FPG

Portugal Opens Its First Municipal Golf Course

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Oeiras Green Valley is not just another venue. It is a statement about who golf is for.

On 7 June, the Câmara Municipal de Oeiras inaugurated the Oeiras Green Valley – Academia Municipal de Golfe, on the site of the former Cabanas Golf course in Barcarena.

Inauguration of Oeiras Green Valley – Academia Municipal de Golfe at the former Cabanas Golf site in Barcarena, Oeiras, June 2026

The ceremony was presided over by Isaltino Morais, President of the Câmara Municipal, and Pedro Nunes Pedro, President of the Federação Portuguesa de Golfe. Ambassadors Jorge Gabriel and Isabel Silva were among the hundreds in attendance.

From Derelict to Open

The site had stood idle since July 2024. The Câmara Municipal de Oeiras acquired two plots at the former Cabanas Golf complex, totalling 43 hectares — 22 of which now form the course.

first-tee-shot-at-the-new-oeiras-course
The project, developed in partnership with the Federação Portuguesa de Golfe, transformed a dormant facility into what is described as the first municipal golf course of significant scale in Portugal. (Jornal Económico)

A Course for Everyone

The Oeiras Green Valley is not designed for a members-only clientele. It will be open to schools, universities, sports clubs, companies, and the general public. Isaltino Morais was direct about the aim — to offer the sport to anyone, regardless of social or economic background.

Aerial view of the Oeiras Green Valley golf course in Barcarena, near Lisbon, Portugal

Pedro Nunes Pedro, President of the FPG, put it plainly: “The recovery of this space represents excellent news for the development of golf in Portugal and for the democratisation of access to the sport.” (FPG)

A New Chapter for Lisbon Golf

The Lisbon area already holds some of the most compelling golf in the country. The two championship layouts at PGA Aroeira sit within pine forests south of the city. The Penha Longa Atlantic Championship course unfolds across the foothills of the Serra de Sintra. And Oitavos Dunes at Cascais remains one of the most distinctive links-style layouts in Europe.

Oeiras Green Valley does not compete with any of them. It serves a different moment in a golfer’s journey — the beginning of one.

The Lisbon region offers some of the most varied golf in Portugal. From Atlantic linksland to mature parkland, the range is broad and the quality is consistent. Explore our Lisbon golf holidays and plan your next round.


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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.