GOLF | FEATURED COURSE- MONTADO GOLF RESORT
A golfers paradise!
By Stuart Masson
The Montado Golf Resort lies some 16 miles south of Lisbon, among the cork oaks, orchards and muscatel vineyards near the old roman castle town of Palmela, and is the perfect venue for the holidaying golfer who likes to walk from bedroom to course in 5 minutes! All 93 rooms in the 3 storey hotel, which opened in 2009 and still has the feel of a sparkling new venue, look out over the lake on the 9th or 18th holes.
The course first opened in 1992 and the original design was by Duarte Sottomayor, whose golf architecture career started under the tutelage of Robert Trent Jones and who designed the Estela links course north of Oporto, which opened in 1989. In 2005 a restructuring of the course was conducted by Jorge Santana da Silva, another Trent Jones pupil, and if you have played Pinheiros Altos and Quinta do Lago’ s new Laranjal course on the Algarve then you are familiar with his entertaining, challenging yet enjoyable style of golf architecture.
As you drive down the resort’ s private driveway, the practice ground and a practice putting green are opposite the front of the hotel, just the other side of the car park from the 1st tee – very handy for warming up the long game and preparing your putting for the very quick and undulating Penncross greens out on the course.
The course lies on a gently undulating terrain, no steep climbs, and the holes wander back and forth through cork oaks and olive trees. Although many holes run side by side the trees, lakes and ditches separate them adequately and there should be no distraction from neighbouring players. Although the course is not physically testing the greens are certainly mentally challenging – hit the wrong side of some pin positions and a three putt may be a triumph! Although
64 | Summer 2012 | www. portugal-life. net |