- Portugal’s Silver Coast was named World’s Best Emerging Golf Destination.
- Praia D’El Rey was named Portugal’s Best Golf Hotel for a third consecutive year.
- The awards were presented at Madinaty Golf Club in New Cairo, Egypt, on November 7.
Portugal’s Silver Coast has a global title to go with its growing reputation among travelling golfers. The stretch of Atlantic shoreline north of Lisbon was named World’s Best Emerging Golf Destination at the World Golf Awards, which made their African debut at Madinaty Golf Club in New Cairo.
On the same night, Praia D’El Rey Marriott Golf & Beach Resort was named Portugal’s Best Golf Hotel for the third year running. It was a good evening for Portuguese golf generally, with Terras da Comporta, south of Lisbon, retaining its title as World’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility.
Four courses, one base
The region’s case rests on four courses grouped within a 10-kilometre radius, about an hour’s drive from Lisbon. Earlier this year two of them featured in Golf World’s Top 100 Best-Value Courses in Continental Europe, where West Cliffs ranked first and Praia D’El Rey fifth.
Praia D’El Rey, designed by Cabell B. Robinson, opened in 1997. It runs through pine forest and undulating dunes, with deep bunkers, sloping greens and views across the Atlantic to the Berlengas Islands.
Cynthia Dye’s West Cliffs opened in 2017 and was named World’s Best New Course at that year’s World Golf Awards. The 6,980-yard par-72 spreads over 200 hectares of rolling dunes and coastal vegetation, with the Atlantic in view from every hole.
Inland, Donald Steel’s par-72 Bom Sucesso occupies more than 60 hectares beside the Lagoa de Óbidos, its lagoon views shared with contemporary designer homes. Royal Óbidos, a 6,400-metre layout by the late Severiano Ballesteros, has hosted the Open de Portugal, as its director of golf Pedro Castelo Branco pointed out.
Tiago Montero, golf sales director of Portugal’s Silver Coast, said the concentration of courses is what sets the region apart.
“Few regions can offer four courses of this calibre so close together, alongside an unspoilt coastline, historic towns and a genuinely warm Portuguese welcome,” Monteiro said. “More and more golfers are discovering the region for the first time.”
The hotel hat-trick
Praia D’El Rey’s Marriott, which had 177 rooms at the time of our 2019 visit, offers ocean-view rooms and suites, the Kalyan Spa and family-friendly pools, and the region’s beaches and medieval towns are close by. Its owners have now renovated all of the resort’s restaurants and bars. This follows the 2023 overhaul of the spa and indoor pool area.
Gonçalo Costa, the resort’s director of golf, linked the award to that investment.
“Golfers who come to Praia D’El Rey tell us the course is only part of the story, and this award reflects the investment that has gone into every part of the resort, as well as the passion and dedication of our team,” Costa said.
West Cliffs turns ten in 2027, while Praia D’El Rey, which opened on June 14, 1997, reaches its 30th anniversary.
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Simon Bale
Simon Bale is the publisher of Golf Today. A low single-figure handicap golfer, he was previously a major shareholder and course reviewer for Top100GolfCourses.com for over a decade, starting in 2010. Through this role, he developed extensive knowledge of golf course design and architecture while playing more than 300 courses worldwide.