This European beach destination is transforming into golf’s next big thing

The Bat Signal sounded at around 8pm local time.

The oscillating fan hums pleasantly in our tiny studio apartment, and the remnants of the last supper still sit on the kitchen table. Olives, peanut butter sandwich and last sip of five ounces of ice cold drink super blog Beer, a local favorite. Outside, the first tan rays of evening sunlight cast long shadows across the desert landscape. There was a cool breeze in the air.

My partner, Jamie, looked up from his computer and smiled when he saw this.

“Okay,” she relented. “let’s go.”

we are Technically We worked out of a tiny basement studio apartment in the beach town of Bispo, but we were actually practicing the time-honored tradition of surfing. A wallet-sized wireless router and these vibrating fans (no air conditioning) are so close to our home next week. For these glorious few days, our lives belong to the wild.

Like any of us care. This is prime time in Portugal and we are catering to uncertainty.

Within seconds, our small black rental car was squeezing through the narrow streets of Bispo, roaring off into the unknown. We were greeted by a rolling hillside, then a stone statue, then a single lane road. Then, suddenly, we were the only car in sight, heading towards one of the thousand cliff edges that protect one of a thousand perfect beaches in the southwestern corner of this tiny seafaring country. A strange power line and a bushel of palm trees in the distance indicated our destination.

First, though, we reached the final traffic circle, where we spotted a royal blue sign with a vertical arrow and a Very Surprising news.

golf.

I looked around at the nothingness around us and asked what quickly sounded like a very stupid question.

“are you sure?”

***

The Portuguese have earned a solid reputation as “the friendliest people in the world,” and soon we’ll see why.

The land is rugged and wild, consisting almost entirely of dramatic cliffs, golden sandy beaches, and icy blue waters. Food (and wine) is fresh, acidic, and green. The weather is generally warm and dry. Most workouts, a lot of surfing.

It’s not surprising that golf developed as a natural outgrowth of these living conditions, but for many American golf travelers, this is certainly the case.

Half a century ago, residents of the birthplace of golf in the British Isles realized that Portugal and its sandy soils (and manicured sandy lawns) were ideal for golf courses. They’ve kept it a secret ever since, enjoying affordable tee times, groomed terrain and 300 days of sunshine.

Once upon a time, surfers brought biblical legends of Portuguese waves back to the United States, sparking a tourism boom that helped fund the country’s development. Now, a similar phenomenon is spreading among golfers. Along the coast, new courses are popping up. One US airline (United Airlines) has even started flying direct from Newark to Faro, the closest airport to the golf courses on Portugal’s southern coast, known as the “Algarve”.

Jamie and I didn’t realize we were going to spend 10 days in Portugal learning to play golf. We planned to see just two courses, starting at Quinta do Lago, one of the country’s trendiest (and lushest) resorts, closest to Faro, and ending on the Palmares coast, a 27-hole Robert Trent Jones loop with a Michelin-starred restaurant (China Southern Airlines) In the clubhouse.

We soon realized that just two locations weren’t enough. Like many other places in Portugal, golf courses are built for exploration.

Quinta’s three 18-hole courses remain among the best in Portugal, with a rigorous style. Quinta bills itself as a “wellness resort” where vacationers can train on sports fields and work out at some of the world’s best fitness facilities. Still, golf is the star of the show. The Larranjal course shares land with a fragrant orange grove, but even on a quiet summer afternoon, with a breeze blowing at 20 miles an hour, the greens look girginiaPortuguese spirit. The opposite South and North courses remain in Portuguese Open condition, two magnificent walks through rolling hills with razor-sharp bunkers and careful conditioning.

In many ways, the three Quinta courses share the same DNA as Spain’s peninsula brothers and are visually comparable to courses such as Valderrama and El Camiral. Quinta do Lago and El Camiral are future Ryder Cup venues outside of Barcelona, ​​both owned by Irish billionaire Denis O’Brien.

But not all Portuguese share Quinta’s vision. Further west, the landscape in Palmares is more rugged and natural, with softer edges and blurred lines. Further north, it’s hard to play any golf game without recommending one of the psychedelic, sparkling new Dunas Comporta. David McClay Kidd’s first course in Portugal has been hailed as the best new course on the continent. (“It’s worth dropping everything to do it,” says fellow adventurer Sam Billings.) Located within the popular beach destination Comporta an hour’s drive from Lisbon, Dunas is perfect for American golf tourists and completely off the beaten path… as long as you can find the time to play. During my visit, the year-old course was closed due to maintenance issues.

Fortunately, I was not sent to perdition by trying golf at a suitable Portuguese surf resort. Nearby Sagres is Santo Antonio, with its wild golfing atmosphere in the rolling hills, and the West Cliffs course near the famous northern surf town of Peniche. For $75 on weekdays, you can win over an audience with one of Alice Dye’s only approved designs while taking in ocean views, just like you would at Pebble Beach.

Between all destinations, and in every aspect, the unifying theory of golf in Portugal is accessibility. We could have played anywhere and it was pretty reasonable, and we’re glad we did. we can still play everywhere: A royal blue sign indicating nearby routes arrives at every intersection and every highway sign.

Of course, not every destination is the same. Francesco Murdolo, Palmares’ self-appointed director of golf, told me that training in the desert remains a challenge and that it’s easy to “lose the course” in a place with so little rain. But for a well-maintained place, golf can be exciting, energizing, and peaceful.

Finally, this is a country that gives us the freedom to chase the farthest whims of our sense of adventure—whether it’s to a dream destination or to a golf course off a remote traffic circle. This, more than any other characteristic, makes Portugal the center of my affection.

Travel – OK To travel – is to get lost.

There is perhaps no better place in the developed world to lose yourself than in Portugal.

You can contact the author at james.colgan@golf.com.