This is the oldest of the
three Vilamoura courses that form part of a luxury resort development
close
to fantastic beaches. Course designer Frank Pennink wanted to create a
course in the Algarve that would remind players of those beautiful,
challenging
inland British courses.
Opened in 1969, it hosted
the Portuguese Open in 1979, won by Brian Barnes. The verdant fairways
of the course, renovated in 1997, run through surrounding pine trees,
adding
an extra challenge to the game. This is a very attractive course with a
great variety of holes, perfectly maintained due to a sophisticated new
irrigation system and with well-trained staff.
The Par 3 holes are all
different
and visually very beautiful, representing the toughest challenge on the
course. They require careful selection of irons and near perfect ball
control.
Over the rest of the course trees play a decisive role, lining the
doglegs
and punishing any careless strokes.
The greens are small,
especially on
the shorter holes, where there is simply no margin for error. A
unique feature of this
course is that it is a Par 73, but due to the change of position
between
the holes 5 and 18, there are no longer four Par 5 among the last nine
holes.
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