Oitavos Dunes

[James Brown]

Played it today for the first time.  Amazing views and 4-5 really good holes, including a couple of really nice short par threes.  Not a great-great course, but very fun and much more walkable than I expected.  Curious what Doak score it gets in the new guide.  I would guess 6, maybe 7. 

[Jaeger Kovich]

I played it last year and I will fall out of my seat if Tom gives it a 7.

[John Kavanaugh]

I played it last year and I will fall out of my seat if Tom gives it a 7.

Exactly. 5 at best.

[David Davis]

I played it last year and I will fall out of my seat if Tom gives it a 7.

Exactly. 5 at best.

+1, I'm with you here.


Have you really been to Portugal? I'm not sure why but I thought the last trip to Scotland was the first golf trip abroad and it took an army of guys to convince you ;-)

[James Brown]

I played it last year and I will fall out of my seat if Tom gives it a 7.

Exactly. 5 at best.

A 5 seems a little harsh to me, even if you hate Arthur Hills.  The greens were really interesting. 


Always helpful to quote the bible:


5. Well above the average golf course, but the middle of my scale. A good course to choose if you’re in the vicinity and looking for a game, but don’t spend another day away from home to see it, unless your home is in Alaska.
6. A very good course, definitely worth a game if you’re in town, but not necessarily worth a special trip to see. It shouldn’t disappoint you.
7. An excellent course, worth checking out if you get anywhere within 100 miles. You can expect to find soundly designed, interesting holes, good course conditioning and a pretty setting, if not necessarily anything unique to the world of golf.

[John Kavanaugh]

Portugal?!? I thought O Dunes was in Mexico and I played it on a bender. I've got some boots from Portugal. They do great work, no doubt.

[John Kavanaugh]

Damn, this is that Drew Rogers course. Who cares what Doak thinks. Ask Drew!!! He is one of the finest young architects working today.

[David Davis]

I played it last year and I will fall out of my seat if Tom gives it a 7.

Exactly. 5 at best.

A 5 seems a little harsh to me, even if you hate Arthur Hills.  The greens were really interesting. 


Always helpful to quote the bible:


5. Well above the average golf course, but the middle of my scale. A good course to choose if you’re in the vicinity and looking for a game, but don’t spend another day away from home to see it, unless your home is in Alaska.
6. A very good course, definitely worth a game if you’re in town, but not necessarily worth a special trip to see. It shouldn’t disappoint you.
7. An excellent course, worth checking out if you get anywhere within 100 miles. You can expect to find soundly designed, interesting holes, good course conditioning and a pretty setting, if not necessarily anything unique to the world of golf.

Yeah ok, maybe 5.5 ;-)


Though I am very curious what Tom thinks of it.

[James Brown]

I played it last year and I will fall out of my seat if Tom gives it a 7.

Exactly. 5 at best.

A 5 seems a little harsh to me, even if you hate Arthur Hills.  The greens were really interesting. 


Always helpful to quote the bible:


5. Well above the average golf course, but the middle of my scale. A good course to choose if you’re in the vicinity and looking for a game, but don’t spend another day away from home to see it, unless your home is in Alaska.
6. A very good course, definitely worth a game if you’re in town, but not necessarily worth a special trip to see. It shouldn’t disappoint you.
7. An excellent course, worth checking out if you get anywhere within 100 miles. You can expect to find soundly designed, interesting holes, good course conditioning and a pretty setting, if not necessarily anything unique to the world of golf.

Yeah ok, maybe 5.5 ;-)


Though I am very curious what Tom thinks of it.

I say 6 because when I found out I was gonna be in Lisbon, it was my first reaction.  Oitavos is definitely in the dumb blond category.


One other thing I found myself thinking today was trying to rationalize how to subtract or seperate the views from the golf.  It's not fair to judge a single course to that standard of "would it be as good without the views" unless you compare it against a standard where you remove the ocean views from EVERY course and the reasses.  Where I ended up was that the premium on ocean views has gone up in the last 30 years.

[Greg Gilson]

I am with David. Its a 5 but if you twist my arm its a 5.5.

The key point is that it's bloody miles from an 8+ which is the notional plimsoll line for World Top 100. This course's Golf Magazine rating (plus its sisters in Korea & Thailand) have been critiqued here at length enough already.

[Joey Chase]

I am with Greg, it is a fine golf course elevated by being in Portugal.  I do enjoy the course and for my money, it is the best in Portugal.  I much prefer it with the rough edges to the Troon type experience at Monte Rei, and the unbelievably slow Vilamoura and Quinta do Lago courses.   

[Angela Moser]

it blows my mind that od is in the top 100 of the world... clearly some marketing rater convention type of thing going on here.


I call it a 5

[David_Tepper]

Video tour (of a sort ):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE6012QWgSU

[Tom_Doak]

I have not been to Oitavos Dunes and it is not really on my list of courses I'm intrigued to visit.  (Portugal the country, I'd love to visit; Portugese courses, not so much, though there was a course recommended here last year that I'd never heard of, and none of my co-authors have seen.). As for Oitavos,  I may content myself with letting Masa and Darius report on it, unless something else takes me to Portugal in the next couple of years.

[James Brown]

I got to play Oitavos Dune, Troia, and Aroeira on my trip last week.  Would not have crossed the ocean for them, as I was tagging along with my wife on a scientific conference, but solid good golf all around.