Portugal or Spain

mightymal

Aloha from Hawaii
While planning an Ireland golf trip a few years ago with my friends I came the golf boards website and have been an avid follower.
We are planning out trip for next year and need some help from all of you. While I want to go back to Ireland my friends want to go to Spain or Portugal.
We will probably be there about 2 weeks, have a car and drive around a lot. Plan to play 18 every day and some days 36.
SO based on all your experiences which would be better for us, Spain or Portugal. Also what's the best time of year to go?
Mahalo--Hawaiian for Thank You

First Up

Hard to make a recommendation without knowing a bit more. Is it all about golf? What handicaps? Do you want a varity of courses or a challenge you can return to? How much driving or moving around do you want to do? Are you on a budget?

My personal preference is Portugal - Lisbon area - as there's a great variety and you can sample some of the real country. (The Algarve is Iike Myrtle Beach - loads of golf but not much else.)

There's probably a wider choice in Spain but you need to tread carefully as many courses are little more than pitch and putt layouts built between condos aimed at bored retirees. (Some of that in Portugal too.)

There is cracking golf in both countries but lots of rubbish too so do your research. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for.

Avoid high summer - Spring and Autumn are best. A longer season in the Faro area than Lisbon.

Ronney

Alot of golf in Spain/Portugal would be similar to what you would find in Florida, Resort style courses with holiday homes/condos dotted round the place.

My preference would be Portugal round the Algarve area, given the proximity you could always do a week in both Spain and Portugal.


I find http://www.yourgolftravel.com/ very good for getting golf + Accommodation deals.

This site is also good for seeing how courses rate http://www.top100golfcourses.co.uk/

A good time to go would be the end of Sept, play golf during the day and watch the Ryder cup at night!

CMOTDibbler

First Up wrote: »

Hard to make a recommendation without knowing a bit more. Is it all about golf? What handicaps? Do you want a varity of courses or a challenge you can return to? How much driving or moving around do you want to do? Are you on a budget?

My personal preference is Portugal - Lisbon area - as there's a great variety and you can sample some of the real country. (The Algarve is Iike Myrtle Beach - loads of golf but not much else.)

There's probably a wider choice in Spain but you need to tread carefully as many courses are little more than pitch and putt layouts built between condos aimed at bored retirees. (Some of that in Portugal too.)

There is cracking golf in both countries but lots of rubbish too so do your research. Generally speaking, you get what you pay for.

Avoid high summer - Spring and Autumn are best. A longer season in the Faro area than Lisbon.

The weather in and around Lisbon can be very mixed even in high summer. Having said that, the courses are very good and there are a lot in close proximity to each other. Last year I played Praia del Rei, Royal Obidos and Bom Sucesso which were no more than a ten minute drive from each other. All very good; Royal Obidos is the last course designed by the late great Seve. Praia del Rei is an interesting one where the front nine is parkland and the back nine is very linksy.

Ronney

Out of curiosity where did you stay/play on your trip to Ireland?

mightymal

aloha
We rented an RV for 4 of us. Flew in to and out of Shannon. 14 day trip. Played Galway Bay, Ballinrobe, Westport, Carne, Enniscrone, Sligo, Strandhill, Port Salon, Letterkenny, Concra Woods, Headfort New, Rathcore, Druids Glen, Greystones with Kevin Markham and his dad,
Ring of Kerry, Skellig Bay, Dooks, Ballybunion-old and Cashen, Shannon. Mostly were able to park in golf course parking lots and use the club facilities. Most hospitable clubs I have ever been to.

Ronney

mightymal wrote: »

aloha
We rented an RV for 4 of us. Flew in to and out of Shannon. 14 day trip. Played Galway Bay, Ballinrobe, Westport, Carne, Enniscrone, Sligo, Strandhill, Port Salon, Letterkenny, Concra Woods, Headfort New, Rathcore, Druids Glen, Greystones with Kevin Markham and his dad,
Ring of Kerry, Skellig Bay, Dooks, Ballybunion-old and Cashen, Shannon. Mostly were able to park in golf course parking lots and use the club facilities. Most hospitable clubs I have ever been to.

Thats some trip, I am getting tired just thinking of it!

Seve OB

mightymal wrote: »

aloha
We rented an RV for 4 of us. Flew in to and out of Shannon. 14 day trip. Played Galway Bay, Ballinrobe, Westport, Carne, Enniscrone, Sligo, Strandhill, Port Salon, Letterkenny, Concra Woods, Headfort New, Rathcore, Druids Glen, Greystones with Kevin Markham and his dad,
Ring of Kerry, Skellig Bay, Dooks, Ballybunion-old and Cashen, Shannon. Mostly were able to park in golf course parking lots and use the club facilities. Most hospitable clubs I have ever been to.

WOW. Just WOW. 20 games and you were only here 14 days. Obviously I'm interested to here how you enjoyed Greystones?

