Inspirational

Double Glory at Vidago Palace — AQUAPOR Circuit Finds Its Round Three Champions

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Luciana Reis’ 142-stroke aggregate topped every single competitor, while João Miguel Pereira is making a habit of winning.

For a tournament hosting 73 golfers in the hills of northern Portugal, the 3rd AQUAPOR Circuit 2026 produced remarkably clear outcomes. At Vidago Palace on 16–17 May, Luciana Reis (Arquitectos) and João Miguel Pereira (Aroeira) claimed the titles in the Women’s and Men’s competitions respectively — and both had to earn them. (Federação Portuguesa de Golfe)

Aquapor 3rd Round Winners

Reis Sets the Standard for Everyone

Luciana Reis led after day one, returning a 70 (-2) featuring seven birdies, three bogeys, and a double bogey — a scoreboard that tells a story, not a fairytale. She closed with a composed 72 (par) on day two to finish at 142 (-2). Not just the best Women’s score. The best aggregate across all 73 competitors — fourteen women and 59 men. None of them scored lower. Francisca Rocha (Oporto Golf Club) took second in the Women’s category with 151 (+7), a margin that reflects just how controlled Reis was over two days. (FPG — Round 1 Report)

Pereira Holds Firm as the Field Slips

João Miguel Pereira entered day two level with Diogo Rocha (Oporto Golf Club), both having shot 71 (-1) on the opening round. Pereira’s second-round 74 (+2) wasn’t vintage form — but Rocha’s 79 (+7) made the arithmetic straightforward. Pereira won by a single stroke over João Maria Ivo de Carvalho (Estoril Golf Club), who closed with a tidy 71 to finish at 146 (+2). Rocha, so dangerous after day one, slipped to joint sixth. Golf, as ever, reserves the right to change the conversation overnight. (Federação Portuguesa de Golfe)

The Venue: Vidago Palace

Vidago Palace Golf Course

Vidago Palace is no ordinary backdrop for a national circuit event. Originally laid out by Scottish architect Mackenzie Ross in 1936 as a nine-hole course, it was reimagined by Cameron & Powell and reopened as a full par-72 championship layout in 2010. Set in the Oura Valley in northern Portugal — roughly an hour south of Chaves, near the Spanish border — the course winds through a centenary park before opening out into dramatic hillside terrain. The 17th, a par five played from the highest to the lowest point on the course, is the signature hole and one of the more theatrical finishes in Portuguese golf. The clubhouse was designed by architect Álvaro Siza Vieira. (Vidago Palace)

A Season Taking Shape

Three events into the 2026 AQUAPOR Circuit, and Pereira already has two wins — a fact the rest of the field will be tracking with increasing attention. The circuit opened in January at Morgado do Reguengo, where Amélia Gabin (ADCQL) and José Miguel Franco de Sousa (Estoril Golf Club) took the honours. March brought Quinta do Perú and a first circuit win for Pereira alongside Francisca Salgado (Vale de Janelas). Vidago makes it a double for the Aroeira golfer in 2026. Five champions across three events; five different stories.

What’s Next on the Circuit

The AQUAPOR Circuit resumes at Palmares on 18–19 July — a course that trades northern mountain drama for Algarve coastline, with the beach at Meia Praia stretching out below its fairways. Estela follows in October, and the season concludes at Belas Clube de Campo in November.

If the circuit’s next stop has you thinking about a Portugal golf trip of your own, explore the Algarve’s finest courses — including Palmares — with Tee Times.

From Campus to Fairway: Portugal’s Universities Make Their Golf Debut

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Golf in Portugal has always had one eye on the future. From junior development circuits to the national training centre at Jamor, the FPG has spent years building the infrastructure of a sport with serious long-term ambition. The first University Team Golf Tournament, held at Jamor in 2026, is the latest piece of that puzzle — and arguably one of the most significant.

A New Competition on Home Ground

The Centro Nacional de Formação de Golfe do Jamor is state property, integrated within the national sports complex and managed by the FPG under a 25-year agreement. Its nine-hole course, inaugurated in 2013, has since been recognised with GEO Certified® status for its sustainability credentials. Located 20 minutes from central Lisbon, it made a fitting home for a tournament with growth at its heart.

Jamor 9 Hole Golf Course

The FPG organised the event with a stated goal: to bring golf closer to the university community. The mixed-team format — students from across Portugal’s higher education institutions competing together — added a dimension that pure strokeplay rarely achieves. It was competitive and sociable, which, when you’re trying to grow a sport inside a campus culture, is more or less the point.

