfers of all levels.