Regarding Spain v Portugal. Are you planning on renting a RV again? If so, get yourself to Malaga Airport and work your way down the coast. Plenty of class courses in and around the Marbella area. For me Sotogrande would be a must play. Then you can head on down to the Algarve, Villamoura area. Long drive, but yis could do an overnight on it if you are sharing driving, probably take 4 or 5 hours.

First Up

mightymal wrote: »

aloha
We rented an RV for 4 of us. Flew in to and out of Shannon. 14 day trip. Played Galway Bay, Ballinrobe, Westport, Carne, Enniscrone, Sligo, Strandhill, Port Salon, Letterkenny, Concra Woods, Headfort New, Rathcore, Druids Glen, Greystones with Kevin Markham and his dad,
Ring of Kerry, Skellig Bay, Dooks, Ballybunion-old and Cashen, Shannon. Mostly were able to park in golf course parking lots and use the club facilities. Most hospitable clubs I have ever been to.

That's an epic. Did you have any weather problems? Just thinking about trying to deal with 4 sets of clubs and wet gear in an RV over two weeks!

Less risk of that problem in Spain or Portugal!

mightymal

aloha
Fastest greens we played on. Thought it was putting a table. touch it and bye-bye. Kevin's dad and his partner kicked our butts-local knowledge i guess. it was a real treat.

mightymal

First Reply. We didn't have much weather. Rained the first round at Galway Bay on 1 hole. Poured all night long and when we drove up to the first hole at Ballinrobe the sun came out. A little sprinkle at Portsalon. the rest of the time it was spectacular. Ireland smiled on us. And of the course the Guiness was SUPERB

Seve OB

mightymal wrote: »

aloha
Fastest greens we played on. Thought it was putting a table. touch it and bye-bye. Kevin's dad and his partner kicked our butts-local knowledge i guess. it was a real treat.

Yea they are very fast alright. Makes it difficult when you get used to them then go elsewhere to keep leavibg your putts short glad you enjoyed. If you are ever back and want another game there let me know

Dr_Colossus

mightymal wrote: »

aloha
We rented an RV for 4 of us. Flew in to and out of Shannon. 14 day trip. Played Galway Bay, Ballinrobe, Westport, Carne, Enniscrone, Sligo, Strandhill, Port Salon, Letterkenny, Concra Woods, Headfort New, Rathcore, Druids Glen, Greystones with Kevin Markham and his dad, Ring of Kerry, Skellig Bay, Dooks, Ballybunion-old and Cashen, Shannon. Mostly were able to park in golf course parking lots and use the club facilities. Most hospitable clubs I have ever been to.

That's a seriously epic trip and an unreal holiday practically covering the whole of Ireland in two weeks. Great list of varied courses also. Did you happen to write a journal/blog of your trip and experiences here, would make for interesting reading as in addition to all the golf there's also the interaction of 4 individuals living in such close quarters 24hrs a day together. Would love to hear more.

Sorry I can't yield any advise on your original question, never played golf in either Spain or Portugal.

CMOTDibbler

I've played in both the Lisbon area and the Algarve and can recommend both. If you're going on another epic tour, you could probably do both without too much hassle; it's about a two and a half hour drive from Lisbon to Faro. Basically fly into one and fly out of the other. There's lots to see and do around Lisbon (if you've time to spare from all the golf ) but the Algarve is mostly sun holiday territory with some great golf courses.

High season in Portugal is actually from around 1st March to the end of June which is followed by the mid season until the end of August. Generally green fees are about 25% cheaper in mid season but you'll probably get bargains if you book through the likes of teetimes.pt and there are also bargains to be had with a combination of courses in an area like the silver coast near Lisbon.

Taking the two areas together gives you a choice of over 60 courses.

mightymal

Unfortunately i do not have blog. probably should. Not sure if this is allowed on the "boards" site but here is a link to a YouTube video I took while we were playing at Headfort. The guy in he black vest is one of my partners Maurice. We had finished taking showers in the clubhouse and heard all this singing upstairs. We had to investigate. what a scene. and what a great group of people. One of the many things we were able to experience in Ireland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCV7lnUI-mA.

And at Portsalon we arrived at the bar at 430P. It was my friend bob's 72 birthday. Sitting in the bar area were about 40 ladies from Northern Ireland who had just finished playing golf and were enjoying a drink. I managed to get the Club Captain to let me address them. I asked them to join me and my buds to sing Happy Birthday to Bob. They did and they sounded like a church choir. and when they finished they crowded around bob to wish him happy birthday and he even got a few pecks on the cheek. he was in heaven.

Can't wait to go back.

