The 10 best golf courses in Portugal

There are no fewer than 14 Portugal courses in Golf World’s Top 100 in Continental Europe and, over the past 50 years, it has steadily improved in stature to become, pound for pound, continental Europe's most densely populated location for a golfing getaway.

Portugal's golf course dates back to 1890 when a group of the old British resident families trading in port wine founded Oporto GC – a club that is still going today.

In 1966 three-time Open winner Henry Cotton and investor John Stilwell transformed rice paddies and scrubland to create the first 18-hole championship course on the Algarve at Penina and there are now over 40 courses across over 25 clubs in the region.

A lot of the clubs came to prominence in the 70s, following the golfing tourist boom, but it is two more recent additions that are now the cream of the Portuguese offering having, for decades, sung the praises of courses like Vale do Lobo.

You could very easily put together a top-25 ranking and not see a huge drop in quality and while much of the pricing is now fairly expensive there is still plenty of value to be had by going further afield than doing the usual of hopping on a flight to Faro and then making your way up and down the Algarve coast.

Indeed, having put this together, a trip to Lisbon and its environs is now on my bucket list of golfing trip for 2027.

Green fee prices will vary and there will be better deals to be enjoyed.

Terras da Comporta (Dunas & Torre)  

Location: Comporta, 80 miles south of Lisbon

Green fees: €240

The Top 100 Golf Courses website has the Dunas as the sixth best course in Continental Europe, sandwiched between Valderrama and Les Bordes in France, such is the regard that it is already held in.

Not that it didn't have its initial bumps. David McLay Kidd first visited Comporta in 2008 but the collapse of the Espirito Bank in 2014 caused the building of the course to stop, by which time nine holes had been finished, and work only began again after the Portuguese developer Vanguard Properties acquired the project in 2018 – it would finally open in 2023, under the watchful eye of Kidd.

It is part of a huge development, there is also the highly-regarded Torre course (designed by Sergio Garcia), and it boasts vast sand dunes, pine trees, undulating greens, elevation changes and it will mature into a firm, links-style course although it is not directly set alongside the ocean.

The par-3 3rd is noteworthy for a green that measures 65 yards from front to back but there are no signature holes as such, just a consistently brilliant layout that shouldn't destroy you.

“If you look at any top 100 list, it is peppered with courses that are through pine, barren, scrubby vegetation and sand dunes, from the courses in Melbourne to Long Island, to those around the British and Irish coastlines. So here we are in southern Europe in Portugal in exactly that terrain and yet no golf course has really capitalised on that. There was a massive opportunity for golf to build something,” explains McLay Kidd.

The Dunas was voted as the best new course in the world in 2023 at the World Golf Awards.

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Monte Rei

Location: Cacela, Algarve

Green fees: €312

The North Course (we're yet to set eyes on the South) has been one of the greatest additions to the Portuguese golfing map since 2007 when it burst onto the scene and eclipsed other courses on the Algarve that have been in place for far longer.

Ordinarily you head west from Faro but here you head east and towards the Serra do Caldeirão mountains. Here the service from the moment that you set foot on the property is exceptional, as is the course which sets its stall out from the opening elevated tee shot. Expect magnificent views, plenty of variation, water playing a part on 11 of the holes and your bunker play to be tested.

The 13th is a sumptuous par 4 while the 18th is a fitting and sporty finish, where a par 5 played over water signs off a very enjoyable place to play golf.

Monte Rei is the first Jack Nicklaus signature course to be laid out in Portugal and it's a fabulous addition to his CV.

“The golf experience at Monte Rei begins with a gorgeous piece of property. There were a number of wonderful trees throughout the site and a lot of movement. That mgave us a lot of ability to work through the valleys to create some wonderful strategy and shot values. We were not restricted with what we did there, so that allowed us to be creative but true to the land and the elevation changes also give the course spectacular vistas,” explained Nicklaus in 2010.

The other kicker here is that the nearby town of Tavira makes this the perfect destination for a few days.

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West Cliffs  

Location: Vau, 60 miles north of Lisbon

Green fees: €134

We're all familiar with the Dye surname when it comes to course design but less so with Cynthia Dye, niece of the legendary architect Pete. But she was handed the reins for one of the most exciting designs in the past decade and it would open its doors in 2017.

Here you will be hit with views of sand dunes, coastal vegetation, the Atlantic, Berlengas Islands and Óbidos Lagoon and West Cliffs was the first course in Continental Europe to be certified by the GEO Foundation for Sustainable Golf.

The ocean is visible from every hole and it's a natural beauty.

"The terrain is amazing. On the vast majority of the holes, it was only necessary to site the green complexes with a bit of shaping and then define the limits of grassing. For the most part, the course was already there waiting for us,” adds Dye.

This is another must play with elevated tees and rapid greens but it will divide opinion given the necessity to keep things on the straight and narrow and away from the raw and open wasteland. The back-to-back 5s at 6 and 7 are a highlight and the course returns to base after nine holes.

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Quinta do Lago (South & North)

Location: Almancil, Algarve

Green fees: €264

The famed South course is one of three courses at Quinta do Lago, along with the North and fun Laranjal, and has been one of the must-play courses on the Algarve since the 1970s.

American William Mitchell designed the first 27 holes – 18 on the South and nine on the North – and within a few years it would host the first of eight national Opens. In time Colin Montgomerie would prevail here but, in those early days, things were very different and military tents were used to accommodate the players, media and visitors.

In 1998 Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien bought the property and it is now a flourishing facility where sports stars will flock to from Faro which is an always surprising 15-minute stop.

