Previously The Penina, but known as the Sir Henry Cotton Championship Course, the main 18 holes provide the most demanding test of a player's skills in the Algarve, if not in Portugal. With the inevitable difficulty that a flat landscaping and terrain creates with club selection, the holes are crossed and flanked by a series of streams, ditches and water hazards, demanding precisely executed shots to avoid trouble and achieve par. The course is beautifully maintained, winding past tall stands of eucalyptus and clumps of palm to mainly elevated greens which have subtle slopes and sometimes treacherous speeds.

Two holes show how important strategic water can be. The 5th doglegs left for 451 metres (493 yards), with three bunkers and lateral water to the right plus out-of-bounds following the tree line on the left all the way to the green. Its double-tiered, angled surface lies beyond a substantial lake, putting pressure on the second shot into a narrow funnel of fairway.

Of the par-3's, the most memorable is the 13th - voted one of the best 500 holes in the world! The 185 metres (202 yards) 13th hole requires a long carry over water, the curving shape of the left-hand fairway, with out-of-bounds on both sides, encouraging the shot to deviate right into the hazard.

The course is characterised by an unusual grouping of the par-5's, with four of the five arranged together in pairs at the beginning and end of the back nine producing a par of 38 as opposed to 35 for the front nine. As you turn home up the 18th, the magnificent building of the Hotel acts as a backdrop to the green framed to the near by an amphitheatre of trees - a superb spectator setting! Drive short of the drainage ditch, position the second shot to avoid the bunkers guarding the putting surface and take into account the pin position on one of three tiers of the green for the approach and you could well finish with a condemnable par!