DuckSlice

dont mean to hijack a thread, but didnt see the point in opening a new one. Im Heading to portugal night week, playing the oceanico courses. Are these places strict on dress code? i dont have any golf shorts just normal shorts so just wondering do i need to go get myself some proper golf shorts for the nice weather

ForeRight

etxp wrote: »

dont mean to hijack a thread, but didnt see the point in opening a new one. Im Heading to portugal night week, playing the oceanico courses. Are these places strict on dress code? i dont have any golf shorts just normal shorts so just wondering do i need to go get myself some proper golf shorts for the nice weather

I don't recall any strictness at all when I was there. I wore all sorts of different shorts from proper golf shorts to dunnes combat type things and never had an issue

First Up

etxp wrote:

dont mean to hijack a thread, but didnt see the point in opening a new one. Im Heading to portugal night week, playing the oceanico courses. Are these places strict on dress code? i dont have any golf shorts just normal shorts so just wondering do i need to go get myself some proper golf shorts for the nice weather

Not sure what you mean by "normal" shorts but if you are talking about something you would wear in a 5 a side, I'd think about it. The usual description is "tailored" shorts; you will pick them up in Dunnes.

CMOTDibbler

First Up wrote: »

Not sure what you mean by "normal" shorts but if you are talking about something you would wear in a 5 a side, I'd think about it. The usual description is "tailored" shorts; you will pick them up in Dunnes.

TK Maxx usually have a good selection as well. You'll get anything from golf brands like Callaway to 'fashion' brands for reasonable money.

matt-dublin

The overall trip in Portugal probably will be cheaper and the weather is just as good.

Some really great courses near vilamoura and alvor.

People are nicer as well but the Portuguese are very laid back so sometimes service can be a little slow.

Albufeira and vilamoura host great night life for after golf as well.

FixdePitchmark

lads is it 80 euro to get cubs over - with both Aer Lingus and Ryanair. ?

acalmenvoy

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

lads is it 80 euro to get cubs over - with both Aer Lingus and Ryanair. ?

30 per trip with Ryanair, dunno about Aer Lingus.

spacecoyote

acalmenvoy wrote: »

30 per trip with Ryanair, dunno about Aer Lingus.

How does shipping your clubs compare with using these guys:

https://www.clubstohire.com/

Think they have a base in Faro Airport, and removes the risk of missing/damage to clubs. Could also take the opportunity to try out something new. Not sure what their range is like though

dan_ep82

spacecoyote wrote: »

How does shipping your clubs compare with using these guys:

https://www.clubstohire.com/

Think they have a base in Faro Airport, and removes the risk of missing/damage to clubs. Could also take the opportunity to try out something new. Not sure what their range is like though

First time I went out to Spain I rented from here.

Clubs were in perfect nick (R15 set with RSI irons ) but only regular. Didn't like the putter or the one wedge.Bring your own shoes, the ones I got were well used, maybe it's just personal preference.

Second time I brought my own clubs for 80€ over and back with Aer Lingus . I packed my carry bag full of stuff aswell. Much prefer this as the irons i use aren't the type they rent out. Can't beat your own putter and wedges either.

If you use GI irons and would like to try out new woods and play regular shaft I'd go with renting otherwise bring your own but bring your shoes either way.

razorblunt

Probably depends who much you rely on your clubs, but I've used clubstohire twice from Faro Airport and have not complaints.

Seve OB

I think if you are anyway serious about your games away, bring your own clubs. I rented once, but was for a bit of craic after a wedding. If I was going on a golf trip, I would always bring my own.

Putt it there

Clubs to hire are top notch in fairness , they deliver n collect to and from your hotel now too for €20 (per booking not per set) , to be honest i started bringing my own last year too but most lads in our group use them every trip . you save €20-€30 on bringing your own .

FixdePitchmark

Putt it there wrote: »

Clubs to hire are top notch in fairness , they deliver n collect to and from your hotel now too for €20 (per booking not per set) , to be honest i started bringing my own last year too but most lads in our group use them every trip . you save €20-€30 on bringing your own .

Fair enough

But I genuinely don't think a real golfer would be worried about 30 euro.

They can be brand new but - a S300 is not a R300 - not to mention Ap2s are in no way MP59s.

Putt it there

Each to their own mate - not all traveling golfers would be so anal about the clubs . I was giving my personal opinion only .

CMOTDibbler

Seve OB wrote: »

I think if you are anyway serious about your games away, bring your own clubs. I rented once, but was for a bit of craic after a wedding. If I was going on a golf trip, I would always bring my own.

If you're not too fussed about golf bags, you can fit two sets in one bag and throw in a collapsible bag, shoes and balls etc. and still make it under the weight limit of 23Kg. All inside a protective travel bag to make sure they're not damaged. Take the heads off everything that you can and cable tie the shafts in threes.

Works out cheaper than hiring for two weeks. A lot cheaper.

Putt it there

CMOTDibbler wrote: »

If you're not too fussed about golf bags, you can fit two sets in one bag and throw in a collapsible bag, shoes and balls etc. and still make it under the weight limit of 23Kg. All inside a protective travel bag to make sure they're not damaged. Take the heads off everything that you can and cable tie the shafts in threes.

Works out cheaper than hiring for two weeks. A lot cheaper.

Yeah - good idea , heard another good one of putting brush handle in there thats longer than your driver - supposed to help prevent damage too