Pinhal Golf Course was originally designed by Briton Frank Pennink Inaugurated in 1976, is was later partly redesigned 1985 by American Robert Trent Jones, whose aim was to introduce new challenges into the course, he certainly succeeded here!
Robert Trent Jones’ work has provided Pinhal with a real variety of holes as he brought together two completely different architectural concepts, from both British and American. As a result, you will be faced with very different kinds of play. Precision is key at this interesting course, built in the middle of a beautiful pine wood, with panoramic views over the sea, one of the main characteristics of this course is the small size of its greens. You approach shots will have the greatest impact on your overall score for the round.
The front nine meander through the holiday villas that overlook the fairways and you will need accurate approach shots to the well protected, small greens. The back nine are more open and offer brief views of the sea but look out for the par 4 15th which might cause a few problems.
A par 5 starts you off with a blind shot over a small hill and deep bunkers protect the sloping, tiered green. Water comes into play at the par 4 4th with a small lake just before the green. The green itself is undulating, causing problems even if you do mange to land there on two! The par 3 8th also has water coming into play with a small lake protecting the green, so a confident and precise shot is needed here.
Hole 17, 502 metres for a Par 5 from a championship tee, offers you the chance of a birdie, but beware of the out of bounds zone to the right, if you can clear it you can entirely cut through the dogleg, don’t and you have made matters a whole lot worse for yourself!