Next Stop, Egypt: Tee Times Heads to the 2026 World Golf Awards

Posted on by

One title to defend, one gala dinner, and a dress code that makes no mention of shorts.

For more than three decades, Tee Times has been sending golfers off to play somewhere sunnier than home. This week the team gets a taste of its own medicine. From 5 to 7 November, the golf tourism industry gathers at Madinaty Golf Club, on the edge of Cairo, for the 13th World Golf Awards — and Tee Times is on the guest list, nominated once again for Europe’s Best Golf Tour Operator. The sun cream is packed. The pyramids are optional.

2026 World Golf Awards Logo

A First for Africa

Established in 2014 and part of the World Travel Awards family, the World Golf Awards recognise the courses, destinations and tour operators that make golf travel work. This year’s edition is the first ever held on the African continent. (Daily News Egypt via RTJ II)

It is not all speeches and canapés. Delegates get a networking golf day on 6 November and the World Golf Awards Classic on the morning of the 7th, before the gala ceremony that evening. Golf first, envelopes later — the correct order of things. (World Golf Awards)

The Host: Madinaty Golf Club

Madinaty is a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design set within the master-planned city of the same name, on the eastern edge of New Cairo. It is owned by Talaat Moustafa Group and managed by Troon. (Golf Business News)

Madinaty Golf Club, New Cairo, Egypt, host of the 2026 World Golf Awards

The hosts are no strangers to the trophy cabinet. Madinaty has been named Egypt’s Best Golf Course five times and Africa’s Best Golf Course three times at the World Golf Awards, and in 2022 it staged the Asian Tour’s first visit to Egypt, where Andy Ogletree claimed his first professional title. (World Golf Awards; Troon) A home advantage, then, for the club if not for the rest of us.

Madinaty Golf Club, New Cairo, Egypt, host of the 2026 World Golf Awards

Defending the European Title

Tee Times arrives in Egypt as the reigning champion, having been named Europe’s Best Golf Tour Operator 2025 at last year’s awards. Retaining a title, as any club champion will tell you, is considerably harder than winning one.

The trophy cabinet back home is not exactly bare. Before taking on Europe, Tee Times was named Portugal’s Best Inbound Golf Tour Operator in 2020 and 2021, and Portugal’s Best Outbound Golf Tour Operator in 2022. Not bad for a business that started out in Vilamoura in 1993. (Destination Golf)

Thank You for Your Votes

Voting has now closed, so to every client, partner and loyal reader who took a moment to back us: Thank You. The nominations belong as much to the golfers who keep coming back as to the team in the office.

The winners are announced at the gala on the evening of 7 November. Whatever happens in Cairo, we will report back — suitably sunburnt.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Browse our Portugal golf holidays and Spain golf holidays and see why the nominations keep coming.

Lagoa Wine Tourism Forum Goes Iberian

Posted on by

Two days, two countries and one rather sensible idea.

Lagoa has spent the past four years quietly making the case that the Algarve has more to offer than beaches and birdies. On 12 and 13 November 2026 the Lagoa Wine Tourism Forum returns to the Centro de Congressos de Lagoa for its fourth edition, and this year it has invited the neighbours. Spain is coming to dinner.

2026 Lagoa Wine forum Iberian Edition

What the Forum Is About

Organised by the Algarve Tourism Board and the Município de Lagoa as part of the INOVA ALGARVE 3.0 programme, the Iberian Edition brings together wine producers, hoteliers, academics and tourism authorities from both sides of the border. The agenda treats wine as a reason to visit a place: its links with food, culture and local identity, and how a region builds a wine brand that travellers actually remember.

The conference sessions are free to attend. A separate paid ticket covers the experiences, which include lunch and visits to local wineries. The programme and both kinds of ticket are available through BOL.

Why a Golf Blog Cares

A fair question. This is a trade event, and most of our readers would rather debate a putting line than tannin structure. But the reason the forum exists matters to anyone planning an Algarve trip: the region is pushing hard to make wine a year-round draw, encouraging visitors inland and outside the summer peak. (Portugal Resident)

Couple enjoying red wine on an Algarve winery terrace, with a golf bag beside them and vineyards behind

That happens to be the season for Algarve golf holidays too. From November to April the fairways are at their best and the roads at their quietest. More cellar doors open to visitors means more to do on the rest day — and a better answer for the non-golfing partner than “there’s a nice pool”.

