The Troia Golf Championship Course, designed by the famous American golf architect Robert Trent Jones Senior is an amazing links and one of the most fascinating golf challenges in Portugal. Located on the Troia Peninsula – a region of outstanding natural beauty and one of the most scenic places in Portugal, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Sado Estuary, with an imposing view over the Arrabida Mountain.
Robert Trent Jones Senior conceived a golf course of 18 holes, par 72, with a length of 6317m, “an extraordinary masterpiece, truly integrated in the natural landscape, a wonderful pine forest surrounded by sand dunes and the sea. The white sand is present, not only in the bunkers that protect the small greens, but also in the surroundings where natural plants are found in abundance, giving it an extraordinary beauty”.
The Portugal Open was held at Troia Golf Championship Course in 1983, Sam Torrance wining with a score of two under par, becoming the only professional under par in four days of competition.
There are two holes that deserve a special mention – 3 & 18. Hole 3, a par 4 with a magnificent sea view, was considered by Robert Trent Jones Senior himself as one of the best he ever designed, and he chose it as part of his ideal 18 hole course. Also, hole 18, a par 5 with a dog-leg to the left and an elevated green and protected by three frontal bunkers is a perfect end to a dream course.
In 2002 the 15th International European Amateurs Championship, the most important European amateur golf competition, was held at Troia Golf Championship Course featuring the best 150 amateur players in Europe. The winner was the Frenchman Raphael Pellicioli, with a score of four under par. The Troia Golf Championship Course was ranked by Golf World magazine in 2009 as the 20th Best Golf Course in Europe and included by Golf Digest magazine in 2005 in the list of the 100 top golf courses in the world outside the USA, and by the Peugeot Guide in Europe’s Top 1000 Golf Courses.