Penha Longa Resort - Atlantic Course

Overview: Penha Longa’s Atlantic Course is the 18-hole championship routing within the larger 27-hole complex in the Sintra hills. Robert Trent Jones Jr. used steep terrain, wooded valleys, rocky ground, and changing elevations to create a course inseparable from the Sintra-Cascais landscape. The par-72 layout alternates elevated viewpoints and enclosed holes, with the Atlantic horizon as a recurring reference rather than a constant backdrop. Approach angles and uneven lies make control more important than simply carrying the scorecard distance.

History: The Atlantic course opened in 1992 as part of the Penha Longa golf development, while the adjacent Monastery nine completed the broader 27-hole offering. The Atlantic routing hosted the Portuguese Open in 1994, two years after opening, and the site remains tied to the historic Penha Longa estate and former monastery. Those layers explain why the course is presented both as a mountain layout and as a resort course with a substantial historical setting.

Did You Know? The course is built around a landscape that includes the remains of a fourteenth-century monastery and an old aqueduct. These are parts of the historic estate through which the holes run, not decorative references added later. The result is an unusual combination of Jones design, Sintra topography, and visible architectural history within one 18-hole walk.