The Els Club Vilamoura is not simply Victoria Golf Course under a new name. Ernie Els Design rebuilt the former Arnold Palmer tournament venue into an 18-hole private club, opening the new course in July 2025. Set inland among the Algarve's low, open terrain, its generous landing areas, repositioned bunkers and prominent water create a championship test in which the approach shot often asks more than the drive. The course entered Top 100 Golf Courses' Portugal ranking at No. 13 in 2026, and hosted the PGA TOUR Champions Portugal Invitational that summer.
Why You Should Play The Els Club Vilamoura
The strongest argument for playing The Els Club is its combination of modern architecture and a genuinely different atmosphere from Vilamoura's public resort courses. Els wanted room to drive the ball but more demanding choices as the green came into view. Wide fairways encourage commitment from the tee; angled greens, sculpted bunkers and water then reward the player who has chosen a useful side of the fairway. That distinction is important on a course built to accommodate both elite tournament golf and recreational players.
The renovation was comprehensive. The back-nine routing was reversed, new holes were introduced, and the former Victoria's greens, tees, bunkers and playing surfaces were rebuilt. Tahoma 31 bermudagrass and new drainage and irrigation infrastructure were installed. The result is a course with the physical scale of a championship venue, rather than a cosmetic refresh of the older design.
It particularly suits confident drivers, thoughtful approach players and golfers who enjoy reading the angle into a green. With five rated sets of markers and a par-72 layout reaching 7,335 yards (6,707 meters) from the longest set, there is scope to choose a sensible challenge without surrendering the strategic character. The trade-off is equally clear: this is manicured, modern inland championship golf, not the rugged coastal ground or open-access simplicity that some travelers prefer.
Ernie Els Rebuilds a Tournament Venue
Arnold Palmer's original Victoria course opened in 2004 and went on to host the Portugal Masters from 2007 through 2022. The site also staged the 2005 World Cup of Golf. Those events belong to the previous layout: the current Els course should be understood as a new architectural chapter on the same property, not as the exact holes on which those championships were contested.
After the Victoria course closed, Ernie Els Design and senior associate Greg Letsche reshaped the routing and rethought the relationship between fairway width and approach difficulty. Many of the older visual landmarks remain recognizable, particularly the extensive water, but the decisions on the ground have changed. Golfers drawn by the property's tournament history now encounter a purpose-built private-club design.
Broad Fairways, Exacting Approaches
The course's most interesting contrast is between what it gives you from the tee and what it takes away nearer the green. Water is visible enough to influence club selection, but Els does not demand narrow driving corridors on every hole. Instead, the bunkers and green angles make the position of the ball matter. The safest drive and the easiest approach do not always follow the same line.
The par-five eleventh is a particularly revealing example. Water runs along the left of the tee shot, while a stream guards the right of the green complex. Length creates an opportunity to attack, but the second shot requires a far more precise judgement than an uncomplicated lay-up. It is the kind of hole that rewards both power and restraint depending on the wind, the lie and the player's confidence.
The course's inland landscape also distinguishes it from nearby coastal layouts. Fairways unfold across engineered contours with pine trees and other mature planting in parts of the property; the primary visual drama comes from water, bunkering and the scale of the golf rather than Atlantic cliffs or dunes.
The 2026 Portugal Invitational
The Els Club established its new tournament credentials almost immediately. In the inaugural PGA TOUR Champions Portugal Invitational, played from 31 July to 2 August 2026, Zach Johnson won at 19 under par, two strokes ahead of Stewart Cink. Pádraig Harrington finished third. The event connected a freshly redesigned venue with a field of major champions and provided an early competitive test of its modern routing.
The club was also named World's Best Private Golf Club at the 2025 World Golf Awards. It is an accolade for the club experience, not a claim that the course holds the world's top architectural ranking.
Private-Club Experience and Visitor Access
The Els Club is a private members' club rather than a conventional public green-fee venue. A limited number of hotel-package places have been offered to non-members. That distinction is fundamental to planning a golf trip: staying near the course, or booking another Vilamoura round, does not independently entitle a golfer to a starting time.
Guest rounds remain limited to authorized access arrangements, including selected stay-and-play programmes. Access is not a standard green fee that can simply be purchased independently, and an ordinary hotel booking does not convey playing rights. The club prioritizes its members, so the course is best viewed as a carefully arranged, access-dependent addition to an Algarve itinerary.
For invited visitors, the club includes use of a shared GPS buggy or trolley, practice facilities before play and access to the locker rooms. A forecaddie is compulsory for each playing group, with a €75 fee per group payable directly in cash. Players must present a valid handicap certificate; the club recommends a maximum of 28 for men and 36 for women, with exceptions at the director's discretion. The clubhouse asks guests to arrive at least an hour before their round.
Where The Els Club Fits into an Algarve Golf Trip
Vilamoura Old Course makes the most natural architectural comparison. Old offers established pine-lined golf and Frank Pennink's more traditional design, whereas The Els Club brings larger modern greenside decisions, more visible water and a private-club rhythm. Together they make a more interesting pairing than two courses chosen solely because they share a resort operator.
For longer Algarve itineraries, Quinta do Lago South and North, Laranjal and the Vale do Lobo courses are compelling additions within the wider central Algarve golf area. The Els Club is best regarded as a special, access-dependent round within that itinerary rather than its guaranteed starting point.