Pestana Vila Sol Golf Course

Overview

Pestana Vila Sol Golf Course is a stunning 27 hole layout within the Vilamoura Nature Reserve, right in the heartland of Algarve golf. This former host of the Portuguese Open has be on the play list for your next golf holiday in Portugal.

The Pestana Vila Sol Vilamoura Spa & Golf Resort occupies 150 hectares in a truly revitalising natural setting.  The fabulous 27-hole layout, designed by the architect Donald Steel, occupies a valley sculpted by nature and it is divided into three courses of different levels of difficulty: Prime, Challenge & Prestige.

Golfers are able to enjoy, in a unique natural setting, excellent conditions from the first to the last shot.  A vast team of professionals is at your disposal from the 1st tee to the Clubhouse, to ensure that each moment is an unforgettable experience.

The Clubhouse is the starting and finishing point for each one of the 9-hole courses; the first course extends to the east, the second to the west and the third extends to the south. There is also a 300-metre driving range next to the Clubhouse.  The course staged the Portugal Open (in 1992 and 1993).

The Prime course, composed of holes nos. 1 to 9, is Vila Sol Golf’s toughest course. The length and narrow width of the fairways on its first four holes, as well as it being famed for the Algarve’s “most difficult start”, make this course an appealing challenge.

The Challenge course (the “second round”) consists of holes nos. 10 to 18, where the difficulties lie in its greens being naturally more undulated than those of the Prime and Prestige courses, which means that greater accuracy is required of players in their green approach shots.  The first five holes are accessible and offer players the chance to set up a good score before getting to the final four holes, which comprise a difficult par 3 (hole 15), and three very challenging par 4 holes. Hole no. 18, next to the Clubhouse, finishes off with an approach shot where the players have the chance to excel in front of the audience watching from the terrace. The ball has to land on the fairway in these final holes in order to avoid high scores, even if this means playing an iron from the tee.

The Prestige course completes the set of 27 holes at Vila Sol Golf. This course is shorter but, to offset this fact, it is narrower. Accuracy and not distance is the decisive factor on this course.  The first four holes are “friendly”, and they do not prepare the player for the difficulties that lie ahead on reaching tee 23 and being faced with quite a narrow fairway. The course becomes difficult from this tee shot onwards. The ball has to land in the right places so as not to run the risk of ending up behind the trees, out of bounds or in the water hazard beside hole 26, which even provides entitlement to a waterfall shower.