Palmares Ocean Living & Golf in Portugal has completed a significant improvement programme at its 27-hole course, the latest step in the Algarve resort’s development as a modern golf and lifestyle destination.
The work was carried out this summer by Details – Hospitality, Sports, Leisure, Portugal’s largest golf course operator, which manages the resort. All three nine-hole loops, Alvor, Lagos and Praia, have been renovated to improve conditioning, playing surfaces and landscaping. A new short game area and a larger putting green have been built, and the resort has updated its fleet of greenkeeping machinery.
The resort is also changing its maintenance and irrigation practices, with the aim of cutting the total area it needs to water by 20 percent. By concentrating water on the main playing surfaces, the greenkeeping team hopes to improve efficiency, lower operating costs and strengthen long-term sustainability.
Using the new machinery, all of the tees are being resurfaced with a grass better suited to the Algarve climate. Each bunker is being rebuilt with new sand, and selected bunkers are being repositioned and refined in line with the original design strategy of architect Robert Trent Jones Jr.
Bruce Charlton, president of Robert Trent Jones II Golf Course Architects, said the team has increased the “fun factor” for golfers of all abilities by widening fairways and using short grass instead of sand as a defence on many green complexes. “We’ve also updated tee surfaces and bunkers,” he said.
Nuno Sepulveda, co-CEO of Details – Hospitality, Sports, Leisure, said the investment is part of a bigger vision for the resort. “As the management company, we took a hard look at the resort and it was clear this was what was needed to bring the golf course back up to the standards that a place like Palmares deserves,” he said. He added that the project will deliver improved playability, upgraded facilities and modernised infrastructure, “while putting sustainability at the core of how the course is run”.
Palmares opened as an 18-hole course in 1975, and Trent Jones Jr. redesigned it as 27 holes in 2011. It sits in the natural amphitheatre of the Bay of Lagos, descending towards the ocean, and combines parkland and links-style holes.
The course work follows a new portfolio of signature apartments and a new signature restaurant, Preceito, this year. The resort has joined the European Tour Destinations network, and the first JW Marriott hotel in Portugal is due to open there in 2028.
Gonzaga Liniers, general manager at Palmares, said the combination of the renovation, the clubhouse, the new leisure facilities and the arrival of the hotel means “every part of the resort is moving forward together”. He expects it to rank among the best golf destinations in Europe within two years.
Palmares is one of 13 golf venues managed by Details, whose portfolio also includes Vilamoura Golf, PGA Aroeira Lisboa, Troia Golf, Monte Rei, San Lorenzo, Vale Pisão and Costa Ragusa Golf in Sicily. Details is owned by Arrow Global.