Pestana Carvoeiro: Vale da Pinta & Gramacho

Two Fream courses, one Carvoeiro clubhouse.

Pestana’s two courses near Carvoeiro share a clubhouse on the slopes at Sesmarias, between Carvoeiro and Ferragudo in the municipality of Lagoa. Vale da Pinta is the better known, thanks to its years as a tour qualifying venue. Gramacho, next door, brings rock outcrops, drystone walls and ponds into play. Ronald Fream shaped both, and he worked with former world number one Nick Price on Gramacho. One published price list covers the pair, there is a twilight rate from 15:30, and Pestana’s apartments sit on the estate, so you can play two or three rounds with almost no driving.

Pestana Carvoeiro: Vale da Pinta & Gramacho green fees and tee times.

Book either course online through Pestana Golf’s booking site, by phone on +351 282 340 900 or by email to info@pestanagolf.com. The office answers from 09:00 to 18:00 on weekdays and 09:00 to 17:00 at weekends. Both scorecards set maximum handicaps of 28 for men and 36 for ladies. Proper golf shoes are required, and casual shorts, jeans, sleeveless shirts and tracksuits are not allowed. Report to the starter at least five minutes before your tee time. At busy times play is in four-balls, and the club may join smaller groups together. Buggies follow the 90-degree rule throughout, and the hirer is responsible under the rental agreement. Regular visitors can join as Pestana Golf members from €157.50 a month.

The courses at Pestana Carvoeiro: Vale da Pinta & Gramacho.

Vale da Pinta (par 71, 6,127 m)

The scorecard calls the 512-metre 4th one of the world’s great par 5s, best played with straight, measured shots. The 5th, at 144 metres, is a short par 3 the card labels not for the nervous. A lake guards the left of the 13th, the 15th is a downhill par 3, and the 581-metre 18th is a true three-shot par 5 to finish.

Gramacho (par 72, 6,107 m)

From the 1st tee you lay up short of a rock and tree outcrop in the middle of the fairway. Water runs down the 11th, the left of the 12th and the 17th, and a pond guards the 15th. The 16th, stroke index 1, has bunkers and a drystone wall short of the green, and the 482-metre 18th follows a rock wall on the left.

The round, in perspective.

Vale da Pinta opened in 1992 and hosted the final stage of the European Seniors Tour qualifying school for eight years in a row. It is a par 71 of 6,127 metres from the back tees, with a slope rating of 127. Gramacho is a par 72 of 6,107 metres, also with a slope of 127 from the back. Pestana’s scorecards describe the character of each hole, and the contrast is clear. Vale da Pinta asks for careful driving into doglegs, and the longest of its four par 5s are the 4th and the 581-metre 18th. Gramacho uses the site’s rocky outcrops, drystone walls and ponds, and water comes into play on four holes of its back nine. Both courses start and finish at the shared clubhouse.

Know before you go.

Handicap

Men 28, ladies 36

Dress

No jeans, casual shorts, sleeveless shirts or tracksuits

Buggies

90-degree rule at all times

Pace of play

4 hours 30 minutes for 18 holes

Check-in

At the starter 5 minutes before your time

Make the trip work.

Because both courses start from the same clubhouse, 36 holes in a day is practical: book Vale da Pinta in the morning and use the €50 twilight rate on Gramacho from 15:30, adding a twilight buggy for €40. Rental TaylorMade Qi10 sets cost €45, buggies €55, electric trolleys €30 and pull trolleys €10, and a token for 50 range balls is €7. The Pestana academy offers lessons with its professionals. In summer, the two-player special with a shared buggy costs €160 in June to August and €234 in late May and September, which brings the price per player well below the standard green fee.

Faro airport is roughly 60 km east along the A22 motorway, typically 45 minutes to an hour by car. The courses lie inland at Sesmarias, a few minutes from both Carvoeiro and Lagoa. Portimão is just west across the Arade river, with shops, restaurants and a station on the Algarve railway line.

Where it is.

Nearby: 1. Amendoeira Golf Resort: Faldo Course (12 km) · 2. Palmares Ocean Living & Golf (13 km) · 3. Salgados Golf Club (15 km) · 4. Boavista Golf & Spa (20 km) · 5. Espiche Golf (24 km) · 6. The Old Course, Vilamoura (33 km) · Compare all The Algarve tee times

Somewhere to settle in.

Pestana runs its own accommodation beside the courses. Pestana Gramacho Residences offers tourist apartments on the estate, and Carvoeiro Golfe is a second local-accommodation option. Pestana describes the Carvoeiro resort as a mix of apartments and villas, and stays can be booked with or without golf. Further afield, Pestana Alvor Atlântico is a beach hotel in Alvor, and Silves Golf & Residences sits beside Pestana’s Silves course. Carvoeiro village, with its beach and clifftop restaurants, is the nearest place for an evening out.

Make a trip of it.

Pestana’s other western courses are close: Silves Golf below the Monchique hills, Alto Golf at Alvor, which was Henry Cotton’s last design, and Pestana Ferragudo Golf, the group’s newest course, a short drive west towards Ferragudo village. Salgados and the Faldo course at Amendoeira are about half an hour east. Off the course, the Seven Hanging Valleys clifftop trail runs from Praia da Marinha towards the Benagil cave, and Carvoeiro’s boardwalk leads to the Algar Seco rock formations.

Find your season.

Pestana splits the year into three price bands. March, April and October are premium season at €167; February, May, September and November are high season at €145; and December, January and summer are cheapest at €93. In June, July and August the two-player buggy deal is the best value. The courses are open all year.