When 19,000 Golfers Chase One Dream — and Portugal Hosts the Finale

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A tenth edition on new shores

The Porsche Golf Cup World Final has a new home. After nine editions in Mallorca, it came to Portugal — to Penha Longa Atlantic Course and Oitavos Dunes, two of the finest courses in the country. To get here, 71 golfers outlasted nearly 19,000 competitors across 240 qualifying tournaments in 20 countries. Only the best make it to the World Final. This year, the best came to Portugal.

Porsche Golf Cup Finalists

A Worthy Stage

Penha Longa Atlantic Course and Oitavos Dunes are two of the most respected layouts in Iberia. Penha Longa climbs and tumbles through forested hillsides west of Lisbon, demanding patience as much as precision. Oitavos Dunes plays along the Atlantic coast with the wind as a permanent third opponent — it consistently ranks among the finest courses in Europe, and on its day it proves the point. Together, they did the occasion full justice.

Germany take the team title

The most coveted prize of the week, the World Final Team Trophy, went to Team Germany for the very first time. They edged out Team Chinese Taipei in second and Team Mexico in third, with all three podium sides honoured at a festive gala on the closing evening. It was a particularly emotional victory — Team Germany had only qualified some three weeks before the event.

Germany Porsche Cup Winners

The individual honours

Charlotte Wille of Team Germany took the women’s gross title and contributed decisively to her team’s Trophy win, making her the standout performer of the week. The men’s gross went to Claes Nilsson of Team Sweden, who posted a 3-under-par score on the opening day at Penha Longa and never looked back.

More than a scorecard

What distinguishes the Porsche Golf Cup World Final from a standard amateur tournament is the atmosphere surrounding it. A dedicated Players’ Lounge at Penha Longa served as the gathering point between rounds for all 154 guests. Gala evenings, a separate tournament for non-playing guests, and Porsche Cayenne Electric test drives along the coastal roads of the Portuguese Riviera — the week was designed to be remembered long after the scorecards were handed in.

Porsche Golf Cup on the Course

What it says about Portugal

The choice of Portugal over Mallorca for the tenth edition was not accidental. The courses here are world-class. Oitavos Dunes consistently ranks among the finest in Europe. Penha Longa offers something rarer still — a genuine test that rewards local knowledge as much as raw talent. When events of this calibre start choosing Portugal, it tells you something.

The Algarve and the Lisbon region between them offer more than 60 courses at every level. Whether you are chasing your own personal final or simply the round of your life, Tee Times Golf Holidays can put together a golf break that delivers.

 

PGA Championship – A Week at Aronimink

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The 108th PGA Championship is well under way at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, and it has already delivered plenty to talk about — not all of it from the leaderboard.

The 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club

A Donald Ross Masterpiece

Aronimink is a genuine classic. Donald Ross designed it in 1928, considered it his finest work, and the course has done little to argue against him since. Precision over power is the governing principle — rolling fairways, demanding bunkering, and green complexes that have refused to yield cheaply to the world’s best players for nearly a century. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, who won last year’s PGA Championship at Quail Hollow, arrives at Aronimink looking to defend — despite three consecutive runner-up finishes on tour heading into the week. A field of 156 players is competing for the Wanamaker Trophy, with around 200,000 spectators expected through the gates across the week.

It is, in short, a major championship firing on all cylinders.

The Weather Has Its Say

Stormy weather at Aroniminik

The weather, however, has not totaly cooperated. Play was suspended on Tuesday during practice rounds, resuming just under two hours later. Saturday’s third round was halted again at 8:15 AM due to dangerous conditions on the course, with starting times pushed back and tee times restructured across both nines. May in the Delaware Valley is not without its charms, but it comes with no guarantees.

The PGA Championship will produce a worthy champion and a week’s worth of compelling golf. But for those watching from home and feeling that familiar urge — to play rather than observe — May on the Iberian Peninsula remains one of the more straightforward arguments in European golf travel.

May on the Iberian Peninsula

South Course Quinta do Lago

May is one of the more reliably beautiful months in the golf calendars of both Portugal and Spain. The Algarve’s courses tend to be at their finest condition of the year — fairways lush from the winter rains, greens running true, the mornings warm and still. The Costa del Sol tells a similar story. Neither is a secret, exactly, but both bear repeating when the alternative involves weather warnings and shelter announcements.

We cover Portugal and Spain in full, from tee times to hotel stays and transfers. If the mood is taking you, it’s a good time to start looking.

Green Fees in the UK causing valid concern

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£495 for a Round of Golf. Seriously.

Green fees in the United Kingdom have always been climbing. But 2026 has delivered a number that deserves a moment of quiet contemplation: £495. That is the peak visitor green fee at Royal Birkdale this summer — up 24% on last year, and enough to make even the most devoted links pilgrim pause mid-swing.

Royal-Birkdale-Golf-Course-Southport

The Numbers Are Startling

Royal Birkdale is not alone. In 2021, the average green fee across the UK’s top 100 courses was £161. In 2026, that figure stands at £265 — a five-year increase of nearly 65%. The most recent annual rate of increase has outpaced inflation by more than three times. Fifteen courses in Great Britain and Ireland now charge £400 or more for a peak visitor round, up from just eight last year. Add a caddie to your Birkdale round and you are looking at well north of £575 before you have bought a sandwich. 

A Round at Birkdale or a Weekend in the Algarve?

Here is where it gets interesting. £495 is, give or take, the cost of a return flight from London to Faro, two nights in a decent Algarve hotel, and a round at one of the finest courses in Portugal — with change left for a very good dinner and a bottle of Alentejo red. The arithmetic is not flattering to Southport.

Golden-Triangle-Golf-Quinta do Lago

Portugal’s top courses — Quinta do Lago South, Monte Rei, Oitavos Dunes, Vilamoura Old — charge green fees that rarely exceed €180 at peak. They are played in reliable sunshine, on immaculate surfaces, with the Atlantic visible from half the tees. Nobody is suggesting they are Royal Birkdale. But at a third of the price, on a warm May morning with no wind chill involved, they make a compelling case.

The Links Dream Is Not Dead — Just Expensive

To be fair to Birkdale, The Open Championship returns there in July for the 11th time — and playing a major venue in its Open year is a genuine bucket-list experience. The club has also launched a ballot offering UK golfers a round for £99, which is a thoughtful gesture. But for the majority of visiting golfers, £495 is simply the asking price, take it or leave it. 

There Is Another Way

Golden-Triangle-Golf-Vilamoura-Old

For golfers who want exceptional courses, reliable weather, and a holiday that does not require remortgaging, the Algarve, Lisbon, and the Costa del Sol have been making that argument for years. In 2026, with UK green fees climbing past £495, the case has never been easier to make.

Browse our Portugal golf holidays and see what £495 can really buy you.