It is difficult to find a better destination for a golfing holiday. Portugal has a wide range of courses with characteristics to suit different levels of difficulty and different budgets. There are 90 courses throughout the country, of which 57 are 18-hole and 9 are 27-hole, with a range of layouts and major golf challenges recognized by the most experienced golf professionals.

Photo Oceânico Victoria, Vilamoura, Algarve

Many of the courses were designed by famous architects such as Robert Trent Jones Jr., Jack Nicklaus, and Arnold Palmer. One thing they all share is their environmental quality and the harmonious way in which they blend into their natural surroundings.

The Algarve and the Lisbon coast are well-known destinations for more experienced players and have won several international awards. They host major competitions on professional tours, as does Madeira with its mountain courses. In the Azores, there’s also rustic golf that is played in a rural setting. But it was in Porto and the North that it all began, where Espinho, the second oldest course in mainland Europe, is located.

Photo Clube de Golfe Quinta da Marinha, Cascais, Lisboa

The courses that overlook the sea are flanked by cliffs and dunes with white sand. And others are surrounded by lakes and mountains, where the perfumes of flowers and herbs blend, and it becomes impossible to distinguish one from the other.

And even though games can be relaxed or hotly contested, the encounter concludes at a table in the clubhouse or the restaurant… to practice a ‘sport’ at which the Portuguese excel: socializing.