The Victoria Course hosts the annual Portuguese Masters Tournament around September / October.

The five courses at Vilamoura are world renowned for providing quality golf in environmentally friendly surroundings. Darren Clarke described the courses as ´ five jewels in the one crown.´ The courses have recently been acquired by Oceanico group and within the next year there are two more golf courses due to open, The Faldo Course and The O´Connor Course which should firmly establish Vilamoura as Europe´s premier golfing destination.

The Victoria Course is the newest and most celebrated of the five courses. As soon as you enter through its large gateway and head down the long driveway you get a feeling of quality that few courses on the Algarve can boast.

Victoria was designed by the Palmer Course Design Company, owned by Arnold Palmer and was opened in 2004, yet has already hosted some major tournaments - the most important being the 2005 Golf World Cup and this year it is hosting the Portuguese Masters. With facilities such as a huge putting green, modern club house and beautiful driving range, Victoria looks set to hold many major championships throughout its lifetime.

Victoria has everything you could wish for from a golf course. A huge amount of care has gone into preserving the wetlands and foliage of the area, so the course, in particular the back nine, plays around stunning water features with swans and other natural wildlife. In terms of maintenance, the course is so immaculate it makes you feel guilty for taking a divot.

One hole which was particularly memorable was the 7th, a par 4 called bluntly ´Tough Hole´, which is a long dogleg to the left that requires a 221 meters carry off the back tees over a lake to be with any chance of reaching the green in two. Needless to say there were many attempts but a simple dash was left on four scorecards.

Victoria was a pleasure to play and I would thoroughly recommend the experience to anyone looking for a quality golfing experience.