Algarve, Portugal · Portugal · Joe Lee / Rocky Roquemore
San Lorenzo Golf Club
James Kinloch
Golf Travel Specialist · played this course
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.
What separates San Lorenzo from the other estate courses is its intimacy. The holes wind through umbrella pines with almost no visibility between fairways, which creates a sense of isolation and privacy that the more manicured resort courses can't replicate. You feel genuinely alone on the golf course.
The back nine is tighter and more demanding than the front. Hole 14 through 18 is a closing stretch that will hold your score hostage if you've been careless with your wedge game. I've seen good golfers unravel completely on those five holes.
Signature hole
Par-3 6th, 180 yards over water
"The lagoon stretches behind the green, the pines frame the shot, the wind is always doing something. It's a postcard hole that also happens to be a genuinely difficult par-3. No penalty for taking a seven-iron and aiming at the centre."
Designer
Joe Lee / Rocky Roquemore
Par
72
Yardage
6,238
Green fee
from £210
Best for
Best time to go
March to June, September to November.
Play San
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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.
Quinta do Lago South
★★★★★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.
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.