Playing golf in the Algarve when you are not a member

The Algarve's problem is not finding a course. It is that there are enough of them within an hour's drive to paralyse anyone with a week and a rental car.

Most golf writing here ranks courses as though everyone is choosing on prestige. In practice the choice is made on three things: how much you want to spend, how much of the day you are willing to give up, and whether you are playing with someone who does not really play.

Start with what you cannot get on

Worth knowing before you plan anything: The Els Club Vilamoura, redesigned from the former Victoria Course by Ernie Els, is private and members-only, and public tee times are not available. It appears on plenty of lists of courses to play in the Algarve. You cannot play it.

If you have half a day, not a full one

Vale de Milho in Carvoeiro is a 9-hole par 3 designed by Ryder Cup player Dave Thomas, with green fees published from 22 euros. It is the cheapest serious golf in the region and the most sensible answer when you have a morning rather than a day.

Balaia Golf Village Par 3 in Albufeira is a 9-hole executive course playable in under two hours, which is the honest reason to pick it.

Pine Cliffs is a 9-hole championship course by Martin Hawtree perched above the Atlantic in Albufeira, and it is the short round that does not feel like a compromise.

If you want the famous ones

Quinta do Lago South was designed in 1974 by William Mitchell and named Europe and Portugal's Best Golf Course 2024. Quinta do Lago North was completely redesigned in 2014 by Beau Welling with Paul McGinley in a 9 million euro project, and Laranjal opened in 2009 on a former orange grove in the Ludo Valley.

Vilamoura Old Course is the region's classic, designed by Frank Pennink in 1969 and named Portugal's Best Golf Course 2025 at the World Golf Awards. It is the one to play if you are only playing one.

Monte Rei in the Eastern Algarve is the Jack Nicklaus Signature course, a par 72 of 7,182 yards, played since 2007, and the drive east is part of the decision.

If you want the history

Penina has three courses including the Algarve's first 18-hole layout, built in 1966 by Sir Henry Cotton, who effectively started golf in this region. Pestana Alto in Alvor was his last design, opened in 1991. Benamor in Tavira was conceived by Cotton in 1986, and Vale do Lobo carries his name too.

Playing the Cotton courses in sequence is a genuinely interesting way to structure a week, and nobody sells it as a package.

If you want the newest thing

Ombria near Loulé opened in 2023, designed by Jorge Santana da Silva, and was named Europe's Best New Golf Course 2024. It sits inland at Tôr, away from the coastal resorts, which is most of its character.

The practical bits

If you are flying in without clubs, ClubsToHire has a shop in Faro Airport's arrivals hall and delivers to hotels across the Algarve, from 50 euros per set per week. That is usually cheaper than the airline will charge you to carry your own.

If the rust needs knocking off first, Villamoura Driving Range & Golf Academy at Pinhal runs lessons using Flightscope and TrackMan, along with junior camps.

And if you are playing with people at very different levels, Castro Marim is three 9-hole courses that combine into 18-hole rounds, which gives you flexibility that a single fixed layout does not.

What we would book

One marquee round, one Cotton course for the history, and a par 3 in the middle of the week so the week is not entirely golf. That leaves the afternoons free, which in the Algarve is the point.