Portugal: why golfers keep going back

There is an interesting question you can ask a group of travelling golfers.

Where would you happily return to tomorrow?

Portugal will usually appear fairly quickly.

That is not because golfers lack imagination.

It is because Portugal has become remarkably good at giving golfers what they actually want.

Quality courses. Reliable hospitality. A climate suited to golf. Good hotels. Straightforward travel. And, once the golf is finished, somewhere you are very happy to spend the evening.

Sometimes destinations become popular for very good reasons.

Portugal has earned its golfing reputation

Portugal is not a destination with a handful of courses that happen to attract overseas visitors.

Golf is firmly established there.

Visit Portugal lists more than 90 courses nationally, with close to 40 in the Algarve alone, and describes a climate that allows golf to be played throughout the year. The country's courses include designs by architects and players such as Robert Trent Jones Jr, Jack Nicklaus, Sir Nick Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Sir Henry Cotton and Arnold Palmer.

The Algarve is particularly interesting because so much variety has been concentrated into one region.

You can find courses near the Atlantic, golf among umbrella pines, layouts beside lagoons and others moving through more undulating inland landscapes.

From a golfer's point of view, that variety means a week does not have to become seven versions of the same round.

And that is important.

A famous name does not hit the shots for you

One of the pleasures of playing established golf destinations is arriving at courses you may have heard people discussing for years.

But there is also a danger.

We can become slightly intimidated by a reputation.

A famous course is still 18 holes.

You still have to choose a club, pick a target and hit the ball.

My approach does not change because somebody famous designed it or a professional tournament has been played there.

In fact, good golf architecture often reinforces one of the things I talk about most with golfers.

You do not have to hit every shot perfectly.

You need to miss in better places.

That distinction can transform the way somebody plays.

Golf is a game of choices

Imagine you are standing on a par four you have never played.

There is trouble down one side.

The fairway widens at a particular distance.

The pin is tucked behind a bunker.

What are you trying to achieve?

Many golfers answer that question after they have already taken the driver out of the bag.

On a coaching holiday, I want us to reverse that process.

First understand the hole.

Then decide how you want to play it.

Then choose the club.

It sounds obvious.

Yet we all forget to do it.

Portugal has enough strategic golf to make those conversations worthwhile.

And because we are playing together rather than discussing golf in the abstract, you can see the consequences immediately.

Why Portugal works so well as a group trip

The golf is only part of the reason I like Portugal as a destination for a hosted holiday.

Golf travel works best when everything around the golf feels straightforward.

Portugal has spent decades developing resorts, hotels and services around golf tourism. The Algarve in particular benefits from easy access through Faro and relatively short transfers to many of its principal golfing areas.

That removes friction.

And the older I get, the more convinced I become that removing friction is one of the great luxuries of travel.

You do not necessarily need gold taps and somebody turning down your pillow.

You need to know where you are playing tomorrow.

You need your transfer to arrive.

You need the hotel to understand golfers.

And preferably you would like somewhere pleasant for dinner when you come off the course.

Get those things right and everybody relaxes.

The nineteenth hole matters

Portugal also understands one of golf's oldest traditions.

The round might finish on the 18th green, but the day rarely does.

One of my favourite parts of a golf trip is the conversation afterwards.

Suddenly the putt that missed on the sixth has become three feet longer.

The drive somebody hit on 14 has gained another 20 yards.

And the person who announced on the first tee that they were "not playing particularly well at the moment" has somehow collected the money.

Golf has always been a social game.

A hosted trip allows that side of it to develop naturally.

You are not simply travelling from hotel to course and back again with the same three people.

You become part of a group.

Familiar destinations can still surprise you

There is sometimes a temptation among experienced travelling golfers to think that somewhere familiar cannot offer anything new.

I do not agree.

The same country can provide completely different golfing experiences.

Even the Algarve changes considerably as you move from the central resort areas towards the east or west.

And your own golf changes too.

The player arriving this year is not exactly the same player who visited five years ago.

Perhaps you hit the ball a little shorter.

Perhaps you understand your game much better.

Perhaps you have finally accepted that the heroic five wood over water is not compulsory.

That last realisation alone can make golf considerably more enjoyable.

Why Portugal remains difficult to beat

The best golf destinations do not need to shout.

They simply get the important things right, year after year.

Portugal has the courses.

It has the climate.

It has the hotels and infrastructure.

It has a long-established golfing culture.

And crucially, it is a destination where the golf can be serious without the holiday becoming serious.

That balance is exactly what I want from my hosted trips.

We will work on your golf.

We will try to help you score better.

We will have conversations about technique and course management.

But when the round is finished, the notebook closes.

We are on holiday.

And Portugal remains one of the best places in Europe to remember that.

Portugal is part of the Simon Buckley Golf Trips 2027 programme.

If you would like to be among the first to receive the full itinerary and booking details, register your interest.