Lisbon

A wonderful climate. A selection of worldclass golf courses. The attractions of a major capital city. It really is difficult to understand why Lisbon doesn’t have an even higher golfing profile. It boasts an average temperature of 17C and is gorgeous from May to September inclusive. April and October aren’t bad either.

It is a vibrant city and boasts golf as varied – due to it being split up into three areas – as it is excellent. We shall start with the Estoril area, which is closest to the city itself. The Estoril club is a famous name in Portuguese golf and hosted numerous Portuguese Opens. It oozes class and tradition having been founded in the 1930s and being laid out by Mackenzie Ross.

Oitavos Dunes was the highestranked Portuguese course in Golf World’s continental European Top 100 and is one of the few genuine links on the mainland. Its quality is reflected in its price tag, which is far from budget – but you get what you pay for, and this is top class. The big names keep coming and next is Penha Longa, which has a nine-hole course – Mosteiro – as well as the famous and infamous Atlantico. It was designed by Robert Trent Jones Jnr with assistance fromKyle Phillips. “This course elegantly connects several different, yet equally beautiful and dramatic natural landscapes,” Phillips told Golf Escapes. “The middle section plays down into a large open valley and around a Roman aqueduct and the remaining holes move across high plateaus with views of the Atlantic.”

Trent Jones Snr also made his mark on the Lisbon coast when he laid out charming Quinta da Marinha in 1984. Host of the Estoril Open in 2002, it offers views of the Atlantic – mostmemorably on the short, par-4 13th which plays down towards the sea – but for most of the course golfers are taking in vistas of Sintra mountain. Next to the Blue Coast, which is south of Lisbon and is headlined by Troia, another Trent Jones Snr track which was in our continental Europe Top 100. It takes a bit of getting to but this dunes and beach-dominated experience is well worth it.

This majestic seaside track is buffeted by Atlantic breezes and is seriously exacting. The route to the 1st could not be more charming though – you reach it via a ferry. Another course to make our Top 100 was Quinta do Peru, the work of under-rated Rocky Roquemore. This American-style course is in lovely nick and not compromised by excessive residential development. Two 18-holers at Ribagolfe within a forest of cork oak trees, a Donald Steel design at Santo Estevao andanother 36-hole complex Aroeira complete the picture in this section.

Finally, to the West Coast. Moving further north, much of the golf is centred around the medieval town of Obidos and is led by Praia d’El Rey, another genuine links and a fixture in our European Top 100. As well as its dunescape, seaside holes and views of the Atlantic, it also wanders inland among fragrant pine trees. Designed by Cabell B Robinson, the holes in the towering dunes are awesome and for a course which is just 12 years old, it has matured magnificently.
Bom Successo was in the ‘Next 0’ collection of our recent European Top 100 and Steel’s design was unlucky not to make it into the main list.

Roquemore also designed Golden Eagle in this area in 1994, and it is a fine example of target golf with manicured, tree-lined fairways leading to large, undulating greens. Finally, Royal Óbidos Spa & Golf Resort – 45 miles north of the city – is set to open in 2012, an 18-hole championship course designed by the late Seve Ballesteros. Lisbon is simply getting stronger.