Oitavos Dunes Golf Club

The Oitavos Dunes golf course is a Links type course. Located four kilometers from Cascais and 40 from Lisbon, The Oitavos Dunes offers sublime views of the Atlantic Ocean and the Sintra mountain.

History and tradition

One would think that this majestic course has more than a hundred years of existence. Yet he is barely ten years old. But the site has been around for a very long time. In 1908. Carlos Montez Champalimaud, military doctor and vineyard owner, in fact discovered land covered with dunes in the far west of Europe on the Portuguese coast. And until his death in 1937, he notably planted many umbrella pines.

His son Carlos developed the estate and the real estate project in the 60s and his grandson, the current owner Miguel Champalimaud, brought the course out of the ground in 2001. The famous architect Arthur Hills wanted to respect as much as possible the land which was offered to harmoniously integrate the course into the natural beauty of the site.

The omnipresent wind a challenge for all golfers

The first holes extend on the slopes of a hill and the following ones to the bottom of the domain in the dunes. On the way out, we navigate between the umbrella pines and fairly technical holes. The view from the ninth hole, a small par 3, is awe-inspiring. The mountains that shelter the city of Sintra extend towards the sea to Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of the European continent.

But the most spectacular holes are on the return. The course becomes a real links with these holes always swept by the winds which come from the sea. The 10, wedged between gullies and an out of bounds on the right is particularly full-bodied. The 11, a short par 4 with its high start, is almost touchable in one, but it is difficult to keep your ball on the cramped green with diabolical slopes!

The 14th and 15th, two magnificent par 3s drawn in parallel, one high up to the north, the other in the opposite direction, tucked into the dunes, are unforgettable. If the fairways are mostly wide enough, the greens are not always visible from the tees. But the course, with impeccable maintenance, remains fairly straightforward and turns out to be a sacred golf test.

Among the most beautiful golf courses in Portugal and certainly in the world

It was ranked in 2013 by the American magazine Golf Magazine, 65th most beautiful golf course in the world. Only two routes from continental Europe have the honor of making this list. It should also be noted that Oitavos Dune was the first golf course in Europe and the second in the world to have the Certified Signature Sanctuary ?? Gold (environmental protection certificate).

The Portuguese Open was contested on this course in 2008 and 2009. And for the record, it was a Frenchman Grégory Bourdy who won the 2008 edition.

Amateur players are also regularly in the spotlight. The 4th edition of The Oitavos Classic took place from February 6 to 7. A competition which brought together more than 70 players from eleven different countries and which launched the 2015 season of a Resort which still has a bright future ahead of it.