Quinta do Lago is a golf resort in Almancil, in the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

region of southern

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Quinta do Lago comprises one of the three corners of the

Golden Triangle Golden Triangle may refer to: Places Asia * Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia), named for its opium production * Golden Triangle (Yangtze), China, named for its rapid economic development * Golden Triangle (India), comprising the popular tourist ...

of the Algarve's most affluent communities. The community hosted the

Portuguese Open The Open de Portugal, previously the Portuguese Open, is an annual professional golf tournament, currently played on the Challenge Tour. History It was first played in 1953, and was part of the European Tour's schedule from 1973 to 2010. After a ...

, part of the

PGA European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fif ...

, in 1976, 1984–1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, and most recently in 2001.

History

Quinta do Lago was founded in 1971 by Polish-Brazilian

property developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

André Jordan, three years after the end of the Salazar's rule. The original 550 hectare site, "Quinta dos Ramalhos" (Ramalhos Estate) contained the ruins of an old farmhouse (today "Casa Velha", having been rebuilt as a restaurant in 1972) and a stone pine forest adjacent to both the

Ria Formosa The Ria Formosa lagoon, located in the Algarve, in southern Portugal, is a system of barrier islands that connects to the sea through six inlets. Five of these inlets are natural and have mobility characteristics. The sixth is an artificial inle ...

and the growing resort of

Vale do Lobo Vale do Lobo is a golf resort in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. Vale do Lobo comprises one of the three corners of the Golden Triangle of the Algarve's most affluent and expensive communities. The community hosted the Portuguese Open, p ...

which had been founded eight years earlier. Jordan's company, Planal, acquired the property on 20 December 1971. The large beach-lined estate had been previously owned by the Pinto de Magalhães family for more than 300 years. Within three years, a bridge to the beach had been built to the beach, the lake was created over the salty sands, and 27 holes of golf designed by architect William F. Mitchell had been completed. Following the 1974 Carnation revolution, Andre Jordan returned to Brazil, leaving the Portuguese state to manage. The inauguration of the golf courses in 1974 was presided over by revolutionary leader

Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho Otelo Nuno Romão Saraiva de Carvalho, GCL (; 31 August 1936 – 25 July 2021) was a Portuguese military officer. He was the chief strategist of the 1974 Carnation Revolution in Lisbon. After the Revolution, Otelo assumed leadership roles in t ...

, and in 1976 the

was held in Quinta do Lago for the first time. In 1981 Portuguese politics stabilized and Quinta do Lago management was returned to Planal, and Jordan returned to Portugal. The

was again held in Quinta do Lago in 1984–86. In 1986 the Four Seasons Country Club opened in the heart of Quinta, followed by the Four Seasons Fairways; neither resort is related to the Canadian

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Four Seasons Hotels Limited, trading as Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, is an international luxury hotel and resort company headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Four Seasons currently operates more than 100 hotels and resorts worldwide.D ...

group. In 1987 Jordan sold the resort (i.e. Planal, the holding company) to a consortium of British shareholders headed by Roger Abraham, a former banker at

Chase Manhattan Bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase Bank or often as Chase, is an American national bank headquartered in New York City, that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of the U.S. multinational banking and fi ...

, and food entrepreneur David Thompson. By 1989 Abraham had withdrawn and Thompson headed the resort alone. The Portuguese Open was held in the resort again in 1988-90 and in 2001. In 1998 Planal was acquired by Irish billionaire

Denis O'Brien Denis O'Brien (born 19 April 1958) is an Irish billionaire businessman, and the founder and owner of Digicel. He was listed among the World's Top 200 Billionaires in 2015 and was Ireland's richest native-born citizen for a period of several ye ...

Golf

Scorecards for the North, South, and Laranjal Courses:

North Course

South Course

Laranjal Course

Gallery

Image:Quinta22.jpg, Quinta do Lago Image:Quinta23.jpg, Quinta do Lago File:Quinta do Lago - the bridge (13376008555).jpg, Bridge to the ''Praia da Qta. do Lago''. File:QDL - Quinto do Logo, Algarve, Portugal (45240620431).jpg, Entrance to Quinta do Lago. File:Praia da Quinta do Lago (36511610073).jpg, ''Praia da Quinta do Lago''. File:Sunset at the Praia da Quinta do Lago (36487043584).jpg, Sunset at Quinta do Lago.

References

External links

Quinta do Lago
– official site
Photos of Quinta do LagoQuinta do Lago Hotel

Faro Airport Transfers to Quinta do Lago
{{Authority control Resorts in Portugal Golf clubs and courses in Portugal Buildings and structures in the Algarve