Almancil · Algarve · Portugal
Vale do Lobo
Photos courtesy of Vale do Lobo, for exclusive use on this page.
There's a moment, on the 16th hole of the Royal, when everyone stops. The green is in full view before you swing: two hundred and twenty-four metres from the back tees, a ravine in front, three red sandstone cliffs dropping to the Atlantic and no way out to the left. It's one of the most photographed par 3s in Europe, and for almost everyone who makes it here, it's the reason they came. Both courses come from the same hand. The Ocean is entirely Sir Henry Cotton's — three-time British Open champion — and runs down to the sea gently: the 15th hugs the beach and the 11th has a blind tee shot. It's the one you enjoy. The Royal, which Rocky Roquemore laid out in 1997 over Cotton's original plans, is the demanding one: undulating fairways between pines and lakes, a near-island green on the 9th, and that 16th waiting at the end. The Portuguese Open was played here in 2002 and 2003, on a composite layout mixing the two. All of this happens in the Golden Triangle, the band of pines and villas between Almancil, Quinta do Lago and Vilamoura where European golf spends the winter. In January the average temperature hovers around twelve degrees and frost is a rarity. Almancil, home to the region's fine dining, is ten minutes away; the beach, two hundred metres from the hotel door.
Two weeks a year. Our two tournaments are played here: the Vale do Lobo Amateur Week in January and the Short Break Golf Challenge in February — the only two weeks this course is played with a scorecard, a handicap and prizes.
Where it's played
Would rather play it from another hotel, or in another combination? Tell us and we'll put together a firm-priced proposal.