Golf
Portugal's golf history
is one of the oldest on mainland Europe-providing, of course, one disregards the
ancient origins of such games as kolven which the Dutch indulged in, and the
rudimentary sport of paganica which the Romans played with enthusiasm. Golf in
Portugal completed its centenary in 1990.
The first course in the Algarve was a small, rudimentary layout built in the
1920`s between Portimão and the nearby beach of Praia da Rocha. Because of a
lack of freshwater, its 'greens' were 'browns' and consisted of a mixture of
sand and oil.
A few hardy addicts played on this course for a little more than a decade before
it became extinct.
It was the legendary Henry Cotton who put the Algarve on the golf map. In the
mid-sixties at Penina he designed the first proper grass course. It was the
first of three he designed in the Algarve, a place he loved and made his home
for almost 30 years.
During the 1970`s the 1980`s and on into the first half of the 1990`s, golf
courses mushroomed all along Portugal's south coast as it became increasingly
attractive to holidaymakers from northern Europe.
Over a dozen of the
Algarve's best golf courses are within 30 minutes drive of Casa Gerardo.
Click on the button below to take you to an external site with all the details you will need.
