Portugal’s Algarve has long been associated with great food, good wine and spectacular golf courses, but over the past 3 decades Lisbon has become the more talked about destination, as numerous courses have been designed and developed, with the Silver Coast becoming a golfing connoisseur’s hotspot.
If you’re looking for fun and excitement from your golf, the most recent and most talked about addition to this region is sure to get your pulse racing, as the stunning West Cliffs is a unique layout that combines beauty and danger on every hole and was even rated ‘World’s Best New Course’ at the 2017 World Golf Awards.
It’s rare for a lady course designer to make it onto the big stage of golf architecture, so Cynthia Dye would have been under scrutiny when she began creating West Cliffs golf course – 14 years before it finally opened for play in 2017. Being the niece of the famous Pete Dye, perhaps best known for creating TPC Sawgrass – Stadium course, Cynthia clearly enjoys the drama and difficulty so prominent amongst the Dye Designs portfolio, as she certainly shows no signs of applying a gentle female touch to this stunning, yet demanding, layout.
There are a number of things that make this place special, the sea views, the dramatic and colourful landscape, the elevation changes between holes… all of these things blend together to create a unique golfing experience, noticeably diverse to any courses in the same region or even country.
Tying this trip in with a round at Praia D’El Rey is the perfect accompaniment, and a game around here first is an ideal warm up. As a resort course it doesn’t get much better. There are 2 very distinct loops of 9. The front being inland, tree-lined target golf and the back 9 bringing sea views and wide rolling links style fairways.
The Marriott – Praia D’El Rey, hotel offers 5 star luxury for 3 star prices with 177 rooms on site. There has recently been significant investment in the hotel and the quality shines throughout. With an indoor and outdoor pool, gym, spa (with excellent masseurs), fine dining restaurants and a number of bars on site, there is plenty for those looking for bit of ‘me’ time. They even have a kids club between June – September, for children between 3-12 years old. Alternatively, for the more active and energetic, there is even a tennis academy and wide range of watersports.
With the owners of the resort and the courses being the same, they are able to offer some mouth-watering packages and offers.
There is also a major real estate development underway with some stunning properties being developed around the course and the surrounding area.
West Cliffs is likely to be the flagship of the tour or trip to the region, so choose the order of the courses you play carefully, and if possible, give West Cliffs at least two visits.
The value of golf in Lisbon is amongst the best in Southern Europe with some amazing offers. At time of publishing this is one of the best we would recommend:
- 3 nights’ accommodation in a Garden/Golf view room at Praia D´El Rey Marriott Hotel
- Daily buffet breakfast at the Hotel
- 2 green fees at Praia D’El Rey or West Cliffs
- Possibility to play extra 9 holes free of charge, upon availability
- Free access to Health Club with Gymnasium, Jacuzzi, Turkish bath, indoor and outdoor swimming pools;
- Free Transfer between the golf courses
- Complimentary WIFI.
Price sharing a double/twin Garden/Golf view room: from €280pp
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For more information visit https://www.praia-del-rey.com/ and https://www.westcliffs.com/
