Destination Golf Portugal 2017 * | Page 64

Aroeira II Ribagolfe I Aroeira I Once described as the ‘Valderrama of Portugal’, Ribagolfe I provides a superb test of golf in a unique and natural setting 40 minutes from Lisbon, with the experience akin to millionaire’s golf with not a house to be seen and each hole sheltered from the view of the others. Set in a beautiful cork oak forest and boasting superb oversized greens, Ribagolfe measures 7,370 yards from the back tees and has hosted the first stage of the European Tour Qualifying School since 2009. Aoeira I is located 20 minutes from Lisbon, to the south of the River Tagus, Aroeira offers golfers the perfect combination of a championship course set amidst exuberant natural surroundings. Frank Pennink designed this course in a pinewood dotted with wild flowers, which is a nature reserve inhabited by many different species of birds. Because of its densely wooded nature, the British press have christened this course the “Lisbon Wentworth”, due to its similarity with the famous golf course near London. In 1996 and 1997, Aroeira hosted the Portuguese Open on the European Tour. Make sure not to leave the area before taking some time to contemplate the vast expanse of sand, sea and sky close to the course at Costa de Caparica, a beach that lies at the foot of a fossile reef (a protected natural area). Aroeira II A new course in the Lisbon area, this course has a fairly different concept of golf from Aroeira I, consisting of large fast greens. Despite the inviting nature of its greens, the course becomes increasingly difficult as you work your way around the front nine. Unlike its older sister course, the new course has bunkers on the fairways, some of them in the Scottish style of pot bunkers. But the sand traps are not the only obstacle that have to be taken into account as the course also have five large lakes, water is a fairly constant hazard, particularly at the last nine holes. 62 Aroeira offers golfers the perfect combination of a championship course set amidst exuberant natural surroundings.