Building the next course at a property after one has been hugely acclaimed is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, following on from success means that the developer is likely to be in a positive frame of mind, and it’s probable that at least some of the characteristics of the successful course could apply to yours too. It’s likely that a follow-up course after a really good one will get a lot of attention, and it’s inevitable that what you do will be compared to what has gone before. If you do a really great job, that might work to your advantage: the acclaim that Bandon Dunes received didn’t stop the subsequent Pacific Dunes being even more highly rated. But it is equally possible that the first course was the best that could be produced in that location, and any subsequent work will be unfavourably compared to it. When David McLay Kidd’s Dunas course at the Terras da Comporta resort finally opened (the story of its protracted birth is told in the July 2023 issue of GCA) it was praised to the skies. It has been regarded by pretty much everyone as the best course in Portugal. So whoever was hired to build the resort’s second course, known as Torre (pronounced with a richly rolling R and a basically silent final vowel) had a big target to aim at. Like Dunas, the Torre project has been around for a long time. I first 65 Photo: James Hogg
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