Golf advise for Villamoura/Albufeira area

Joeyjoejoe43

Hi Folks,

I am heading to Portugal for a week in April. 2 families heading away together, but we have the green light for 3 rounds of golf for myself and my brother in law, so happy days!

We have flights and accommodation sorted and paid for, so what we are looking for is a package of 3 golf courses to play in the area.

Can anyone advise of where we could look at booking to get the best deal? I did some searching and phoning around already and I have been offered:

Morgado, Alamos and Salgados for €309 PP (with buggy)

OR

Pinhal, Millenium and Luguna for €300 PP (with buggy)

Is that a good deal? Which trio is better? Have any of you guys played any of these 6 courses and are they any use?

We both play off 18 handicaps and are relatively big hitters, so long courses are no problem and don't care about difficulty too much, so long as they course is not boring or featureless.

Thanks a lot.

Joey

Putt it there

Joeyjoejoe43 wrote: »

Hi Folks,

I am heading to Portugal for a week in April. 2 families heading away together, but we have the green light for 3 rounds of golf for myself and my brother in law, so happy days!

We have flights and accommodation sorted and paid for, so what we are looking for is a package of 3 golf courses to play in the area.



Can anyone advise of where we could look at booking to get the best deal? I did some searching and phoning around already and I have been offered:

Morgado, Alamos and Salgados for €309 PP (with buggy)

OR

Pinhal, Millenium and Luguna for €300 PP (with buggy)

Is that a good deal? Which trio is better? Have any of you guys played any of these 6 courses and are they any use?

We both play off 18 handicaps and are relatively big hitters, so long courses are no problem and don't care about difficulty too much, so long as they course is not boring or featureless.

Thanks a lot.

Joey

Where are you staying ?

thewobbler

I’d guess you’ll prefer the Morgado group of courses.

Alamos and Morgado are up on the hills with nice views. Salgados is pretty much on the sea.

Millennium is quite featureless - think smurfit without the string closing holes - and Laguna is a weak layout. I haven’t played Pinhal but it’s generally considered the strongest of Dom Pedro’s B tracks.

seanl77

I've played 5 of the six, would rather the pinhal group to be honest. Better clubhouses, facilities and very well maintained. Pinhal is a cracking course, Laguna is the weakest but not simple.... lots of water and tight fairways. The rough isn't going to be penal in any of these resorts. It's a win win situation to be honest, golfing in Portugal for three days, happy days!

seanl77

Should of mentioned, we are back in vilamoura in three weeks, staying in the dom pedro close to the casino. Very handy for transportation, with the shuttle buses only taking only ten minutes. We have a group of eight travelling this year, and we all wanted to play the pinhal trio again. A good mixture in our group, from 7 to 23 handicap

Putt it there

seanl77 wrote: »

Should of mentioned, we are back in vilamoura in three weeks, staying in the dom pedro close to the casino. Very handy for transportation, with the shuttle buses only taking only ten minutes. We have a group of eight travelling this year, and we all wanted to play the pinhal trio again. A good mixture in our group, from 7 to 23 handicap

Thats where we stay also - great spot

Baoithin66

Try the vale do lobo ocean and royal Courses. A step above Pinhal and they sometimes a 3 rounds for price of 2. Teetimes.pt are very good and have an office on the marina where you are staying. If you want to spend more there is the Old Course,Laranjal and the North and South Course but I think Vale do Lobo courses are better and have some brilliant sea views

Putt it there

Baoithin66 wrote: »

Try the vale do lobo ocean and royal Courses. A step above Pinhal and they sometimes a 3 rounds for price of 2. Teetimes.pt are very good and have an office on the marina where you are staying. If you want to spend more there is the Old Course,Laranjal and the North and South Course but I think Vale do Lobo courses are better and have some brilliant sea views

Agree with this . Teetimes.pt is also algarvepackage.com , same company with good deals . Vale do lobo courses are very good but just bear in mind that if staying in vilamoura you will be charged for transfers to and from their courses . Quinta do lago courses are very over rated bar laranjal which is class , although over rated they would still be well above Laguna and millennium .

Keano

Baoithin66 wrote: »

Try the vale do lobo ocean and royal Courses. A step above Pinhal and they sometimes a 3 rounds for price of 2. Teetimes.pt are very good and have an office on the marina where you are staying. If you want to spend more there is the Old Course,Laranjal and the North and South Course but I think Vale do Lobo courses are better and have some brilliant sea views

Cracking courses alright but they damn well know how to charge for a buggy!

Joeyjoejoe43

Thanks guys. Some great advise. I've had a look on that website and there are some fantastic offers.

I'm going to ring them up and see if my hotel is included in any of the free transfer offers... do any of you have any experience of that service... does it involve waiting around for ages or is it reliable...

Ideally we can get a package of 3 decent tracks, with buggys and transfers... If I can nail that for around €300 each I'll be happy out..

Zardoz

Unless you are a masochist avoid Salgados ,its an absolutely ridiculous course.
Its literally a lake that was partly filled in.
There is water everywhere ,there is no rough ,just water.
Water on both sides of fairways ,water around the greens ,behind the greens .
You would need to play the course a few times to know where to hit the ball as there are blind shots and doglegs ,wrong line and you are in the water .

Deep Thought

Joeyjoejoe43 wrote: »

Hi Folks,

I am heading to Portugal for a week in April. 2 families heading away together, but we have the green light for 3 rounds of golf for myself and my brother in law, so happy days!

We have flights and accommodation sorted and paid for, so what we are looking for is a package of 3 golf courses to play in the area.

Can anyone advise of where we could look at booking to get the best deal? I did some searching and phoning around already and I have been offered:

Morgado, Alamos and Salgados for €309 PP (with buggy)

OR

Pinhal, Millenium and Luguna for €300 PP (with buggy)

Is that a good deal? Which trio is better? Have any of you guys played any of these 6 courses and are they any use?

We both play off 18 handicaps and are relatively big hitters, so long courses are no problem and don't care about difficulty too much, so long as they course is not boring or featureless.

Thanks a lot.

Joey

Never played the 1st three

Millennium and Laguna are nice and you will enjoy them

Pinhal is a cracking course, but it’s not easy.

But you will still enjoy it.

DT

Joeyjoejoe43

Just an update here for anyone who stumbles upon this post in the future regarding courses to play in and around Villamoura and Albufeira.

We opted for 2 rounds in Amendoeira in the end. They have 2 quality championship courses - Faldo and O'Connor. I managed to secure a deal for 2 people for golf on 2 separate days, a buggy and hotel transfers to and from our hotel which was a 20 minute drive away for €420 all in. I managed this by calling them directly myself. I found the golf travel companies very expensive for similar options and often without a buggy.

Both courses are top class, but if you've only got time for one, I'd recommend O'Connor as it is a fairer test and definitely more suited to an 18 handicapper like myself. Well placed bunkers, loads of water and some lovely doglegs define O'Connor.

Faldo has some lovely holes too and although it has much less water, it is a much tougher test. The main reason is the elevated greens which have steep run offs just off the back and to the front of many of the greens. You need to be able to hit greens and stop the ball to do well around here.

I went around Faldo in 102 and O'Connor in 98 - not great, but not easy to play a track blind, especially the tee shots on par 4s and 5s..

Overall though, great courses, great clubhouse, great food, great staff. I'll Defo go back here again.

One thing to note, you absolutely cannot play Faldo without a buggy as there is some huge treks between holes.