Late breaks
course like a messy toddler’s dinner table, but here they are deeper, steeper and require some excavation work if you find them.
A new 68-bedroom hotel is being added to the area, with obvious designs on the golf market, although there is a spectacular 22km stretch of beach on its doorstep with its own beach bar perfectly placed to drink in a sunset while enjoying tasty tapas.
Our final stop was Ribagolfe I, as different in character to the others as the Marx brothers. This is a majestic course, woven into the natural cork forest with the marketeers happy to attach tags like ‘the Vilamoura of the north’.
This is the most expansive of the three, a tough old test but the breadth of its canvas means even higher handicappers can feel they have a chance.
Again, there’s wonderful detail in the design, with greens stacked up against you so that the right club choice is crucial. The short par 4 14th, tiptoes around the water hazard, adds a touch of variety and guile before the par 3 15th, from the back, needs brains and brawn to defeat the water in front of the green.
And, of course, it is possible to play these courses while staying in, and enjoying, the benefits of Lisbon with its hugely impressive historical heart.
We rested golf-weary limbs at the Pestana CR7. Football fans will quickly spot the link to Cristiano Ronaldo and, as you might imagine, this is a sleek and slickly presented hotel. And not without its quirks.
Ronaldo’s presence – and edge – is never far away: ‘Your love makes me strong, your hate makes me unstoppable’ proclaims the mantra above reception, while stationery is emblazoned with ‘The Time to Win’.
There are football references everywhere, including murals of fans’ faces emblazoned with flags on the walls of the stairways, and a football pattern on the room ceilings.
Even the sound of a crowd singing a Ronaldo chant is triggered as you walk down the corridors to your room.
But it is a Ronaldo free kick away from the waterfront and the Arco da Rua Augusta gates, and offers an entrance to a city that teems with history, a beguiling mixture of old and new.
Even the trams sit at either end of the spectrum – a smooth, modern carriage or something that clunks, clangs and charms its way through the streets.
Throw in foodie heaven at the
Time Out Market and this proves itself to be a city with plenty on the menu for travellers. So don’t be too quick to jump to conclusions like Poirot or Morse… and give Lisbon a sporting chance.
ENJOY A TASTE OF MALAYSIA
HAYES & JARVIS (01293 762
456, hayesandjarvis.co.uk) is offering a 10-night holiday to Malaysia from £1,899 per person.
The offer includes three nights at the four-star Berjaya Times Square Hotel located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, and seven nights at the five-star Shangri La Rasa Ria Resort and Spa in Borneo, which boasts a beachfront swimming pool and has a range of water sports on offer. Both hotels are on a bed and breakfast basis.
Price from £1,899 per person includes return international flights from London Heathrow with Malaysia Airlines.
Based on departures November 26. Ring to book.