What’s it like to play the hottest new golf venue in the world, Terras da Comporta?

Heritage and history are prized assets in the world of golf, but even the greatest stories need to start somewhere. The Dunas course at Terras da Comporta is brand spanking new; a venue fresh out of the box which is already earning itself a reputation as one of the hottest courses in world golf.

David McLay Kidd is the man behind the design of the Dunas, which has already been named as the World’s and Europe’s Best New Golf Course at the 2023 World Golf Awards – andI was part of a group lucky enough to play the course just a few months after it officially opened in October 2023.

The fanfare is understandable. Scottish-born McLay Kidd already has his name on some of the most acclaimed courses in the world. Bandon Dunes, the jewel in the crown when it comes to his portfolio, is one of the most highly-regarded courses in the US, and he has the likes of the Castle Course at St Andrews, Beaverbrook Golf Club and Machrihanish Dunes on his CV too.

His latest creation is so new that the rest of the Terras da Comporta site is still catching up with it. There's much planned for the enormous slab of pine tree-covered land by the Alentejo coast. The sprawling site comprises 365 hectares of land in the Alcácer do Sal municipality, around an hour and a half from Lisbon. The whole project is the result of Vanguard Properties’ acquisition of assets from the Herdade da Comporta Real Estate Fund in 2019 – and the Dunas course is the first of two courses planned for the site.

What is here already, though, is very impressive.

Terras da Comporta

There’s an elegant, if relatively modestly sized, structure serving as a restaurant, pro-shop and clubhouse which is the first thing you see when you rock up at the first tee. The current structure will eventually be superseded by a grand building sitting atop the final hole; the climb up the 18th fairway will be framed by a blockbuster clubhouse which is in development, providing a stunning finish.

Before you tee off, there’s one of the most inviting driving ranges you’re likely to find anywhere. Stacks of Bridgestone practice balls wait to greet you on an elevated grass-hitting area, looking out onto an enormous slope cut to echo the rhythm of the expansive fairways and waste areas you’ll find on the course. There’s a vast putting green with three separate tiers and a chipping area too.

The elevated first tee of the Dunas course behind it offers the first of many stunning downhill views players get to experience during their round. It was ethereally tinged with morning mist for both my visits and gave a strong indication of the defining feature of the course as a whole: sand. Lots and lots of sand.

The hole and, indeed, the course as a whole are defined by it. I was still finding Portuguese sand in my bag weeks after flying back to slate-grey London, which gives some indication of how much time I spent chasing errant tee shots during my stay.

Terras da Comporta

McLay Kidd’s courses are well known for using expansive waste areas, and it feels like there’s more sand on the Dunas course than most public beaches. Looking down the hill, you see it running all the way down the left side of the generous fairway for the opening drive, before players are forced to avoid well-placed bunkers around the greens to get their round off to a good start.

The view from the first tee is also a snapshot of McLay Kidd’s ethos, showcasing the dramatic, sweeping qualities of the natural landscape, and appealing to design purists from the first moment. McLay Kidd’s reverence for the links courses of his home country is clear; it must have been a joy to work with the dunes of the Portuguese coast here, producing a timeless, organic design that always leans into the landscape. On some holes, I felt it had the feel of supersized, historic Scottish links rather than a brand new course in mainland Europe. Only, with the sort of dramatic land elevation that is less common on windswept Scottish coastlines, and with rather better weather.

It’s always well manicured, but never over-engineered, and that ethos seems mirrored in the site’s attitudes towards design and sustainability. Director of Golf, Rodrigo Ulrich, joined us after our opening round and his commitment to maintaining the integrity of the landscape was clear. When asked why there were no grandiose, engineered water features on the course, he simply replied: “Why would there be?”

He also expressed the aim of Terras da Comporta to create the most sustainable resort in Europe, if not the world. The site has invested in a computerised irrigation system, constructing and maintaining the Dunas course using environmentally-friendly practices, ruling out concrete and using only wood for houses onsite.

Terras da Comporta

Ethos and principles are important, of course, but what really matters for punters is how it translates into the playing experience – and that’s ensured thanks to a variety of factors. The immaculate conditioning, which will stand up to any course in Europe, is one of them. But it’s the playful nature of the course that will stick around in the memory long after you’ve returned home and emptied the sand from your shoes.

