GWD_MAY_16

COURSES
DAY THREE
Monte Rei
This will be the highlight of the trip, and
even the additional expectation of leaving
it until Day Three is unlikely to mean it
turns out to be a disappointment.
Now comfortably established as the
No.1 course in Portugal – it moved up a
significant four places to No.14 in our
benchmark 2015 ranking – Monte Rei is
one of the outstanding modern courses in
the whole of Europe.
Designed by Jack Nicklaus – who was
on site frequently before, during and after
construction – its opening in 2007 was
much anticipated.
It hasn’t disappointed, offering a
balance of pleasing aesthetics and
stringent challenge that only the elite
venues strike.
Helping in the former category is its
remote location in foothills between the
Serra do Caldeirão mountains to the
north and the Atlantic to the south. The
journey here is breathtaking in itself,
twisting and climbing from Quinta da
Ria on the coast into this desert-like
retreat among the hills.
Once on the runways of green between
the landscape’s arid burnt-orange native
soil, rarely is there a hole without a deeply
impressive view to absorb.
At well over 7,000 yards, it is also rare
for anyone to come here and shoot the
lights out. Even off forward tees, there is
much to penalise; if not the water on 11
holes, then the large bunkers or the
enormous undulating greens.
Monte Rei routinely impresses its
visitors, from Tour stars past and present
in Ronan Rafferty, Jarmo Sandelin and
Ernie Els to former England football star
Michael Owen.
Its consistency is outstanding and its
variety of holes – helped by its routing
sprawling in all directions across the site
yet managing to return to the clubhouse
after nine – is deeply impressive.
It isn’t especially cheap, something that
probably won’t come as a huge surprise,
but there aren’t too many courses on
Continental Europe that offer the same
bucket list ‘experience’ our big-name
courses do at home, and this is
categorically one.
PLAN YOUR TRIP
Where to play
Monte Rei
€190 (€135 twilight)
Quinta da Ria
€78
Benamor
From €55
Castro Marim
€85
Quinta do Vale
From €30
Where to stay
We stayed at Robinson Quinta
da Ria, an excellent hotel right
next to Ria and over the road
from Cima. It is the ideal base
for the whole trip; its proximity
to the courses is backed up by
indoor and outdoor swimming
pools, Spa with sauna and
fitness classes, tennis courts,
a football pitch, volleyball,
basketball, live dance shows in
a Theatre, child care, bikes for
hire and a Beach Bar. There’s
no fuss or pretention here –
everything just works as it
should. It is one of the most
impressive resorts we’ve
visited in the last two years.
w: robinson-ep.com or e:
quintadaria@robinson.de
When to go
The Algarve climate is superb,
with no off-season for golfers.
On a long weekend break like
this, you might be a bit more
concerned – compared to, say,
if you’re on a week’s trip – by a
day or two of poorer weather.
So look to May to September
to be confident of hot sun.
Getting there
Gloriously easy. Low-cost
airlines fly out of airports all
over Britain, so if you plan
ahead you can get there for
a ludicrously low price. Save
money on club carriage by
hiring with clubstohire.com.
From Faro, it is 35 minutes to
your suggested base at Quinta
da Ria and from there, you
never drive more than 15
minutes to the other courses.
May 2016 Golf World 121