Boavista Golf Club

Great course with some testing par 3's especially 6th & 14th, par 5's (certainly three of them, 8th, 13th & 16th) are reachable in 2 off the yellow tees. A good mix of easy, medium & hard holes. Some of the stroke indexes are questionable though (eg 4th, 8th, 10th, 16th & 17th).

Course is hilly in parts but only the walk between the 2nd green & 3rd tee and the 17th green & 18th tee get the old lungs puffing!

Always in great condition with a fabulous clubhouse with outside terrace overlooking the 18th green and beyond (would have benefitted from the terrace being at first floor level to get the full panorama of the course).

My biggest bugbear though is the "twilight offer" that guarantees 9 holes of golf (wowee!) - price is around 40 euros to include a buggy - only available from around 4pm (which varies as the daylight reduces) but at the longest daylight spell available from 4:30pm and the course closes at 8pm (last time in September it was 7:10pm). First time I played the twilight deal I went round by myself and just managed to squeeze in the full 18 holes, second time was with 3 "beginners" and only managed 10 holes. This is not good value - most courses when they offer a twilight deal mean that you can at play 18 holes. Come on Boavista, you can do better than that. For single players 40 euros is a lot to pay for a golf buggy and I prefer to walk anyway. Even with residents discount, this is not cheap.

Boavista is a cracking course. Buggy is recommended as it is mountain-goat country, but the views are great and the course generally in very good condition. Choose your tee position carefully, some of the holes are very challenging, no point going off back tees and them complaining about the carry required! This course is used for serious competition so be prepared to drop shots when you get it wrong, but it is good fun and well worth a visit. Can often be quite breezy a good thing for keeping you cool, but increases the challenge considerably.

Another slog over hilly terrain. About the only good things about the course were the views over Lagos Bay and the surrounding countryside. Very expensive! The Par 3’s were long and one had a carry of 225 metres over water – so for the average golfer it is not a Par 3. Condition 8/10, Architecture 7/10, Enjoyment 6/10.