71 in preparation for the Fazio course, and that the actual build had slightly different lines means that the edges of the holes generally go from fairway, to waste sand, to scrubby vegetation and finally to the pine trees. It’s this transition that bothered me, and it will be possible to fix it over time as the greens crew gently clears vegetation – and more grows – to blur the lines between open sand and native scrub. The course, like Dunas, was built by Walsh and his CJW Golf International team, and it bears the hallmarks of their consistently fine work. Unlike Dunas, which architect Kidd chose to grass with fescue, reasoning that, despite the climate, it was essentially a links site, Torre has more conventional turf choices for the region: Tahoma 31 bermuda on tees and fairways, and Pure Select creeping bentgrass on the putting surfaces. Vihljalmsson tells me that the resort intends not to overseed the bermuda in the winter when it goes dormant, but to use a product to reduce the impact of dormancy. In any case, the cool season/warm season grass mix at the two Comporta courses should mean that one of the two courses is in prime condition at any part of the year. The course has had a Toro Lynx Smart Module (LSM) control system with Infinity sprinklers installed, with Toro working with distributor Irrimac from Portgual on the install. Comporta is an extremely compelling destination. It is only an hour or so from Lisbon airport, it has excellent golf, and the rest of its tourist offering – the beach, the weather, the food, the hotels – is out of the top drawer. Developer Vanguard and the other golf courses in the region need to come together to develop a cooperative marketing programme for the whole of the Troia peninsula: it has the potential to be regarded as one of Europe’s elite golf destinations. The addition of Torre only goes to make the offer stronger. It might not be able to dethrone its sister Dunas for the title of Portugal’s best course, but it is a very good partner and a very good piece of work. TORRE AT COMPORTA “ It might not be able to dethrone its sister Dunas for the title of Portugal’s best course, but it is a very good partner” Photo: James Hogg The course is now open for play and helps to make Comporta an extremely compelling destination
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