Algarve, Portugal · Portugal · William Mitchell
Quinta do Lago South
James Kinloch
Golf Travel Specialist · played this course
I've played Quinta do Lago South forty-odd times and it still gets me on the back nine. Holes 15 through 18 with the Ria Formosa estuary behind you — that closing stretch is as good as anything in continental Europe, and I'm not inclined to argue with anyone who says otherwise.
The course plays firm and fast in the summer heat, which rewards ball-strikers and punishes anyone who tries to stop the ball with spin rather than placement. Learn the landing zones on 16 and 17 before you play — both holes have positions that make birdie possible and positions that make double par likely. The same hole, two completely different shots.
Green fee is eye-watering relative to the Algarve average but fair for what you get: immaculate conditioning, a properly tested championship layout, and a par-3 13th that I have never, in forty rounds, thought was easy.
Signature hole
Par-3 13th, 209 yards
"Water left, false front right, wind always across. I've never seen a group play this hole without someone going quiet. That's the test — you have to commit to the number and trust the swing."
Designer
William Mitchell
Par
72
Yardage
6,488
Green fee
from £225
Best for
Best time to go
March to June, September to November. Summer is too hot for comfort mid-round.
Play Quinta
James can arrange tee times, transfers, and accommodation around this course. One call is all it takes.
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Golf in Algarve, PortugalMore courses in Algarve, Portugal
Monte Rei Golf & Country Club
★★★★★Monte Rei is the best course in Portugal. I've said this for years and nothing has changed my mind. Jack Nicklaus's only Iberian design sits near Vila Real de Santo António on the Spanish border — ninety minutes from Faro, which puts most Algarve-based golfers off making the drive. Their loss.
San Lorenzo Golf Club
★★★★★San Lorenzo appears on every European top-20 list that matters, and it earns every placement. The Joe Lee design from 1988 sits in the Quinta do Lago estate on the edge of the Ria Formosa lagoon, and the par-3 6th over the water is the most photographed hole in Portugal — which doesn't make it less beautiful, just harder to concentrate on.
Vilamoura Old Course
★★★★The Old Course at Vilamoura opened in 1969 and remains the most atmospheric course on the Algarve. The umbrella pines are now fifty years old, and playing through them on a warm October morning — the light filtering through, pine needles underfoot, complete silence between holes — is an experience that newer courses can't replicate regardless of budget.