My wife planned a nice, two week vacation to Portugal. I ended up only getting one round in (not a golf trip mind you!) at Troia Golf which is about an hour South of Lisboa.
When I first saw the golf course, I was thinking, wow, this course is really tight. However, once playing on the course it really did not play that way. And, lots of sand here, not just bunkers, it's sand everywhere. Course was designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr.
Troia, even from the back tees, is really short by today's standards, around 6300 yards from the tips. Perfect for me! It's only real defense is the lack of real width and a LOT of sand. The greens tend to be on the smaller side as well, but not very undulated, if even at all. The place itself looks to be on a slow decline, I liked the conditions as it really played fast and firm everywhere. I am sure they have real watering restrictions as well. It was not crowded at all, which was surprising, but there was a heat wave to deal with. The service was great, unlike my very limited Portuguese. They sent a driver to pick us up and took us back to our hotel after the round.
Here are some pictures of the course.
