Terras da Comporta, Dunas Course - From zero to the top of the world in around a year

While the Torre Course, Sergio Garcia's first design, will open in mid-2025, the Dunas Course has been welcoming golfers from all over the world since October 2023. The Par 71 course designed by David McLay-Kidd has established itself as one of the world's top courses in a very short space of time. At the 2023 World Golf Awards, the course was voted the best new design in the world - and of course in Europe - and even took pole position as the best golf course in the world in 2024.

‍

Challenging and varied - the Dunas Course

With its six tee boxes, the course plays between 3,847 and 6,646 meters. Golfers are greeted with a refillable water bottle, as sustainability is a top priority on the entire course.

The design of McLay-Kidd is sophisticated and, with its distinctive bunkers and waste areas, would also fit into the region around Pinehurst or the Australian Sandbelt. The course therefore demands the players' entire repertoire of shots and good course management - you can often only enjoy the course with its numerous elevation changes and apply the right playing strategy from the second round onwards.

Those playing the course for the first time are often impressed by the huge greens. The first hole measures a whopping 25 x 44 meters - and the architect naturally uses this for challenging undulations. You should avoid the green bunkers, which are often deep and raised at the front.

‍

‍

Dunas Course offers opportunities and risks

It is almost impossible to highlight individual holes on this exceptional course. The challenges are too varied. In some cases, you can use the terrain to your advantage. This can be seen, for example, on hole 6, a Par-3, whose mounds next to the green can cause the ball to roll onto the short grass. Hole 7, a short Par-5, is also worth highlighting, as here you play against the slope of the terrain almost from the start, and the elevated green is framed by a huge waste area to the right and behind.

Architect McLay-Kidd generally likes to use the sandy ground to make the course appear almost desert-like. You often have to decide whether you would rather play the shorter route with the risk of bunkers and waste areas, or take the slightly longer route around them.

An example of this is the thirteenth hole, a long par-4, which is initially clearly downhill. If you play straight ahead from the tee, waste areas and bunkers lurk towards the flag - if you play to the right from the tee, the hole becomes even longer, but also less sandy.

"Dunas Course is one of the most beautiful courses"

On the following Par-5, it is important to avoid the bunkers placed across the Fairway. Par 16 is a rather short 90-degree dogleg par 4, but the second part leads uphill. The highlight is the final Par 3 on hole 17, where the elevated green lying across the fairway is played over a waste area.

The Dunas Course is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful courses in the world, and together with its "young brother", the Torre Course, it makes the trip to Portugal all the more worthwhile. It will be interesting to see how this mammoth project develops in the future - at the moment you can still enjoy the course largely free of real estate along the course.