Dunas, Torre, Montado, Aroeira, Quinta do Peru, Troia — six reasons to cross the river.
Most golfers heading to Lisbon look west towards Cascais and Sintra, or north towards the Silver Coast. The courses south of the Tagus rarely make the shortlist. That is a mistake worth correcting.
Dunas da Comporta: The Best Golf Course in the World
An hour south of Lisbon, on the edge of the Sado Estuary, Dunas Golf Course at Terras da Comporta has done something no Portuguese course has done before. Designed by David McLay-Kidd — the Scottish architect behind Bandon Dunes — and opened in October 2023, the par-71 layout across 84 hectares of natural sandy terrain is the closest thing to a links course in Portugal.
The awards came quickly and have not stopped. Dunas was named World’s Best New Golf Course and Europe’s Best New Golf Course at the 2023 World Golf Awards. In 2024, it collected three more — World’s Best Golf Course, Europe’s Best Golf Course, and Europe’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility. It retained the Europe’s Best Golf Course title in 2025. It holds the number one ranking in Portugal on Top100GolfCourses.com and sits at number six in Continental Europe on the same list.
All of this within two years of opening. No course in Europe has made an entrance like it.
Torre: Sergio Garcia’s First Signature Course
Five minutes from Dunas, the Torre Golf Course opened in 2025 — the first complete design by 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia. The par-72 layout stretches to 6,575 metres from the back tees and draws heavily on Garcia’s favourite course, Valderrama. Small greens, tight fairways, risk-and-reward holes and short par-threes with real character.
Together, Dunas and Torre make Terras da Comporta a genuine 36-hole destination — two courses of Continental European Top 100 calibre, side by side, an hour from Lisbon. That combination did not exist two years ago.
Montado: Cork Oaks, Muscatel Vines, and an Island Green
Montado Golf Course lies on Portugal’s Blue Coast, around an hour south of Lisbon, close to the coastal town of Setúbal and the historic village of Palmela. The course unfolds beneath oak, olive, chestnut and pine trees, with creeks, natural lakes and muscatel vineyards winding around the layout — a setting that feels genuinely apart from the city, despite the short drive.
The signature hole is the 18th, where the green sits on an island and the round ends exactly as it should: with something at stake.
The course is in excellent condition and golfers are well looked after. For accommodation, the Crowne Plaza Caparica Lisbon — a DHM property on the Costa de Caparica — provides an excellent base, with attractive rates available for golf guests.
Aroeira: Two Courses, One Forest, One Very Good Reason to Stay Longer
Tucked in a pine forest adjacent to the coastal town of Caparica and just 15 miles from Lisbon, Aroeira features two golf courses. Frank Pennink’s Aroeira Pines Classic, which opened in 1973, was dubbed the “Wentworth of Lisbon” by the British press.
The second course, designed by Donald Steel, occupies more uneven terrain with more water in play and is generally the tougher of the two. Aroeira is now part of the PGA portfolio — under new ownership that has invested considerably in both course conditions and service standards. Between them, the two courses offer enough variety to fill several days without moving your bags — and they are in better shape than ever.
Quinta do Peru: Quietly Exceptional
Set against the Arrábida Hills, Quinta do Peru was considered one of the top 10 golf courses in Europe by European Golf magazine and has hosted rounds of the European Challenge Tour. It sits between Sesimbra and Setúbal, routed across a high undulating plateau through more than 300 acres of pine forest, with views across the treetops and the Arrábida mountains as a backdrop.
It earns its reputation quietly. The golfers who have played it tend to take care of the rest.
Troia: The One That Requires a Ferry and Rewards the Effort
Designed by Robert Trent Jones Senior and opened in 1980, Troia sits on a peninsula reached by a short ferry crossing from Setúbal, wedged between the Atlantic Ocean, the Sado Estuary and the Serra da Arrábida. When the Portuguese Open came to Troia in 1983, Sam Torrance was the only player to beat par for the championship.
Like Aroeira, the course has since come under the PGA umbrella, with new ownership investing significantly in playing conditions and the wider visitor experience. The ferry crossing adds ten minutes and a considerable amount of anticipation.
From an award-winning course ranked the best in the world to a clifftop plateau with views across the Arrábida, the south of the Tagus offers some of the finest and most varied golf in Portugal.
Tee Times covers the full range of Lisbon golf holidays — courses, hotels, and tee times across all of the above.
