The Els Club Vilamoura in Portugal has opened for play with a new golf course by Ernie Els Design.
The club, owned by investment management company Arrow Global, will be the Algarve region’s first private golf club. The new layout has been built on the site of the former Victoria golf course, an Arnold Palmer design that hosted the Portugal Masters on the DP World Tour between 2007 and 2022. It closed in 2023 shortly after Arrow Global acquired five golf courses and three hotels in the resort of Vilamoura.
The project began in December 2023 with contractor ProGolf clearing existing infrastructure and turf, and with Arrow Global’s management company, Details, overseeing the project. Work has included new greens, bunkers, tees; playing surfaces reshaped, sandcapped and regrassed; and new irrigation and drainage systems.
The Els Club Vilamoura, a new golf course by Ernie Els Design in Algarve, Portugal (Photo: Jacob Sjoman)
“It has been exciting for us to bring our design philosophy to Portugal,” said Els. “People might recognise the setting here, but they won’t recognise this golf course. It’s completely new. Greg [Letsche, Els’ senior design associate] decided very early on in the process that we were going to reverse the back nine routings and create some new holes. That brought with it some logistical challenges, but it was absolutely the right thing to do. The feedback we’ve had has been overwhelmingly positive. As part of that work, we also created a new world-class practice area, which a golf course of this calibre deserves.”
The club’s new practice facility (Photo: Jacob Sjoman)
“Every two weeks, Greg walked the site, sketching the metamorphosis of the golf course – designing hole by hole, often in the field, with the team from Arrow Global,” said Benjamim Silva, owner of ProGolf. “In combination with our project management and shared dialogue, ideas became decisions, and vision became direction.”
Els added: “There are a lot of great holes on this golf course, a lot of memorable holes that are going to make golfers want to come back again and again. One standout hole is the par-five eleventh, which measures 560 yards from the tips. It looks incredible and strategically I’d say it’s got that perfect balance of risk and reward, with water down the left on your tee shot and a stream nestled against the right-hand side of the green complex. Wind also comes into play here. It’s a great hole.
“Playing around the world these past 35 years, on golf courses of all different types and in every possible kind of landscape, you develop almost a sixth sense for the little details, the shot values and design touches, which come together in your own designs,” continued Els. “It’s always a balance, because you want golfers of all standards to enjoy a golf course. I like to give golfers the opportunity to put the ball in play, so the fairways are generous. The second shots, I like to start playing with you a bit, greens at angles and so forth. I like a certain style of bunker, so you’ll see that at Vilamoura.”
The course has been grassed with Tahoma 31 bermuda, which was selected for its excellent cold, shade and wear tolerance, low water use, early spring green up, late dormancy and turf quality. Tepeservi produced and distributed the Tahoma 31 bermuda, while Semillas Fitó has collaborated with both companies to promote and implement this variety.
“By October 2024, the final greens were grassed and a new course had come to life, marking the completion of a journey that tested every skill we had,” said Silva. “Procurement became a race against time – securing the right materials, in the right quantities, exactly when needed, was a challenge faced head-on.
“Being part of this project was never just about construction – it was about partnership. From the moment decision was made, the timeline was unyielding, demanding that every step be taken with precision and trust. It was in this pressure that the strength of collaboration truly came alive.”
The course will be the venue for a new tournament on the PGA Champions Tour in summer 2026 (Photo: Jacob Sjoman)
Vilamoura will host a new tournament on the PGA Champions Tour in summer 2026.
“Most of the courses in our Ernie Els Design portfolio have hosted events, whether that’s on the PGA Tour, Asian Tour, DP World Tour or Latin American Tour,” said Els. “Whenever our firm designs a golf course, we always have an eye on what makes it a ‘tournament ready’ venue, so this was always a big part of our plans for The Els Club Vilamoura. It’s wonderful to see those plans now coming to fruition and we’re grateful to PGA Tour Champions president Miller Brady and the teams at Arrow Global, Tourismo do Portugal and Tourismo do Algarve for sharing in our vision and bringing this exciting new tournament here.”