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The Old Course, ex
Vilamoura 1, is a challenging Par 73 set in a lush green landscape,
which has already hosted the Portuguese Open. It has recently
been redesigned to match the best European golf courses
This is the oldest of the three Vilamoura courses that form part of a
luxury resort development close to fantastic beaches. Course
designer Frank Pennink wanted to create a course in the Algarve that
would remind players of those beautiful, challenging inland British
courses.
Opened in 1969, it hosted the
Portuguese Open in 1979, won by Brian Barnes. The verdant
fairways of the course, renovated in 1997, run through surrounding
pine trees, adding an extra challenge to the game. This is a
very attractive course with a great variety of holes, perfectly
maintained due to a sophisticated new irrigation system and with
well-trained staff.
The Par 3 holes are all different and
visually very beautiful, representing the toughest challenge on the
course. They require careful selection of irons and near perfect
ball control. Over the rest of the course trees play a decisive
role, lining the doglegs and punishing any careless strokes. The
greens are small, especially on the shorter holes, where there is
simply no margin for error.
A unique feature of this course is
that it is a Par 73, but due to the change of position between the
holes 5 and 18, there are no longer four Par 5 among the last nine
holes.
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