The first snow of winter may be gathering at home in the Peak District, but I am up early and en route to the airport: the sunshine of Portugal and Vilamoura golf awaits.
Within a few hours of take off, I’m settled into my hotel room at the Hilton in Vilamoura. Outside my balcony windows I can hear the clip of golf balls being struck, as the breeze claps in the palm branches overhead. I’ve left winter behind. In shorts and a jumper (it is November after all, and late afternoon…) we head out for the first round of what’s set to be a busy few days of golf. The sun is low in the sky as we tee off at the Laguna course. The layout twists along two loops around two lakes, the first dry, the second swollen with water.
We reach the second at dusk. Gulls, egrets and swans have hauled themselves onto the fairways to roost for the night, and turtles doze in the shallows. The setting sun sets fire to the reeds and grasses of the marshes. It feels like late summer and it lifts the spirits.
The course helps too relatively straightforward with some really fun holes skirting the shores of the lakes. We play the last in the gathering gloom, racing to finish by nightfall. My 5-iron into the green disappears into the darkness and I arrive to find it 8ft from the pin. That, and a cold beer in the welcoming clubhouse; a great start to the trip. The course itself isn’t in the best of condition – scrappy tee boxes, bobbly greens. But there’s a plan for this. And for Vilamoura as a whole.
That night we go for dinner in the marina – one of many enormous and delicious meals. A fish feast overlooking the yachts and cruisers, which are all dressed up in Christmas lights. Just around the corner, a new marina is nearing completion – part of the transformation of Vilamoura: 68 berths, built to welcome larger luxury vessels, as the resort chases big-money visitors and updates its reputation as a world-leading destination for active holidays.
To succeed in its mission, the rest of Vilamoura, including its golf offering, will have to step up to match. Well-heeled tourists currently have every whim catered for at neighbouring Quinta do Lago, so slightly shabbier Vilamoura has its work cut out. As well as the new, high-end marina, a world-class equestrian centre has been built which will host a Grand Prix Jumping event (and therefore the great and good of the showjumping world) in October 2025. A state-of-the-art sports centre will be added in 2025, with the aim of transforming Vilamoura into “an elite sports and leisure destination”, appealing to Olympic athletes and sporty holidaymakers alike – 83 luxury seaside apartments will add to the lure. So, what of the golf strategy?
Well, it’s built around two key assets. The first is still acres of ochre sand and soil when we visit. It’s a total redesign of the Victoria Course, former home to the Portugal Masters on the European Tour. The remodel has been undertaken by four times major winner Ernie Els – his first European project. We’re shown around by Rui Grave, Director of Agronomy at DETAILS – the company overseeing the transformation of Vilamoura.
I’m told by other members of the group that the Victoria course was always slightly disappointing…this new one looks to be a beast. We wander down the newly-laid fairway of a monster par-5. It curves around a multi-tiered lake before reaching a narrow, bunker-ridden green in the distance. It’s over 620 yards from the back tees. You can see it’s been constructed for the likes of Jon Rahm and Bryson de Chambeau. And attracting LIV golf, with its money and its open-mindedness to “new” destinations, is part of the Vilamoura plan, according to Mario Soares, Operations Director at DETAILS. As well as that, the Els Club will also be The Algarve’s first private members club. Joining fees are eye-wateringly expensive – well over £100,000. Evidently Vilamoura is following the old, optimistic adage; build it and they will come…
It’s a gamble. But luckily for Vilamoura, it already has an ace in hand; the stunning Old Course. It’s the second oldest course in the Algarve (big brother Penina is nearly 60km away) and it’s a beauty. The 1st hole tumbles away down the hill, between the umbrella pines, towards an immaculate, almost perfectly circular green. Then it’s a long, uphill par-5 before the first of the par 3s, all of which are picturesque. This one plays across the tinkling fountain in a pond, then up and over the top-most branches of an umbrella pine. Other par-3s on the course play across steep valleys to table-top greens, or there’s the 10th, which takes you away from the clubhouse again. 167 yards from the back tee, but an enticing tee-shot from the top of the hill down to a large target. It’s all carry, due to a depression in the green – one to really go after.
The back nine offers twinkling glimpses of the Mediterranean as it meanders down and then back uphill. Doglegs feature heavily, with sprawling umbrella pines unfurled to catch errant balls. It’s a feast for the eyes and the golfing brain. Only the 18th, it feels, offers a straight stroll for home, where the newly refurbished clubhouse awaits. Described before we arrived as modelled on an “English pub”, we were expecting patterned carpets, a fruit machine and a queue for the bar. But we decided, once ensconced in the velvet dining booths, that it was much more like a New York wine bar. And the food was delicious – a modern twist on the fresh fish and seasonal fayre the Algarve is known for.
It’s a vital building block for the re-invention of Vilamoura. Will the Els Course be a success? Will they attract the big tours and high-rolling members? Can the Laguna course be brought up to scratch? That’s a big project, alongside it’s sister course, the Millenium course, which we played on a dew-soaked morning before flying home. Both good fun, both a little rough around the edges. Will the new apartments be filled, the elite athletes come to train? Will the super-yachts moor up? Will people eschew Quinta do Lago for it’s neighbour? Watch this space – but it’s worth going to Vilamoura for the Old Course alone. And it’s always a good idea in November.
*For more information on Vilamoura Golf, or to book visit VilamouraGolf.com or follow @vilamouragolf on Instagram
VILAMOURA GOLF LAGUNA SCORECARD
VILAMOURA GOLF LAGUNA COURSE MAP
VILAMOURA GOLF MILLENNIUM SCORECARD
VILAMOURA GOLF MILLENNIUM COURSE MAP
VILAMOURA GOLF PINHAL SCORECARD
VILAMOURA GOLF PINHAL COURSE MAP
VILAMOURA GOLF COURSES MAP
