Championship VenueLinks Classic

Penina — Sir Henry Cotton Championship Course

Portimão, Algarve · Designed by Sir Henry Cotton (1966) · Est. 1966

Penina is where Algarve golf began. Designed by the three-time Open champion Sir Henry Cotton and opened in 1966, it was the first 18-hole course ever built in the region — laid out on flat former rice fields near Portimão, where Cotton famously planted more than 360,000 trees to give the course its structure and shade. It changed the destiny of the Algarve, and it remains a grand, mature championship test.

The Sir Henry Cotton Championship Course is a long, flat par 73, flanked by streams, water hazards and ditches, with subtly sloping, raised greens that catch out the careless. It is a course that rewards straight, well-judged golf rather than sheer power, and it has hosted the Portuguese Open ten times — a measure of the regard in which it is held.

Today it is the centrepiece of the five-star Penina Hotel & Golf Resort, with two shorter courses alongside and a grand old clubhouse steeped in Cotton's history.

Holes worth knowing

1The water-and-ditch holes — Cotton defended his flat rice-field canvas with streams and ditches that demand precise, well-judged approach play throughout.
2The raised, subtly sloping greens — Penina's putting surfaces are famous for catching out even careful golfers; distance control is everything.

Highlights

The first 18-hole course in the Algarve (1966)
Designed by Open champion Sir Henry Cotton
Ten-time Portuguese Open host
360,000 trees planted on former rice fields

Good to know

→This is the birthplace of Algarve golf — Henry Cotton lived, taught and is remembered here, and the grand old clubhouse is steeped in his history.
→It is flat but far from easy: the ditches, streams and raised, subtly sloping greens punish loose approach play, so distance control and a straight ball win here.
→The resort has two shorter courses alongside the Championship for a relaxed second or third round.
→Nearby Portimão has the big beach of Praia da Rocha and good seafood, while the fishing village of Ferragudo and the Moorish castle town of Silves are well worth a visit.
→It sits in the western Algarve near Alvor — whose estuary boardwalk is a lovely walk — handy for Palmares and the Lagos coast; Faro airport is 45 minutes.