Penha Longa Resort has officially confirmed that its championship course, The Atlantic, will undergo a renovation and upgrades in key areas to elevate it’s conditioning and playing standards. Originally designed by golf course architect, Robert Trent Jones II, the headline renovation will see all 87 bunkers restored to their original shape, adding 747 tonnes of sustainable, local white sand, enhancing an already picturesque layout which meanders through the Sintra Mountains.
The resort aims to improve the overall structure of the bunkers and reinstate the correct levels of stability, smoothness, and compaction for improved playability across the year. Portugal has a climate which supports golf all year round, and with the adjustments to the course, conditions will be accommodating throughout dry periods and winter months.
Course upgrades also include the re-grassing of some of the fairways, a new layer of Bermuda grass, revitalising five of the key holes (2, 6, 8, 13 and 18) with improved drainage processes, resulting in greener and smoother aesthetics. The team at Penha Longa opted for Bermuda Grass after research from certified labs forecast the new grass could save the resort up to 30 per cent in irrigation water per year, and the results should be visible within a year or two.
Speaking about the new course upgrades, Oliver Key, general manager, Penha Longa Resort, added: “Our entire team at Penha Longa Resort are passionate about providing our guests with the best possible experience on the Atlantic 365 days of the year. Having last renovated the course before the Portugal Open in 2009, we want to reinstate consistency across the course and elevate the resort to a new level, attracting new golfers from across the world. It is our ambition to bring tournament golf back to the resort and hope that these changes will be the first step on the road to doing so.
“Becoming an environmentally sustainable resort is also a key ambition of ours in the future and no stone was left unturned in the decision-making process undertaken at the start of the project. Our team have taken important steps to research and evaluate the different products that will be used to understand which ones will be most beneficial for the environment at the resort. This will allow us to update the course without being harmful to the stunning natural surroundings that we are lucky to find on our doorstep at Penha Longa Resort.”
