Championship VenueBucket List

San Lorenzo Golf Course

Almancil, Algarve · Designed by Joseph Lee & Rocky Roquemore (1988) · Est. 1988

San Lorenzo is, for many, the most beautiful course in the Algarve. Opened in 1988 to a design by the American architects Joseph Lee and Rocky Roquemore, it winds gently through umbrella-pine woodland in the unspoilt south-east corner of the Quinta do Lago estate, right on the edge of the Ria Formosa estuary and its silver salt-water lagoons.

It is not long — par 72 over about 6,250 yards — but it is a genuine strategic test, and its setting is sublime: the middle holes run down to and along the water, with the sixth and seventh among the most scenic and memorable in Portugal, and egrets and flamingos often the only company. It has long been ranked among the finest resort courses in continental Europe, served by the five-star Dona Filipa hotel.

Golf here is as much about the experience as the scorecard — a round of quiet, pine-scented beauty by the lagoon. Designed by Joseph Lee and opened in 1988, San Lorenzo winds along the edge of the Ria Formosa Natural Park, its closing holes running beside the lagoon and its birdlife — a setting many players rate the most beautiful in the Algarve. Access has historically been tied to the neighbouring Dona Filipa hotel and the resort, so tee times are limited and the course stays blissfully uncrowded.

Holes worth knowing

16th & 7th — the heart of the round, played down to and along the Ria Formosa lagoon, with water, birdlife and some of the most photographed views in Portuguese golf.
2The closing holes by the estuary — quiet, strategic golf beside the water where position off the tee is everything.

Highlights

Often called the most beautiful course in the Algarve
On the edge of the Ria Formosa lagoons
Rated among Europe's top resort courses
Served by the five-star Dona Filipa hotel

Good to know

→The Ria Formosa alongside teems with birdlife — flamingos, egrets and storks are a regular sight from the fairways; bring binoculars as well as clubs.
→It is short but strategic and utterly beautiful: play for position, savour the walk down to the lagoon at the 6th and 7th, and don't rush — the setting is the point.
→It sits within the Quinta do Lago estate, so it pairs naturally with the South and Laranjal courses for a multi-round stay, with the five-star Dona Filipa hotel alongside.
→The unspoilt Ria Formosa beaches — reached by boardwalk or by little ferry from Quinta do Lago — are among the loveliest in the Algarve; Faro's old town is 20 minutes away.
→It is a premium fee, but for beauty and setting there is nothing quite like it in the region — book well ahead, especially in spring and autumn.