There are golf courses built to look spectacular in photographs, and others whose architecture becomes more interesting the longer you study it. At Dunas, on Portugal's Alentejo coast, David McLay-Kidd has managed to combine the two. Sand rolls through the property in broad, irregular forms; pine trees and native vegetation provide a distinctly Portuguese frame; and the golf asks for decisions rather than simply demanding perfect shots. Opened for play in 2023, Dunas has quickly become one of the compelling reasons to travel to Comporta.
The setting is an important part of the story. This is not the familiar Algarve landscape of closely grouped resort courses and manicured residential developments. Near Carvalhal, south of Lisbon, the land feels more open and less formal. The sandy terrain is not decorative scenery placed beside the golf: it is the foundation of the design.
Why You Should Play Dunas Golf Course
Dunas is a course for golfers who enjoy having choices. Its broad playing corridors can look reassuring from the tee, but the space available does not mean every position is equally good. The line that avoids trouble most comfortably may leave a difficult angle into the green. A more assertive route can improve the next shot, provided the golfer accepts the consequences of missing it.
That distinction between width and ease is central to McLay-Kidd's mature design philosophy. At his best, he gives the recreational player a way to keep moving while offering the accomplished golfer an incentive to take a calculated risk. Dunas embodies that idea across sandy ground whose natural contours do much of the architectural work. The challenge is not merely to carry hazards or hit a narrow strip of fairway. It is to understand how the hole wants to be approached, and whether the reward justifies the chosen line.
The ground itself contributes to the character. Exposed sand, rolling landforms and indigenous scrub give the course an almost elemental appearance. It is tempting to call any golf played over sand a links, but that would flatten what makes Dunas distinctive. The course is not a traditional seaside links of the British and Irish kind. Its pine-framed, coastal-Alentejo landscape has a different atmosphere, and its architectural interest deserves to be understood on its own terms.
There is also an unusual generosity to the experience. A strong player can explore demanding angles and the full scale of the longest tees, while another golfer can take a less ambitious route and still appreciate the movement of the land. It is a design that can be enjoyed at different levels without turning into two entirely different courses. For a group of experienced golfers with mixed handicaps, that is a considerable strength.
A David McLay-Kidd Course with a Story Behind It
McLay-Kidd's reputation was established at Bandon Dunes, where he helped demonstrate how memorable modern golf could emerge from a dramatic natural site. His career has since become closely associated with a more expansive, strategic approach to architecture. The point is not to imitate Scotland or Oregon in Portugal, but to use a comparable respect for landform and shot options in an entirely different environment.
Dunas had a much longer journey to completion than its opening year suggests. An earlier course concept was associated with Donald Steel, and McLay-Kidd became involved years before the first golfers arrived. The financial disruption that affected the wider development delayed the project, before Vanguard Properties revived it and construction resumed in 2019. Dunas began welcoming golfers in June 2023 and was officially inaugurated that October.
That history matters because the finished course does not feel like a hurried addition to a hotel development. Its identity comes from the terrain and the architect's willingness to let that terrain dictate much of the experience. The absence of an elaborate artificial-water narrative is part of the point: sand, elevation, vegetation and angles are enough to create compelling golf.
Recognition followed quickly, and not merely in awards for new courses. In Top 100 Golf Courses' 2026 rankings, Dunas stands at No. 1 in Portugal and No. 6 in Continental Europe—a remarkable ascent for a design that opened in 2023. Those positions help explain why serious golfers increasingly regard Comporta as a destination in its own right, rather than an add-on to the Algarve. Dunas also received the World's Best New Golf Course award at the 2023 World Golf Awards. The recognition is significant because it follows from the qualities of the design: bold sandy landforms, strategic options and a landscape that never feels manufactured.
The Landscape: Comporta Rather Than Conventional Resort Golf
Comporta's appeal is difficult to separate from its landscape. Long Atlantic beaches, pine forest, agricultural land, rice fields and low-key villages create a destination whose identity extends well beyond golf. Dunas sits near Carvalhal, in the southern part of the Comporta area, where sandy soils and native vegetation shape both the visual character of the course and the wider coast.
This is not an uninterrupted view of the ocean from every fairway, nor should it be presented as one. The beauty is more understated: the changing scale of the sand, the contrast between maintained turf and rough native ground, and the way pine trees can frame an otherwise open stretch of golf. There is a sense of space that makes the course feel different from a tightly developed resort layout.
The distinction becomes particularly meaningful for travelers who have played extensively in Portugal. The Algarve offers a concentration of established championship courses and convenient resort infrastructure. Comporta offers something less crowded in character: a destination where the courses are major reasons to visit, but where the beaches, food and rural atmosphere are equally important to the experience of being there.
That does not make Comporta a replacement for the Algarve. It makes it a different proposition, especially for golfers who are more interested in distinctive architecture and a strong sense of place than in maximizing the number of rounds within a short drive.
Why Dunas and Torre Belong on the Same Trip
The arrival of Torre, designed by Sergio García, changed the proposition at Terras da Comporta. Dunas no longer stands alone as an exceptional new course in an emerging destination; it has a complementary neighbor with a markedly different architectural emphasis.
Dunas is the more expansive, ground-driven design. Its broad corridors and sandy movement encourage golfers to assess alternative routes. Torre places more attention on positioning, controlled approaches and comparatively compact targets within a pine-influenced landscape. The differences make the two courses particularly rewarding to play together. One sharpens your appreciation of the other.
The natural bases are Comporta and Carvalhal. Staying locally gives a group time to experience both courses without reducing the trip to a sequence of transfers, and leaves room for the coast's restaurants and beaches. For travelers coming through Lisbon, Comporta can also become one part of a longer Portugal itinerary, paired selectively with golf elsewhere rather than treated as an isolated day trip.
For a carefully planned golf journey, that is the stronger argument. Dunas is not simply another prestigious name to add to a list. It is a distinctive architectural experience that gains context from the landscape around it and from its contrast with Torre.
Playing Dunas: What Visiting Golfers Should Know
Dunas is an 18-hole, par-71 course with six tee sets ranging from 3,847 to 6,646 metres. The range matters more than the headline championship distance: selecting the appropriate tees allows golfers to engage with the design's choices instead of confronting a length that overwhelms them. The course welcomes visitors, with a valid handicap certificate and a published maximum handicap of 54.
The listed standard visitor green fee for 2027 is €230 for 18 holes, including a buggy. Rates and inclusions should be reconfirmed when arranging the round. Practice facilities are available. Beyond the practical details, the reason to play is the experience of McLay-Kidd's architecture across Comporta's natural sandscape.
Dunas belongs on a premium Portugal itinerary because it offers something identifiable and difficult to reproduce elsewhere: a generous yet strategic modern course, an unusual development history and a landscape that feels inseparable from the golf.