The front nine is said to favour a draw and the back nine a fade and it is a consistently excellent layout that has been enhanced in recent years with a reseeding programme, bunker renovations and improved sight-lines to make the most of the lakes. Expect incredible conditioning, putting surfaces, umbrella pines and a proper examination of your short game.

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Oitavos Dunes

Location: Marinha, 20 miles west of Lisbon

Green fees: €179

This Arthur Hills layout is blessed with many things, sitting on the western tip of the country in the Sintra-Cascais National Park, alongside the Atlantic Ocean and a short drive from the capital. This is a stunning part of the world and Oitavos Dunes lives up to the hope that the course matches its surrounds.

It opened as recently as 2001 and held four national Opens soon after, one of which provided a rare amateur winner on the European Tour in Spain's Pablo Martin.

The first four holes, as picturesque as they are, don't give too much indication of what's to come and then everything opens out. It's relatively flat but not without plenty of interest and drama and the pick of the holes probably come on the back nine.

The reachable 11th is a brilliant hole and then you have fairly spectacular back-to-back par 3s at 14 and 15. The greens here are phenomenal, packed with subtlety, and it's a very playable course where you will think you can put together a score.

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Vilamoura (Old Course)

Location: Vilamoura, Algarve

Green fees: €301

There are five courses at Vilamoura and the Old is certainly the first to tee it up on. This dates back to 1969, not overly ancient in golfing terms, when Frank Pennink laid out a course that would appeal to the British tourists who were now heading for the Algarve for some golf in the sun.

There is a genuine charm about the Old, starting with the clubhouse and locker room and extending to the course where the challenge is to navigate your way between the pine trees, think before you hit, find the fairways which are wider than you might imagine and putt well.

Twenty years ago Martin Hawtree oversaw a successful remodelling of the Old, installed a new irrigation system and tweaked it into something even more special in a resort where thousands head to year after year. Otherwise not much has changed here over the years, the 5th and 18th were switched to lose one of the 5s on the back nine but the par of 73 still stands.  

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Penha Longa

Location: Sintra, 20 miles west of Lisbon

Green fees: €292

There are 27 holes on the property here but it is the Atlantico 18 which makes up the championship test. Robert Trent Jones Jr put the design together in 1992, in among the pines, hills and historic surrounds, and two years later it staged the Portugal Open.

Phillip Price and Adam Hunter both claimed victory at Penha Longha, it would also stage the Estoril Open where only Jean-Francois Remesy was under par, and it was back on the circuit in 2010 when Thomas Bjorn won by five, finishing on a brilliant 23-under total.

The Sintra hills form a magical backdrop to the course, as do the local towns of Cascais and Estoril, and there is plenty going on with elevation movements around the clubhouse, vegetation, lakes and rocky outcrops – the name Penha Longha translates as 'long rock'.

Plenty of holes stand out due to some of its unique quirks. For example, the 6th features a backdrop of a medieval wall and castle tower.

There is also the less undulating Monastery 9-holer which weaves its way through the historical parts of the estate.

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Praia D’El Rey  

Location: Óbidos, 60 miles north of Lisbon  

Green fees: €134

If you were to base yourself in Lisbon for a week's golf, then you really could fill your boots with some quality golf. An hour north of the capital and a few miles from West Cliffs is Praia D'El Rey which sits on the coast.

This is the work of another American architect, Cabell Robinson, who would go on to design La Reserva and Finca Cortesin. Here the setting is as good as any and the mix of the front-nine parkland and coastal back nine makes for a memorable round.

The 12th always gets a mention, a par 5 that takes you to a green adjacent to the coast and this is the beginning of a fantastic run of holes beside the sea. The 13th is a short 4, the next a great par 4 and then you have a sweeping two-shotter where the ground will see your ball run forever.

Then you are back inland but the quality and variety is outstanding here.

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Palmares

Location: Lagos, Algarve

Green fees: €183

This is another of Portugal's leading layouts which date back to the mid 70s and are still a firm favourite with the overseas golfer. There are three nines here with the Praia and Lagos enjoying the best parcels of land.

The over-riding feeling here is one of spectacular scenery with the Praia nine (19-27) deserving special mention, offering a genuine links-style coastal setting. Once among the dunes, the wind is more of a factor and some observers have likened it to a Scottish links, albeit on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean. This is a cracking stretch of golf with a handful of holes sitting between the railway line and coastline. It finishes with an uphill par 5 that leaves the clubhouse and heads towards the clubhouse.

The Lagos is more varied, opening up with holes dominated by trees and elevation changes before transitioning into the dunes before another climb back towards the clubhouse.

Robert Trent Jones Jr oversaw the remodelling of the course while Frank Pennink was responsible for the original design.

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Troia

Location: Tróia, 20 miles south of Lisbon

Green fees: €102

This is part of the same ownership as the two Comporta courses and that investment will hopefully help restore Troia back to its best.

It sits in a fairly unique spot, 15 miles north west of the Dunas and Torre courses at the top of the peninsula, and it is a welcome break from the generous fairways that is the feature of plenty of holiday golf.

The course was designed in 1980 by Robert Trent Jones Sr (Spyglass Hill, Peachtree) and this course is all about precision with sandy lies just off the fairways making the recovery shot that much more unpredictable and tricky. The Portugal Open visited here in 1983 where only one player, Sam Torrance, broke par for the four rounds.

The setting here is outstanding and there is a nod to a player's creativity. The par-4 3rd is a stand-out hole and the architect has this in his dream 18 while the last, a dogleg par 5 to an elevated green, is a great finishing hole.

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