<my musings>
Anyone who knows us, knows we enjoy golf. Golf courses are typically situated in the most scenic areas of any location and in many cases kept in pristine condition. The course in Dunas Comporta is a perfect example of this.
</my musings>
While traveling we often encounter like minded explorers. Case in point: our new friends Marilyn and Mark. Tom and I met them while golfing in central Oregon last year and have continued our budding friendship. Over dinner a few months ago they described a beautiful course they played when they visited Portugal: The Dunas Comporta golf course, in the Algarve region of Portugal. It was designed by David McLay Kidd, the architect of the famous Oregon Bandon Dunes course. We were sold, adding a stop along our way north from The Algarve. After a few weeks of travel, we all jumped for joy at the prospect of golf, particularly on such a prestigious course.
During our drive from the Algarve we pass many cork trees. They are easy to spot since they look like Donald Duck trees, naked from the waist down. The trees are stripped of the cork gently and without harming the tree and apparently the cork (bark) grows back and they are harvested again every nine years.
We arrive in Comporta and it’s clearly at the start of a major development. Our lodging is a tidy three bedroom home with plenty of storage and an inviting outdoor living space. We immediately wish we had more days here.
Next we decide to drive to the golf course to see the lay of the land (and browse the pro shop). Its miles inside the park before we reach a gated checkpoint. We are allowed entrance after they check that we have an actual tee time on the following day.
After several more minutes of winding roads, wondering if we’re lost, we finally reach the temporary clubhouse. It’s beautiful and everything here is top notch. The main clubhouse is still under construction, so for now they’re using a smaller driving range clubhouse. It’s still nicer than most I’ve ever seen. As for the course, it had no water hazards, which is great but the rough is all sand and the course has dozens of bunkers.
In the morning we head back to the course, get our carts and some nice swag. We practice with our rental clubs and hit the course. I don’t want to bore you with tedious golf stories, but suffice it to say, we were all blown away by the beauty of the course. Surprisingly, very few golfers considering the pedigree of the course. I expect it will be difficult to get tee times in a few years. For now, tee times are one hour apart..nice!
Once again I proved to myself that I’m not a good golfer, but enjoyed watching Tom hit several pars and Steve got TWO birdies on the back nine!
We celebrate by dining at the beach front restaurant JNcQuoi Beach Club, pronounced “je ne sais quoi”, French for “I don’t know what”. It should have been called “I don’t know how much” – by far our most expensive meal. Thanks again for the recommendation,Marilyn & Mark!
<more musings>
I’m not a great golfer, but almost always enjoy a round. The key to being a happy golfer, for me at least, is to keep my expectations nice and low. Eighteen holes and each one, “begin again” along with some bag-tag-swag. And, of course, selective memory.
</more musings>
Looks like so much fun! I may have to take up golf!!
Some describe golf as a beautiful walk ruined. Some have watched me golf, apparently.
Seriously, I think you’d enjoy it!
WOW! WOW! WOW!
The clouds in the first few photos are amazing!!! Too bad those crazy white dudes kept getting all up in your frames doing weird jumping jacks!🤣
The golf course is extraordinary⛳️🏒
I guess the sticker shock from your dinner bill temporarily blocked your usual descriptive highlights…guess we won’t go there. Thanks Marilyn and Mark!😊
I’ve never golfed yet I enjoyed the tutorial AND the photos…very much❣️
Carry on❣️❣️❣️
💚💜💙
I didn’t want to bore you all with (tall) tales of golf. Hope to have something more interesting to say about our latest Portugal town: Sintra. Coming soon. 😎
Hey, if you study those jumps you’ll see there’s no “privilege” involved.
I’ve seen you golf Julianne – I have a hunch you’re selling yourself short here…just sayin’
Doesn’t matter tho – such a gorgeous place🤩
Yay for golfing! The course looks amazing… I like your attitude about your game. How did you get your name so fast on the Dunas bag tag? I love it ❤️
Just one of the perks of playing a round of golf at Dunas. They have an engraving machine onsite and delivered our personalized bag tags within five minutes of completing our round.