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

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

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.

Portugal Invitational 2026: PGA Tour Champions Makes History in Vilamoura

The PGA Tour Champions is coming to Portugal. From 31 July to 2 August 2026, The Els Club Vilamoura hosts the Portugal Invitational — the first PGA Tour-sanctioned individual stroke play event on Portuguese soil, and the first PGA Tour Champions event staged anywhere in Europe.

Portugal Invitational 2026

A natural milestone for a region that has spent decades building one of the continent’s most compelling golf destinations.

What the Portugal Invitational Actually Is

The PGA Tour Champions is the professional circuit for golfers aged 50 and over — populated by Major winners and some of the most recognisable names in the modern game.

The Portugal Invitational carries a $3 million purse and a field of 78 players drawn from PGA Tour Champions members, World Golf Hall of Fame inductees, and Legends Tour players. It sits within a three-week European swing alongside the ISPS Handa Senior Open and the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship. (PGA Tour Champions official announcement)

The Field: A Who’s Who of Senior Golf

Bernhard Langer — holder of 47 PGA Tour Champions wins and six Charles Schwab Cups — heads a field that also includes three-time Major champion Pádraig Harrington, two-time Masters champion José María Olazábal, host Ernie Els, and Colin Montgomerie.

Retief Goosen, David Duval, Thomas Bjørn, and Ángel Cabrera are also confirmed. A Pro-Am is part of the week, giving amateur participants direct access to players of this calibre. (Golf Circus)

The Els Club Vilamoura: The Course at the Centre of It All

Els Club Vilamoura Portugal Invitational 2026

The Els Club occupies the former site of the Victoria Golf Course — an Arnold Palmer design that hosted the DP World Tour’s Portugal Masters from 2007 to 2022, producing winners including Shane Lowry and Pádraig Harrington.

Redesigned by Ernie Els, one nine retains its original routing while the other is an entirely new layout. The result is the fifth Els Club in the world and the first in Europe. (Golfweek via Yahoo Sports)

Why Vilamoura Was Always Going to Host Something Like This

Vilamoura is consistently ranked among the finest golf resorts in Continental Europe. Five golf courses, premium accommodation — including the recently arrived Hyatt Regency — and a food scene that takes itself seriously.

Vilamoura Marina View
Faro Airport sits 25 minutes away, with direct routes to 89 airports across 20 countries. Transfers and car hire are easily arranged. The tournament is backed by a five-year partnership between PGA Tour Champions, Arrow Global Group, Turismo de Portugal and Turismo do Algarve — this is not a one-off. (Portugal Invitational)

Planning Around the Portugal Invitational

Tournament week runs 27 July to 2 August, with the 54-hole competition concluding on 2 August. Spectator access and ticketing details will be confirmed closer to the event.

Whether the plan is to watch the professionals and then play the same course, or simply use the tournament as the nudge to finally book that Algarve golf holiday, the summer of 2026 has handed you a rather good excuse.