Lisbon Golf

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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The Open de Portugal Returns to PGA Aroeira Lisboa

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After nearly thirty years away, one of European golf’s most storied tournaments comes home to the Wentworth of Lisbon

This September, the pine forests south of Lisbon will host professional golf again. The 64th Open de Portugal takes place at PGA Aroeira No.1 from 17 to 20 September 2026, marking the return of tournament golf to a course that has been part of the game’s fabric in Portugal for over half a century. The event is part of the HotelPlanner Tour and carries a prize fund of €300,000, with 156 players competing over four days. (HotelPlanner Tour)

Open de Portugal Returns to Aroeira

A Tournament Older Than the European Tour Itself

The Open de Portugal has been running since 1953 — nearly two decades before the European Tour existed. When the Tour launched its inaugural calendar in 1972, this was one of the events on it. That kind of longevity is rare in professional golf, and it places the tournament in company that very few events on the current schedule can claim. For the Portuguese Golf Federation, this is one of the centrepiece moments of the national golfing calendar.

The Course and Its Reputation

PGA Aroeira No.1 opened in 1972, the work of architect Frank Pennink, and was quickly given the nickname ‘the Wentworth of Lisbon’ by visiting players. The comparison was always a compliment with range — the course measures 6,122 metres over a traditional par 72 layout, winding through dense pine forest, and precision rather than power is the dominant theme, with tall trees doing the work that fairway bunkers do elsewhere. It is a course that rewards patience and punishes optimism.

Aroeira Fairway and Green

In 1996 and 1997, the course hosted the European Tour’s Portuguese Open — and the 2026 return closes a gap of nearly three decades. Portugal’s only PGA National, PGA Aroeira has recently emerged from a period of significant renovation, with new tees, reshaped bunkers, and cleared woodland between fairways opening up the layout and showing the course at its best. The resort was also named Europe’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility 2025 at the World Golf Awards — recognition that the work done here goes beyond the scorecard.

What Brings 156 Professionals to Lisbon

The Open de Portugal is a Road to Mallorca event, awarding 2,000 points in the rankings that determine which players graduate to the DP World Tour at the season’s end. For many in the field, September at Aroeira will be one of the defining weeks of their year. The HotelPlanner Tour has been a reliable launching pad — recent winners at Royal Óbidos and other Portuguese venues have gone on to establish themselves at the highest level.

Aroeira Tee Lined Fairway

September at Aroeira

The conditions in mid-September around Lisbon are, frankly, excellent for golf. The resort sits within a protected pine forest on the Setúbal Peninsula, about 30 minutes from central Lisbon, with the Atlantic close enough to keep temperatures civilised. When the professionals leave, the course will be in tournament shape — and open for the rest of us.

PGA Aroeira No.1 is part of the Tee Times Lisbon Portfolio portfolio. If you would like to play the same course that hosts the 64th Open de Portugal, we can book your round.

Golf South of the Tagus: The Lisbon Region’s Most Underrated Course Cluster

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Dunas, Torre, Montado, Aroeira, Quinta do Peru, Troia — six reasons to cross the river.

Most golfers heading to Lisbon look west towards Cascais and Sintra, or north towards the Silver Coast. The courses south of the Tagus rarely make the shortlist. That is a mistake worth correcting.

Dunas da Comporta: The Best Golf Course in the World

An hour south of Lisbon, on the edge of the Sado Estuary, Dunas Golf Course at Terras da Comporta has done something no Portuguese course has done before. Designed by David McLay-Kidd — the Scottish architect behind Bandon Dunes — and opened in October 2023, the par-71 layout across 84 hectares of natural sandy terrain is the closest thing to a links course in Portugal.
South Lisbon Comporta Golf CourseThe awards came quickly and have not stopped. Dunas was named World’s Best New Golf Course and Europe’s Best New Golf Course at the 2023 World Golf Awards. In 2024, it collected three more — World’s Best Golf Course, Europe’s Best Golf Course, and Europe’s Best Eco-Friendly Golf Facility. It retained the Europe’s Best Golf Course title in 2025. It holds the number one ranking in Portugal on Top100GolfCourses.com and sits at number six in Continental Europe on the same list.

All of this within two years of opening. No course in Europe has made an entrance like it.

Torre: Sergio Garcia’s First Signature Course

Five minutes from Dunas, the Torre Golf Course opened in 2025 — the first complete design by 2017 Masters champion Sergio Garcia. The par-72 layout stretches to 6,575 metres from the back tees and draws heavily on Garcia’s favourite course, Valderrama. Small greens, tight fairways, risk-and-reward holes and short par-threes with real character.
South Lisbon Torre Golf CourseTogether, Dunas and Torre make Terras da Comporta a genuine 36-hole destination — two courses of Continental European Top 100 calibre, side by side, an hour from Lisbon. That combination did not exist two years ago.

Montado: Cork Oaks, Muscatel Vines, and an Island Green

Montado Golf Course lies on Portugal’s Blue Coast, around an hour south of Lisbon, close to the coastal town of Setúbal and the historic village of Palmela. The course unfolds beneath oak, olive, chestnut and pine trees, with creeks, natural lakes and muscatel vineyards winding around the layout — a setting that feels genuinely apart from the city, despite the short drive.
South Lisbon Montado Golf CourseThe signature hole is the 18th, where the green sits on an island and the round ends exactly as it should: with something at stake.

The course is in excellent condition and golfers are well looked after. For accommodation, the Crowne Plaza Caparica Lisbon — a DHM property on the Costa de Caparica — provides an excellent base, with attractive rates available for golf guests.

Aroeira: Two Courses, One Forest, One Very Good Reason to Stay Longer

Tucked in a pine forest adjacent to the coastal town of Caparica and just 15 miles from Lisbon, Aroeira features two golf courses. Frank Pennink’s Aroeira Pines Classic, which opened in 1973, was dubbed the “Wentworth of Lisbon” by the British press.
South Lisbon Aroeiras Golf CourseThe second course, designed by Donald Steel, occupies more uneven terrain with more water in play and is generally the tougher of the two. Aroeira is now part of the PGA portfolio — under new ownership that has invested considerably in both course conditions and service standards. Between them, the two courses offer enough variety to fill several days without moving your bags — and they are in better shape than ever.

Quinta do Peru: Quietly Exceptional

Set against the Arrábida Hills, Quinta do Peru was considered one of the top 10 golf courses in Europe by European Golf magazine and has hosted rounds of the European Challenge Tour. It sits between Sesimbra and Setúbal, routed across a high undulating plateau through more than 300 acres of pine forest, with views across the treetops and the Arrábida mountains as a backdrop.
South Lisbon Quinta do Peru Golf CourseIt earns its reputation quietly. The golfers who have played it tend to take care of the rest.

Troia: The One That Requires a Ferry and Rewards the Effort

Designed by Robert Trent Jones Senior and opened in 1980, Troia sits on a peninsula reached by a short ferry crossing from Setúbal, wedged between the Atlantic Ocean, the Sado Estuary and the Serra da Arrábida. When the Portuguese Open came to Troia in 1983, Sam Torrance was the only player to beat par for the championship.
South Lisbon Troia Golf CourseLike Aroeira, the course has since come under the PGA umbrella, with new ownership investing significantly in playing conditions and the wider visitor experience. The ferry crossing adds ten minutes and a considerable amount of anticipation.

From an award-winning course ranked the best in the world to a clifftop plateau with views across the Arrábida, the south of the Tagus offers some of the finest and most varied golf in Portugal.

Tee Times covers the full range of Lisbon golf holidays — courses, hotels, and tee times across all of the above.