The design is constantly asking questions of the player while providing plenty of choice off the tee in another defining feature. The driveable par 4 eighth is one of the most ingenious on the course, with a wild green complex that offers up incredibly tricky pin positions. This, one of the friendlier holes, lets golfers decide between taking on the beastly bunkers or playing safe and laying up before the green. Make the carry to the left of the hole and you’ll find a hidden channel of fairway which feeds all the way towards the flag – a discovery which feels like stumbling upon a secret shortcut in a video game. Come up short, and you’ll be left with a tricky shot to get the ball over the steep lip of the sand trap and onto the green, offering tantalising risk and reward. The Dunas will appeal to golf design purists for its technical excellence, but holes like this are reminders that this game is meant to be loads of fun, too.

The fourth hole has another fairway tucked off the left, which is less visible from the tee box than the more obvious space on the right, and offers another indication of the quirkiness hiding just below the surface of this stunning course. For all the choices that the design offers, though, you simply have to hit the big stick well here to score as the course rewards good drives better than most: the distance off the tee and the waste areas between tee box and fairway mean you can forget hitting irons for safety.

Terras da Comporta

The rough, at least on our visit, isn't too penal. You'd better hope your sand game is on point, as the extensive waste areas and cavernous greenside bunkers provide the main defences on the course. That considered, plenty of prestigious courses can leave you feeling battered and bruised, but the Dunas course has ingenious ways of making itself playable to all. The tee box areas are the longest I've seen on any course, meaning holes can lengthen or shorten often by hundreds of yards at a time, to present the perfect challenge for any player, with up to six options changing the distance to the pin.

Off the back tees, the first becomes a monster opening hole, and the par three third becomes one of the most testing you’ll find anywhere. It’s a brute of a par three off the tips at 260 yards, but considerably tamer off the equivalent of the yellow tees at around 200, with the 60-yard green well protected by an enormous waste area flanking the hole – which is bad news if your miss is left.

Over the course of our two rounds, it became only too apparent that your distance putting will get a workout round here. While the fescue greens weren't running at lightning speed during our visit, perhaps unsurprising given the time of year, the sheer size of most of them meant you were absolutely delighted to take a two-putt on most occasions.

The view down the hill on the 13th has to be one of the most impressive in Portugal, if not Europe. Tee shots as inviting as that one don’t come around too often, and the chance to rip a drive down the hill there is pure golfing joy – just make sure you don’t waste it. Elsewhere, standout holes come in two runs of three – there’s a fantastic stretch from the petite par three sixth through the stroke index one seventh and the drivable eighth. On the back, there’s the 16th with a gentle dog leg left, the stunning par 17th guarded by sheer bunkers and the imposing 18th winding its way up the hill to the finish.

Terras da Comporta

After finishing up at the Dunas, it’s not hard to see how McLay Kidd’s designs have become some of the most highly prized – and popular – in world golf. If you want a tee time at Bandon Dunes in Orlando, you’d better put your name down now as there’s currently a two-year waiting list.

If you want a tee time at the Dunas, though, you can get on much sooner for a green fee of €185 – a snip, relatively speaking.That could well rise, of course, once the infrastructure around the course gradually comes around – and there’s an awful lot planned. There’s the second “Torre” course being put together, which is designed by Masters champion Sergio Garcia. Houses and villas are being planned for the site, but won't flank the sides of holes like so many European developments. A number of hotels, too, will be built there.

While there's not yet a place to stay on site, we were made most welcome during our trip at Octant Hotel Santiago - a boutique hotel around a 40-minute drive from the course. There you'll find very comfortable, contemporary rooms, many which featuring outdoor seating areas that proved welcome suntraps after a day on the course, as well as an outdoor pool for cooling off in the heat.

Octant has an excellent, open kitchen in the main dining space, serving dishes inspired by traditional, rustic classics from the local area, and while Portugal and Spain might be renowned for their meat, they were very accommodating when it came to preparing vegetarian options too. Local wine is showcased here as well, thanks to a tasting from a organic producer, which can be booked by guests. If you're after a sophisticated spot to stay when playing the Dunas course, Octant offers some pretty enticing stay and play packages.

The fact that there's still so much to be built on the site itself, though, brings home just how early into its journey Terras da Comporta is. There’s clearly potential for the site to become one of the great golfing destinations in mainland Europe, but the Dunas course does not need any extra window dressing to stand out as a truly special course. Heritage and history will come, naturally, as the years progress – for now though, it seems fitting that a new golfing story is beginning with such an exceptional, timeless design.

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