TERRAS DA COMPORTA, PORTUGAL
What makes it special? It’s the first European mainland design by David McLay Kidd, who designed the Castle Course at St Andrews.
An hour south of Lisbon, the Dunas Course was, after years of anticipation, officially opened to the public in June 2022 and the buzz has been backed up by reality. The US-based Scot’s most famous design is the spectacular Bandon Dunes in Oregon, and the Dunas has similarly been inspired by the architect’s Scottish roots. Sited on the edge of the Sado Estuary Nature Reserve, it sneaks through pine forest with fairways fringed by the native sand dunes and the sound of waves crashing in from the Atlantic Ocean echoing through the trees.
