117 - Terras da Comporta (Dunas)

Location: Comporta, Portugal

Rating: 8.8

Hands down the best hospitality I’ve received on a golf course. Very privileged to have been given the opportunity to play the course before it is open to the public and what a venue it will be in the years to come.

Being a few months away from opening you can imagine there is work to be done, there were no signs on the complex to the clubhouse, so it was a bit of a guessing game but once I found my bearings it was an awesome experience. I was greeted with a buggy with my name on, provided a branded Terras da Comporta water bottle and checked in for my round. The driving range was impeccable, could easily be made into a hole in its own right with good quality and unlimited balls to hit off grass which I loved. There was a separate practice area for chipping and putting. I believe there is an academy to be built there as well so it’s only going to get better.

The course itself is an awesome design. Bring your swimming shorts because you’re going to spend a lot of time on the beach! There’s sand everywhere, it’s a wasteland type course where the runoffs from the fairway are invariably bunker style areas. The fairways are fairly generous and at 5,700 meters off the typical men’s tees it’s not that long. Coupled with elevated tees in places some of the holes can be short but when you approach some of the greens there are vicious, tall-lipped bunkers protecting them. Most if not all the holes are independent of each other and the fairways twist and turn in different directions as you make your way down the hole.

Throughout the round I was offered refreshments and even a baguette halfway through, constantly looked after and felt valued to be playing there.

There’s work to be done on the maintenance of the front 9 but hopefully that gets in shape by the time they open in October, but it will be a magical place to play. You’re deep in nature, it’s completely serene and I’d love to come back and play once it is up and running. No doubt the rating will go up in time.