Golf in Quinta do Lago
Quinta do Lago resort has hosted several Portuguese Opens and continues to be the venue for national and international tournaments. All the courses have top-quality driving ranges and putting greens which have all been successfully crafted to take their position among the Top 25 rated golf courses in all of Europe.
Currently there are two full courses, Quinta do Lago North and South, with a third in development. The North Course is an 18-hole anti-clockwise loop with a variety of demanding challenges, while the South course offers a mix of individual holes, all requiring different skills and offering an exciting game for all levels of expertise. The Quinta do Lago golf courses have been designed in such a way as to be an absolute pleasure to play for visitors or even a way of life for those who decide to become members of this elite community. In keeping with its heritage, the Golf courses at Quinta do Lago have been designed in harmony with its local environment. Each course is an experience of lush fairways which have been sporadically decorated with clusters of green pine, heather, and beautifully colourful wild flowers. The carefully tended greens are most certainly among the best in Portugal. Natural water features are dotted throughout the courses and bunkers break the landscape as to remind the golfer of the challenge of the course.
Castro Marim is one of the finest courses in Portugal opened in 2000 in an area of the Algarve that until recently had no golfing infrastructures at all. The recently built course is part of a truly exceptional tourist development, designed to provide unforgettable moments of leisure. Castro Marim golf course has breathtaking mountain, river and sea views, all part of the spectacular scenery to be enjoyed by those wishing to take walks merely throughout the surrounding countryside. The three 9-hole golf courses "Grouse Course", "Atlantic Course" and the "Guadiana Course" have been designed to give pleasure to any level of golfer.
The North course was designed by two architects. The American William Mitchell designed holes 1 to 5 and 15 to 18 in 1974. These holes share a unique character. The terrain is marvellous and complementary to the local area, sandy and littered with green pine trees. In the spring, the rough is covered with wild flowers, heather and gorse. The Fairways and tees are covered with Bermuda hybrid with a mixture of grasses, which provide year-round, top quality turf. The greens are sown with Creeping Bentgrass Penncross, which give a fast, accurate putting surface, which offer good all-year round putting surfaces. The bunkering is unrivalled, both on the fairways and surrounding the greens and gives the course an advantage over many of similar class and design. Holes 6 to 14 were designed by Joseph Lee with the collaboration of Rocky Roquemore, both from the USA, and opened in 1989.
The South course was designed by William Mitchell from the USA and opened in 1974. The Quinta do Lago South course was used eight times for the 'Portuguese Open Championship' in 1976, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 2001. It has also hosted many large professional and amateur championships. The favourite of many tour players, this course offers the possibility to hit the greens in regulation in several ways. This course favours the long hitter, but requires the player to pick a particular route to score well.
