Onyria Palmares Golf

Few stretches of coastline in European golf carry the same visual drama as the Algarve's western reaches near Lagos, and Palmares sits squarely in that landscape — rolling over a mix of duneland, pine forest, and hillside terrain that spills toward the Meia Praia beach and the Ria de Alvor estuary. Robert Trent Jones Sr. laid out the original course in 1975, and his routing made full use of the elevation changes and sea views that define this particular corner of Portugal. A significant redesign by Cristiano Silvestri in 2012, commissioned after the Onyria group acquired the property, added 9 holes and reshaped much of the experience, bringing the course firmly into the modern resort era without abandoning the Atlantic panoramas that make it memorable.

The layout is genuinely varied — some holes thread through umbrella pines and feel almost woodland in character, while others open onto sweeping views of the bay that stop play-partners mid-conversation.

Lagos, a few kilometers to the east, is one of the Algarve's most characterful towns, with a proper old quarter and Atlantic-facing beaches that draw visitors well beyond the golf season. Palmares functions as a high-quality destination resort in that context, the kind of place where the round itself is only part of the draw.