Staff WriterIf you’ve ever wondered what golf would look like if destiny and design had a lovechild, wonder no more.
The Els Club Vilamoura, a private members sanctuary set to open mid-July, is not just the Algarve’s newest golfing jewel—it’s the rebirth of a legend.
And, as four-time major champion Ernie Els puts it, fate had a fair bit to do with it.
“It has been exciting for us to bring our design philosophy to Portugal, and it’s exactly how we envisaged it. It looks incredible,” Els said, likely grinning like a man who’s just birdied the 18th with a belly full of bacalhau.
The Els Club Vilamoura isn’t just any course rehash. It’s a full-blown metamorphosis of the Victoria layout—once a staple of the DP World Tour and host to the Portugal Masters.
Under the careful eye of Els and senior design associate Greg Letsche, the course has been not only redesigned but reimagined from the ground up, or more precisely, from the back nine backward.
“People might recognise the setting here, but they won’t recognise this golf course. It’s completely new. Greg and I decided very early on in the process that we were going to reverse the back nine routings and create some new holes… The feedback we’ve had has been overwhelmingly positive,” Els said, no doubt relishing the transformation.
And let’s be clear: this isn’t your average resort fluff. The Els Club Vilamoura is a shot-maker’s paradise—a canvas of championship-grade design blended with Portuguese flair.
Take the new par-5 11th, stretching 560 yards from the tips. It’s a picturesque beast of a hole, complete with water flirting down the left and a sneaky stream by the green. Strategic, scenic, and sure to leave a few bruised egos in its wake.
“It looks incredible and strategically I’d say it’s got that perfect balance of risk-reward,” Els noted. “Wind also comes into play here. It’s a great hole.”
But this isn’t some exclusive torture chamber for scratch golfers. In classic Els style, there’s balance. “You want golfers of all standards to enjoy a golf course. I like to give golfers the opportunity to put the ball in play, so the fairways are generous,” he explained.
Then he smiled that knowing smile: “The second shots, I like to start playing with you a bit, greens at angles and so forth. I like a certain style of bunker, so you’ll see that at Vilamoura. Golf course design is like your signature; it’s a personal thing.”
And personal it is. With over 35 years of globetrotting golf under his belt, Els has poured every ounce of his sixth sense for terrain and tournament-worthiness into the property.
From his past work in Dubai to South Africa and Malaysia, the Els Club brand has become synonymous with world-class layouts—and he’s confident this one will hold its own.
“Most of the courses in our Ernie Els Design portfolio have hosted events… We’re proud of that. We are confident The Els Club Vilamoura will follow suit.
But this is also a golf course for its members and we’ve done everything possible to make sure it’s an incredible experience for them, too.”
And it’s not just about bunkers, birdies, and backswings. For Els, Vilamoura holds sentimental weight.
“The whole family loves it here,” he admitted. “When the kids were small, we would often come down to this area for summer holidays. We’d play some golf in the area, often at Vilamoura…
The location is unbelievable, the people are great, very friendly, the food is great, the weather is great. I feel like I’m coming home!”
So, what we’re witnessing isn’t just another golf course launch. It’s a homecoming.
A culmination of family memories, championship ambition, and that little thing called destiny.
And while The Els Club Vilamoura adds a luxurious new chapter to Portugal’s golf story, it does so with one of the game’s greatest storytellers holding the pen—and the putter.
For more information on The Els Club Vilamoura, checkout the official website.
