Golden Eagle Residence and Golf Resort

This course provided a great contrast to the Praia d'el Rey resort I was staying on recently and well worth the day out. Being a lone golfer and having called in one day to see if it would be possible to play with a member at some point, the professional and the membership manager arranged for me to play in their Captain's Day tournament, signed in as a guest of the club at a very reasonable green fee. No hassle with having to hunt around for reduced green fees through agencies, this is the sort of approach that would make me go back time and again. The day itself was well organised, with a shotgun start for the 50-odd golfers taking part. My two Portuguese hosts were charming and very helpful all the way around what can only be described as a stunning course. Off course, there is a formal clubhouse with an excellent and reasonable restaurant. In fact, what I first thought was the clubhouse, is actually the pro-shop and "starting hut". This also houses the changing facilites and offers basic catering with coffee, snacks and a bar. There are some development plans for two additional courses in the coming years and one or two of the holes of the present course are affected by the ongoing alterations, but take nothing away from it, this is a great test of golf and stamina. Uphill, downhill, plenty of water, sand, nasty-clinging rough and huge, true-running greens that seem to have been subjected to some major seismic event in the past. If anyone can find a level putt on this course, please let me know! My only vaguely negative observation would be that there was quite a lot of sand and grit lying on the fairways, which my playing partner members were more upset about than I was. Back in the pro-shop I was told that the club was trying hard to get this worked into the ground and they were expecting everything to have settled down in a couple of weeks. I understand that there are roll-up competitions on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, with all welcome. I would have no problem in going back to this club.....a fine approach....Well Done!!

I booked to play the Golden Eagle as part of a five-day break to Estoril. The Golden Eagle is a comparatively young course, with a good layout. Facilities include a driving range and new clubhouse. The course itself is fairly hilly. First impressions - the drive up to the clubhouse was a little disappointing, as it all seems too exposed, and could do with more trees and there was a lot of visible rubble. The clubhouse was small in comparison to others we'd played, and internal facilities were below average. The driving range was well placed, but visually tatty. The holes around the clubhouse weren’t visually appealing either. But once we moved to the other holes, they seemed more established and gave the feeling that you were back in a quality golf curse. All greens and fairways are good and true. Pluses: Good layout and test of golf with strategically placed bunkers. Minuses: Long drive from Estoril, young course, aesthetically poor in places, below par clubhouse.