GOLF DESTINATIONS

Coast of contrasts:
Part 2 - The complete
holiday at Vilamoura

By Carla Harvey,
Contributor

EL PUERTO DE SANTA MARIA (Nov. 3, 2002) - Portugal's golf season is in full swing from late autumn through late spring. The weather is invigorating (pack accordingly) and courses are in peak condition. Several courses participate in a 'Passport' plan (including most of those featured in this article). Autumn accommodation is reasonable, restaurants proliferate and the name of the game is 'cosseting visitors'. Nowhere is this more apparent than along the central stretch of the Algarve.

To many Algarve regulars, 'Vilamoura' quantifies 'ideal,' primarily because it encompasses far more than golf. This is a self-contained community, a 'green' town with high-density golf and low-density housing, and while the 'everything under one roof' concept is not unusual in the USA, in the Mediterranean, it is still a rarity. It comes as a pleasant surprise that visitors who are not particularly keen on being cocooned when they want to explore a new country, to find other 'Algarves' within a few kilometres, where villages offer regional arts and crafts, typical cuisine, etc.

On the estate itself, five golf courses are open to play; the largest marina in Europe provides berths for 1,000 yachts and two dozen restaurants (if there is a down-side to the culinary aspect, it is the 'sameness' of the offerings). More importantly, foreigners have been made to feel welcome from the beginning of golf tourism. Vilamoura's 4,000-plus acres comprises of a 200-hectare nature reserve and sufficient sports activities to exhaust an Olympian. There is, for an example, a 59-acre equestrian village, a sports centre with two football pitches, a cross-country track, lawn bowling club, deep-sea game fishing, a myriad of water sports, etc.

The Old Course (opened in the early '70s) is a Frank Pennink design. Having been remodeled in some places to its detriment, it is now back to Pennick's original concept and is reminiscent of an appealing inland British course. Small greens, prolific tree growth, deceptively innocent par 3s whose beauty is matched by demands. Accuracy is more important than length here. This course remains the favorite of most Vilamoura players.

Another Pennick design is incorporated at Pinhal. Robert Trent Jones restructured some of the holes here, adding quirks and challenges to the pleasing pine forest surroundings. Notorious for its fast greens, the course gives players an enjoyable game. The Portuguese Ladies Open was played at Pinhal in 1988.

The topography at Vilasol was left largely intact, making it natural in contour. Considered one of Europe's great courses, long par 4s and 5s make the first nine a test of disciplined endurance. Two par 3s on the back nine provide breathing space and attractive views, while the par 5 14th tempts anyone lapsing into casual mode with a very tricky green. A third 9-hole course was added in 2000, giving the course 3 loops in play.

Laguna is flat, its points of interest established through water hazards and an impressive number of bunkers, 88 at last count. Those well acquainted with Laguna say that it has improved greatly over the years. Link-style challenges and open fairways are the norm. If it's windy, the predictable becomes unknown and exciting. The lake comes into play on the second nine and those nine holes have been called by one enthusiast, "As good a group of 9 holes as you will get in all of Portugal."

The Millennium course opened in May 2000. It shares a clubhouse with Laguna and its first nine were originally called Laguna North. The back nine runs through an undulating pine forest. British architect Martin Haw tree designed the championship course, which features sculpted fairways, forests and lakes.

Victoria Golf Club is under design at present by the Palmer Course Design Company. Arnold Palmer was present at the presentation of his design in June. The new Vilamoura course is to be inaugurated in April, 2004.

The Vilamoura complex is located near Quartiera, formerly a little fishing village. From the EN125, take the signposted road to Vilamoura.

Golf contacts

The Old Course
Vilamoura 8125-507 Quartiera
Tel: 351 289 310341

Pinhal GC
(as above, Vilamoura)
Tel: 351 289 310390

Laguna GC
(as above, Vilamoura)
Tel: 351 289 310180

Vilasol GC
(as above, Vilamoura)
Tel: 351 289 300505

Millennium GC
(As above, Vilamoura)
Tel: 351 289310330

Food and Accommodation

There is no dearth of four and five star accommodation at Vilamoura, both adjacent to golf clubs and/or in the Vilamoura Marina. Hotels with excellent facilities include Hotel Atlantis, Golf Hotel Dom Pedro (at the Marina also), Vila Gale Ampalius, etc. etc. Fully furnished villas are also in abundance, there is accommodation at several country clubs and aparthotels are available for those who would like to venture into the kitchen on an occasional basis. Outside of the Vilamoura estate, other possibilities may attract.

Guesthouses and villas within a half hour from the golf may suit families with players. Several 'bed and breakfast' houses are found S. Bartolomeu de Messines; Loulé is another lively town where expatriates have set up accommodation for visitors. One rightly assumes that restaurant fare will be international in a place such as Vilamoura. The marina serves as a good example. The visitor is allowed to maintain regular eating habits to his heart's desire.

If adventure is wanted, drive up to Silves where Rui Marisqueria remains the best seafood place in the area. Sample Portuguese cuisine: steaks in a rich, rewarding chestnut sauce, chicken piri piri - chicken barbequed in a very spicy sauce, cod or bacalao served with boiled potatoes and vegetables, local game, etc.

Local hint: it is a Portuguese custom: to serve an 'entrada' or selection of small dishes of food meant to pique the appetite. Most menus do not list what the entrada consists of, as it changes from day to day. It will be charged for unless you specifically say 'no thank you' before the dishes arrive. Churlish to do so, as they are usually very good. They often obviate ordering a first course for the simple reason that if the entrada.

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