WHILE YOU’RE THERE

West Cliffs Golf Links is Portugal’s newest layout and is already being hailed as the best in the country, having opened in July this year.

Located less than an hour north of Lisbon (about three and a half hours north of the Algarve) on the magnificent Silver Coast, West Cliffs was designed by Cynthia Dye, from the world-renowned golf architecture company Dye Designs Group.

The spectacular par-72 clifftop links has been created over 200 hectares of natural landscape, rolling sand dunes and coastal vegetation, and offers sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean from each hole.

Andy Newmarch, editor of the respected Top 100 Golf Courses website, said: “West Cliffs is one of the very best European openings in recent years, if not the best.

“It’s exciting and dramatic, with quality holes from start to finish, and is simply exhilarating to play. There is no doubt in my mind that it is set to become a big hitter on the European golf scene over the coming years.”

Fitting seamlessly into its natural surroundings, West Cliffs measures a testing 7,003 yards in length but, thanks its modern design and a choice of several sets of tees.

“This has been an incredible project to be involved in, right from the moment when I first visited the site and saw what was possible 14 years ago,” Dye said.

“With its amazing location and terrain, West Cliffs is the most fantastic natural golf course site imaginable. The course was really already there for us, and it was our job to shape the holes to create an incredible dramatic experience.

“With a number of different ways to play each hole and the wide choice of tees, we believe that we have designed a course that golfers will want to play time and time again, and it’s a real pleasure for us to receive such great initial feedback.”