Pinheiros Altos Algarve

About Pinheiros Altos

Pinheiros Altos course is based in the Quinta do Lago estate and is one of the harder golf courses in the Algarve. It now consists of three sets of nine holes (until the start of this year it was an 18 hole course), as well as extensive practice facilities. We played the Pines Course and then the Corks Course.

When we played them, the new holes had only been open for a month and were lacking in maturity, but given time to grow, they will become challenging and picturesque golf holes. Both courses are lined with pine trees and have numerous water features to contend with.

Playing off the front tees, as the back tees were closed for reseeding, we found many of the holes to be reachable with two good shots, including hole 4 of the Pines which is a par 5, yet I hit in with a wedge on my second shot (it was a rather good drive though). Therefore if you are accurate in your shots, then there is no need to get into trouble by risking big drives off the tee. The undulating terraine must make for a challenging walk, fortunately we had a buggy!

Many of the holes on the Corks Course are more open and forgiving such as hole 3 and 4 and the two par 5´s, 7 and 8 that run parallel to each other and allow for a bit of fairway swapping which seemed to be quite popular amongst our fellow golfers.

The Olives Course, which we didn´t have time to play, is part of the original 18 and is also home to the course´s signature hole - the 17th hole - a par 3 over water to an island green, based on the famous 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass, home to the Player´s Championship. Bring plenty of golf balls for this one!!

Pinheiros Altos is an extremely popular course for every standard of golfer, including celebrities it seems, as we passed a very famous face on the practice green. The clubhouse has a good menu, a fun after game atmosphere and very friendly waiters.

Pinheiros Altos Photos & Map (click to enlarge)