Universidade de Lisboa Take the Title

The inaugural title went to Universidade de Lisboa. Their team — captained by Eduardo Bianchi and comprising Inês Simão Gonçalves, Mafalda Soares, Clement Guertener, Enzo Blanc, Tomás Massena, William Bao, Francisco Jorge, and Dinis Isidro — played with enough composure to claim a clear victory on the day. IP + Iscte – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa finished second, with Universidade Católica Portuguesa in third. (Federação Portuguesa de Golfe)

Competitors First University Tournament Portugal

Nine teams, one course, and a first edition that delivered on both atmosphere and competition. The FPG’s instinct to stage it as a team event — rather than an individual ranking exercise — was well-judged. Universities rally around collective identity. Golf in Portugal now has a platform to benefit from that.

Portugal in the Wider Picture

This tournament doesn’t exist in isolation. Portugal already features as a qualifying venue in the R&A Student Tour Series — an international circuit designed to provide elite student golfers outside the USA and Mexico with high-performance competition. The Series was launched in 2019, and the R&A invests close to £500,000 annually in student and university golf through its Foundation Scholars programme. (The R&A)

What the FPG has done here is to complement that elite pathway with something broader — a domestic platform for students who love the game, regardless of whether they’re chasing amateur titles. The Portugal golf courses that host the international circuit are a different world from Jamor’s nine holes. But the pipeline runs in one direction.

Portugal’s golf ecosystem has momentum on multiple fronts. The Algarve remains one of Europe’s most established golf holiday destinations, the FPG’s youth development circuits have been expanding their reach, and the Portugal golf competitions calendar grows more varied each year. The first University Team Golf Tournament isn’t just a feel-good footnote to all of that. It’s evidence that the federation is thinking carefully about where the next generation of Portuguese golfers comes from — and making sure there’s a competition waiting for them when they arrive.

Jordan Spieth at the PGA Championship: One Major Away from Immortality

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Golf’s Most Exclusive Club

Six golfers in history have won all four major championships. Gene Sarazen. Ben Hogan. Gary Player. Jack Nicklaus. Tiger Woods. Rory McIlroy. Jordan Spieth has won three of them — and this week at Aronimink Golf Club, he gets his chance to join that list.

Jordan Spieth Chasing Grand Slam

“If I can win one more tournament in my life, it would obviously be this one,” Spieth said ahead of the 108th PGA Championship. The man knows what is at stake. So does everyone else. (PGA Tour)

A Game Trending in the Right Direction

Spieth arrives at Aronimink feeling good about where his game is. He led the field in strokes gained off the tee at last week’s Truist Championship — and at a Donald Ross course where precision from the tee is everything, that is exactly the statistic you want heading into a major week. The greens are undulating, the 180 bunkers demand respect, and the par-threes separate the contenders from the field. Spieth, at his best, is built for all of it.

108th PGA Championship Trophy

“My game has been getting better and better. It’s plenty good to have a chance to win,” he said at his Aronimink press conference. He has had stretches this season where he has led the tour in multiple statistical categories. The pieces are there. Aronimink is the week to put them together. (PGA Championship)

The Course Sets Up Well

Aronimink rewards the things Spieth does best. Past winners at this venue have been defined by elite putting — touch, trajectory, and reading greens under pressure. That is Spieth’s signature. A player who can drive it straight and hole putts when it matters has always had a chance here. Right now, Spieth is doing both. (Golf Digest)

Aronimink 108th PGA Championship

Gary Player — the only man to have won a major at Aronimink, claiming the 1962 PGA Championship on these very fairways — believes Spieth has everything he needs. “Jordan has the talent to return to world number one,” Player said. “He simply needs to reconnect with his fundamentals.” High praise from a nine-time major champion who knows this course better than anyone alive. (Golf Magic)

The Moment, the Narrative, the List

Rory McIlroy completed his own career Grand Slam at Augusta just last month — and Spieth has spoken openly about the inspiration it provided. “The easiest way to do that is to not try to, in a weird way. Just go out and get ready for the first hole, get a good game plan in and attack it the way it needs to be attacked,” he said. That kind of clarity — knowing exactly what you want and exactly how not to chase it — is the mark of a player who has been in big moments before. (Sky Sports)

He has won the Masters. He has won the US Open. He has won The Open Championship. The PGA Championship is the only one left. The narrative is written. The stage is set. Aronimink opens Thursday.

If the golf is pulling you towards a screen this week, we understand entirely. And when you are ready to swap the sofa for a fairway, Tee Times will have your Algarve golf holiday waiting — courses, transfers, and deals included.