The course is a showpiece for the imagination of Frank Pennink, one of the most prolific golf course designers in Portugal. At Palmares, which is close to the beautiful and historic western Algarve town of Lagos, Pennink has created a course of undeniable beauty and quality.

The reputation of the course - a par 71 - derives from its skillful use of two different kinds of landscape, as well as its excellent level of maintenance. So, after starting out on a difficult dog-leg par 4 from a high tee, the golfer soon gets into the links, which run behind Meia Praia, a great expanse of white sand and high dunes.

At hole number six the course turns back inland in the direction of the clubhouse. From here on the player faces just the opposite challenge, with holes designed along gently undulating valleys bordered by pine trees, and affording beautiful views over Lagos Bay and the Monchique Mountains. It is a perfect mixture of links and inland golf.

From the veranda of the clubhouse, set between holes 9 and 10, the view covers 25 kilometers of the Atlantic coastline.