Lagoa: Two Courses and a Lot of Vines

Lagoa is one of the Algarve’s four wine DOCs, alongside Lagos, Portimão and Tavira, and the municipality is home to some of the region’s best-known estates. Last year’s forum took delegates to Arvad Wines and to Morgado do Quintão, a family estate near Carvoeiro where old vines and a long lunch table do most of the talking. (The Portugal News)

Aerial shot of Vale da Pinta golf courseAerial shot of Gramacho Golf Course

The golf is equally close at hand. Vale da Pinta and Gramacho sit side by side above Carvoeiro. Ronald Fream designed Vale da Pinta, which opened in 1992; Gramacho began life as a nine-holer and was extended to 18 by Fream with former world number one Nick Price. Vale da Pinta is the headline, threading its way through olive and carob trees; Gramacho, with 27 greens for its 18 holes, is the friendlier complement. Neither is far from a decent glass of red. (Visit Portugal) (Portugal Golf)

Where to Stay

Pestana Carvoeiro Golf Resort puts you between both courses, which makes the first tee time painless. Tivoli Carvoeiro, host of the forum’s previous two editions, sits on the cliffs above the village with the Atlantic for company.


Pestana Carvoeiro Golf Resort beside the Vale da Pinta and Gramacho courses
Pestana Carvoeiro Golf ResortTwo courses, no commute

Tivoli Carvoeiro on the clifftop above Carvoeiro and the Atlantic
Tivoli CarvoeiroClifftop views, forum pedigree

Vila Vita Parc resort gardens at Porches
Vila Vita ParcGrand gardens, its own vineyard

For something grander, Vila Vita Parc at Porches takes its wine seriously enough to own a vineyard — Herdade dos Grous, in the Alentejo, admittedly, but nobody is checking passports at the cellar door. (Vila Vita Parc)

Browse our Algarve golf holidays and pair a round at Vale da Pinta with an afternoon among Lagoa’s vines.

Jean Hugo Hits 62 to Win Portugal Legends Championship

Posted on by

A pro-am title, a course record and a six-shot win. Jean Hugo did not so much visit Comporta as annex it.

When the Staysure Legends Tour arrived at Pinheirinho for the inaugural Portugal Legends Championship, the talk was all major champions and Ryder Cup captains — our preview was no exception. By Sunday 1 November the trophy belonged to a 50-year-old South African in his rookie season on the over-50s circuit. The form book has been quietly returned to the shelf.

Hugo with Portugal Legends trophy

Ten Under and Not a Bogey in Sight

Jean Hugo opened with 66 and 68 and went into Sunday one behind Paul Lawrie. He then made five straight birdies on the front nine, an eagle at the 11th and birdies at the 15th, 17th and 18th. The result was a bogey-free 62 — ten under par and a new course record, eclipsing the 65 Phillip Archer had posted only the day before.

That left him on 196, 20 under and six clear, for his second Legends Tour title in three starts after the Reignwood Legends Championship in Beijing in October. “I was just trying to get it over the water on the last, never mind making birdie, so the record is a bonus,” he said. Some bonus. (Golf Today)

A Carnoustie Reunion and a Cold Putter

Hugo made his professional debut at the 1999 Open at Carnoustie — the one Paul Lawrie won. Twenty-seven years on, the two were paired together on Sunday, with Lawrie defending a one-shot lead. The Scot’s putter declined to take part, and a level-par 72 dropped him into a tie for fifth on 11 under. England’s Greg Owen closed with 65 to finish second on 14 under, with Sweden’s Johan Edfors third and Andrew Marshall fourth. (Golf News)

The week’s strangest statistic belonged to Scott Drummond, who made nine birdies in a row on day one to equal the world record on the professional tours. He followed it with two 74s and finished tied 32nd, which is golf in a sentence. Stephen Gallacher, named in our preview, finished tied 13th but still leads the Order of Merit. Nuno Campino, the only Portuguese professional in the field, finished 54th. (RTP)

Where the Amateurs Came In

Hugo’s week actually began on Thursday 29 October, when his team won the pro-am at 37 under alongside amateurs Manuel Quinta, Tiago Costa and Carlos Molinelli. Twenty-one teams took part, each led by a Legends Tour professional. Luís Figo and Ricardo Pereira, playing with Peter Baker and Rui Coelho, finished fifth at 32 under. Henrique Duarte had a hole-in-one at the 15th — his first, after 55 years of trying. He chose his moment well. (Record)

The amateur involvement didn’t stop on Thursday. Through the Legends Experience programme, amateurs played the tournament itself alongside the professionals, with a prize for the leading amateur. Bento Louro took it at three under and called it a chance to learn from the best. Thanks to Hugo, he also had a front-row seat for a course record. (Record)

A Week in Comporta

A Comporta Golf Course

Our preview has the full Comporta picture: the course’s history, the rice fields and the long lunches. For the rest of the week, there’s the Dunas Course and the Torre Course at Terras da Comporta, with Almalusa Comporta or Quinta da Comporta to come back to in the evening.

Browse our Lisbon golf courses and build your own Comporta week — no course record required.