Pestana Carvoeiro Resort - A Great Villa Golf Holiday Option
Pestana Carvoeiro is located near the lovely small fishing town of Carvoeiro in the Algarve known for its white sandy beaches and of course its numerous high calibre Golf Courses, great for a golf break. Carvoeiro resort is set up between 2 of the onsite Golf Courses the Gramacho and Pinta with a wonderful selection of apartments, townhouses and villas, the accommodation here is outstanding with the many of the villa’s having their own private pools. Even though this is a self-catering resort it is not as expensive as it could be to eat and drink with a pint of larger being approx. 3.5 euros and a club sandwich being approx. 8 euros. The resort is just under an hour away from Faro Airport therefore it is possibly a good idea to hire a car, this way you will also have a vehicle to be able to access other golf courses and anywhere else in this fishing town that takes your fancy.
If going to the Pestana Carvoerio Resort, there are courses on site but within a short drive there are a total of 5 courses that you will be able to play when stopping here on your Golf Holiday including the highly thought of Vila Sol which in style is compared to Vilamoura old course with its dense tree lined fairways. I have detailed each one below and given an overview of what you can expect from these courses during a golf break or golfing holiday.
Gramacho
A quirky, boutique course which was designed for the resort by Nick Price. It is an 18-hole golf course but with the added bonus of having 27 greens and multiple teeing areas. Meaning you could play a few times at Gramacho and feel it to be a different course every time. The course has 4 tough par 3’s with the shortest being about 190 yards with the toughest (arguably) being the 10th due to playing into an island green. Although when playing this course, you will have to watch out for the outcrops of rock, although subtly lined with various types of trees (including almond and fig) you won’t be disappointed with the beauty of it. Another advantage to playing this course is that you won’t need to set your alarm too early as this course is within a short walk of the accommodation so there wont be a lot of travelling to get here.
Vale da Pinta
The Course which has been well designed in its natural landscape and framed by the Monchique Hills. Due to the landscape this has been built into the course demands shot making and careful consideration of club selection due to the number of dog legs and hazards (definitely more of a thinker’s course than a grip it and rip type course)! The one thing here is it really feels like every hole is completely different which keeps things interesting and fresh, which is what you want on any golf break. Vale da Pinta was host to a European Seniors Tour event in 2007 showing the high standard of the course.
Again, no early alarm needed here as this course is on resort so there is no driving required to get here, just a short walk from the resort.
Vila Sol
A course that has a similar feel to the old course at Vilamoura (possibly because it is in Vilamoura) but is enjoyable for golfers at all levels. The Course is tight, and you will definitely want to avoid hitting driving on some holes. Vila Sol opened in 1991 with 2 loops of 9 holes (Prime and Challenge) and there is now an additional 9-hole loop which was opened in 2000 called the Prestige so you could get 27 different holes in one day here if your up for it! If you are booking a golf holiday, who wouldn’t be? The second nine is probably the most enjoyable, 14 is an uphill par 5 with water guarding the front of the green and 18 is a lovely drivable par 4. Vila Sol is approx. 45 minutes from the resort so make sure when booking tee time, you give yourself enough time to get there. The Course has very a very good driving range and practice facilities for you to be able to loosen up following the short drive.
Silves Course
The shortest of the 5 courses only measuring 5200 yards from the yellow tee’s but you can obviously play from the white tee’s stretching it out to a stern testing 6700 yards. Silves is a more typical resort type course which is unusual from this part of the world with wide open fairway but if you miss them it is still playable from the rough, large water hazards and deep scary bunkers. Playable for all levels and a bit easier going than some others, this is many peoples favourite course on resort and only 10 minutes away by car.
Alto Golf and Country Club
The course is located about 20 minutes away from the resort close to the fishing village of Alvor. This is another Portuguese narrow type golf course which unusually opens with a par 3. Alto is also home to the once longest hole in Europe with the par 5 16th. The course itself is tricky with many two-tiered greens, to which if you are on the wrong level or missed the green on short side you will have a hard job getting down three let alone two.
As a resort goes in Portugal this is right up there, you have 2 courses that you could walk to from your accommodation, 1 which is 10 minutes away and the other 2 are still less than an hour away. The accommodation especially the Villas with private pools are a great place to spend your Golf Holiday
Written by Dan Parker from Golf Holidays Direct.
