- Tróia Golf’s par-72 Robert Trent Jones Sr. course is scheduled to reopen in spring 2027.
- RTJ II Golf has rebuilt all greens, bunkers, and the irrigation system is being fully replaced.
- The clubhouse is being completely rebuilt and the practice area redesigned.
Tróia Golf is in the closing stages of a 12-month restoration of its Robert Trent Jones Sr. layout. The course near the tip of the Tróia Peninsula is due to reopen in spring 2027.
The work is being carried out by Robert Trent Jones II Golf Architects (RTJ II), now run by the third generation of the Jones family. The firm’s president Bruce Charlton and senior design associate Mike Gorman are leading the project. Details – Hospitality, Sports, Leisure, which manages the resort, is overseeing the programme.
The par-72 opened in 1980. It sits between the Atlantic, the Sado Estuary and the Serra da Arrábida, an hour’s drive from Lisbon or a short ferry crossing from Setúbal.
It has a strong reputation to recover. In 2019 National Club Golfer named Tróia Portugal’s best course, scoring it 79 out of 100, and Golf World ranked it eighth in its European top 100 the same year. By the time our own Peter Ellegard played it in January this year, the course was showing its age. He described it as ragged around the edges in places and a mix of links and parkland, with narrow, tree-lined fairways and small greens.
What has changed on the course?
The renovation touches almost every playing surface:
- All 18 greens have been reconstructed using a native sand mix.
- Every bunker has been rebuilt, with the sand flashed up into the surrounding dunes.
- Fairways and turf areas have been adjusted for playability and easier maintenance.
- Tees and surrounds have been enhanced to give more flexibility in course set-up.
- The irrigation system is being fully replaced, with a new pump station and modern controls.
- Dunes and native sandy areas have been restored, with selective hydroseeding.
General manager João Godinho said the resort had not tried to change what makes the course unique, but to restore it and introduce it to a new generation of players.
Back into the dunes
RTJ II is pitching the job as something bolder than that. Chief operating officer Trent Jones said the result is “not just a restoration of my grandfather’s work.”
“The new Troia will have a much more dramatic feel, especially utilising the surrounding dunes,” he said. “We’re focusing on tying the course into the dunes, flashing up bunkers into them, and using the dunes to cradle greens. We’re bringing back the original Trent Jones Sr. character, updated to modern design standards.”
The template came from the firm’s own archive. There Gorman found Jones Sr.’s original hand-drawn grassing plan for Tróia, which, according to Trent Jones, “shows rough edges that naturally bleed into the sand and show how the course flows in and out of the sand like an Irish links.”
Gorman compares the site with Spyglass Hill, Jones Sr.’s celebrated course on the Monterey Peninsula.
“Land like this just doesn’t exist anymore for golf,” said Gorman. “It’s on the same type of land as Spyglass – a mix of dunes and pine trees. But while Spyglass has it on four holes, Troia has it on all 18. We think this is the best renovation opportunity in the world.”
Gorman wants to restore the ground game options lost over the years, and to connect the holes so the course is easier to walk.
“Troia became a very aerial, one-dimensional, parkland-like course by the sea,” he said. “We’re digging deep on linksland inspiration, promoting links golf, which is the best kind of golf.”
A new clubhouse and practice area
The clubhouse is being rebuilt from scratch, using natural materials and indoor-outdoor spaces designed for year-round use. Reception, lounge, bar and terrace will run into one another, and the pro shop is being reworked as a lifestyle retail space.
The practice facilities have been completely redesigned. They include a new driving range with target greens, a new short game area and a 3,000 m² “social green” for putting.
The resort describes the golf work as the first phase of a broader transformation. Further investment is planned for its existing hotels and infrastructure.
Part of a wider Details programme
Details, which manages 23 hotels and 14 golf courses in Portugal and Italy, has been working steadily through its estate this year. In September Monte Rei’s Nicklaus-designed North Course reopened after a six-month renovation. Last week Palmares completed an upgrade across all three of its nines, also with RTJ II involved.
Nuno Sepulveda, co-CEO of Details, said the aim at Tróia was to restore the course’s natural character, protect its environment and bring the playing experience up to international championship standard.
Fifteen minutes’ drive south, Terras da Comporta opened David McLay Kidd’s Dunas course in 2023 and Sergio Garcia’s Torre course in October 2025. Both were honoured at the 2025 World Golf Awards. Tróia now returns as the established course in a fast-growing corner of the Alentejo coast.
For more information on Tróia, click HERE.
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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.