Nothing quite whets the appetite for a game of golf than a good course photograph, especially one taken from a drone that shows the layout and the surrounding terrain in all its glory. I’ve booked many a round of golf on the strength of a beautiful picture – lots of golfers do.
I saw a cracker last summer – the only problem being that you couldn’t play it. Still a work in progress. This was the Dunas Course at Terras da Comporta, acclaimed golf architect, David McLay-Kidd’s first course design in continental Europe. Finally, however, after many years of stop-start, this wonderful course – located an hour’s drive to the south of Lisbon, close to the beautiful Alentejo coast – is open for business.
It’s been quite a journey for McLay-Kidd and co, who first visited Comporta way back in 2008. “Breath-taking” is how he describes this part of Portugal’s coastline – this coming from a man who has given us Bandon Dunes in Oregon, USA, and the Castle Course at St Andrews.
“If you look at any top 100 list, it is peppered with golf courses that are through pine, barren, scrubby vegetation and sand dunes, he says, “from the courses in Melbourne, Australia, to Long Island in the US, to those around the British and Irish coastlines.
“So here we are in southern Europe in Portugal in exactly that terrain and yet no golf course has really capitalised on that. There was a massive opportunity for golf to build something.”
That opportunity was almost missed – several times. First came the financial crisis, and then, in 2020, you know what saw the whole world grind to a halt. Some years later than planned, and having partnered with Vanguard Properties – the largest real estate developer in Portugal – we’re all systems go.
I encounter my own setback immediately. Despite McLay-Kidd announcing on the tee “you’re always in the hole here,” I lose my very first shot to the left. Stiffness. The point he makes, though, is valid: it’s evident throughout the round that this course is very playable – not so punishing that you’ll lose lots and lots of balls.
Hole 16, a terrific driveable par-4,, is a good example. McLay-Kidd points out the aggressive play. I take it on, but come up 30 yards short. I’m now facing an awkward but not impossible bunker shot. However, I’m still in play, and not swallowed up by a huge, man-made lake.
And I could have taken the safer route down the right side of what is a generous fairway. The point is, you have options, and, if you’re a mid handicapper like myself, that should stop your shoulders from sagging. In short, it’s fun.
There are two aspects of your game that will need to be red hot if you are to score well here. Firstly, bunker play – more specifically, the 40-50-yard type. You might not lose so many balls, but if you stray too far off the fairways, the quality of your ball striking from the sand and waste areas will be tested.
Then there’s the putting. Nowhere is the saying that putting is a ‘game within a game’ more applicable. My playing partner, the jovial Director of Golf, Rodrigo Ulrich, tells me that the 18 greens tally up to 1.8 hectares. As a rough guide, the average tends to be around one.
As I reach the turn, Ulrich, who’s a pretty nifty player, turns and says with a grin, “This is where it really ramps up.” Given just how thrilling the front nine has been, I’m obviously excited to see what the second half has in store.
The designer himself struggles to name a favourite hole – and it’s easy to understand why, as there’s nothing ordinary about any of them. I have a particular liking for holes where you can see the pin in the distance with the challenge right there in front of you, and 10 and 11 are both superb.
Ulrich’s favourite spot is standing on the 14th tee, not just because it’s a wonderful par-3, but this, I’m told, is the best place to watch the sunset. By this point my phone is telling me that I’m running out of storage space.
Pushed to select a favorite, McLay-Kidd calls 18 a “pretty cool postcard hole”. He’s not wrong. The previous hole is another beauty, too, a short par-3 all the way over scrubby vegetation. You simply cannot, as I did, come up short.
There are big plans for Comporta – a hotel, more restaurants and activities for visitors. It seems Portugal’s “best kept secret”, as it’s often called, might not remain so for much longer, although this is not the Algarve – nor is this anyone’s vision for Comporta.
That’s not to say there’s nowhere to enjoy a bite to eat or a relaxing evening out right now. In fact, there are two established restaurants here that are quite delightful, especially if you like your seafood.
At Comporta Flavours, a short walk from AlmaLusa Comporta, an effortlessly stylish boutique hotel that boasts 53 rooms, we are served giant bowls of fresh fish. It’s not my cup of tea (call me boring, but I’m more your meat and two veg guy). However, I can tell from the clean plates around me that this is Portuguese cuisine at its best.
The following evening, after a day on the links – and for McLay-Kidd, Comporta is “true links golf” – it’s time for some refreshments in the most sought-after spot of AlmaLusa Comporta, The RoofTop Bar, where you can also enjoy cocktails and tapas, whist enjoying the wonderful views of the rice fields.
Then we head out on mass – 30-odd hungry golfers – to Comporta Café, located on the beach (the cleanest I’ve even seen) at Praia da Comporta, Troia Peninsula. My advice would be to follow comportacafe_beachclub on Instagram before you head on your golf trip. I’d also advise booking a table. What a place.
A lobster gives me the eye from his/her tank as I walk through the entrance, and I know what’s in store. Tiger prawns, clams, mussels, lobster… it keeps on coming. Just when I fear that I might have to get stuck into some cod, the manager takes pity on me and brings me a plate of steak and chips.
It’s a good job there’s no second round for me the following day – I’d be too stuffed. I hope to return soon, though, perhaps when course number two opens. Yes, there are plans for another 18. Torre will be a collaboration between Spanish golf legends José María Olazábal and Sergio Garcia.
Terras da Comporta is destined to become one of Europe’s finest golf courses – there can be little doubt about that, and it surely won't be long before it becomes widely-regarded as one of the best golf courses in Portugal.
I’d love to take a look into a crystal ball and see just how the second course will sit alongside it, and what Comporta itself will look like in another five years’ time or so. My advice… don’t feel like you have to wait that long – go book that trip.
