The Portugal Legends Tour, tournament of the European professional golf circuit for over 50 years, will sponsor the opening of the Pinheirinho Golf Course, in Grândola, with the presence of some old world “stars” of the sport.
© Reuters
27/10/2026
by
Lusa
O Portugal Legends Tour, tournament of the European professional golf circuit for over 50 years, will sponsor the opening of Pinheirinho Golf Course, in Grândola, with the presence of some former world 'stars' of the modality.
The race, endowed with 450,000 euros in monetary prizes, returns to national territory after 12 years, since the last edition at Vidago Palace in 2014, and will be played between October 30th and November 1st in the 18 holes chart of the Comporta, where there will be 48 tournament players of the European Tour, currently DP World Tour, and 39 winners of the European Senior Tour, today Legends Tour.
“ My relationship with Portugal is old, from the time I was an amateur, and I feel comfortable here. I know very well what is being done, particularly by the Government and Tourism, and how important golf is to promote the country and the return it brings”, he started by reminding Irishman Paul McGuinley, during the presentation of the event.
The former player and captain of the European team of Ryder Cup, who has resided in Quinta do Lago, in the Algarve, has already lived “a few years in Lisbon” and spent “a holiday with the family at home of José Mourinho in Porto”, says he heard about the Beport, for the first time, seven years ago, when “practically only saw sand”.
“ But you could see the potential and in recent years have built some golf courses, which invites many people to come and perhaps live there. We are going through something similar in Ireland. The importance for tourism, for the country’s income, and the investment in golf brings a return, through investments in the economy,” McGuinley added, revealing himself to be “enthusiastic for debuting in Pinheirinho.”
In addition to the Irish, among the 60 field players who will be playing in the Behaviour, highlight the two Grand Slam tournament champions, New Zealander Michael Campbell and Scottish Paul Lawrie, and the 13 players who have already represented Europe in the Ryder Cup, including Danish Thomas Bjorn.
“It is an extremely honorable moment that makes us very happy and motivated. This field was built 15 years ago, was designed by a Portuguese architect, Jorge Santana da Silva, and never opened to the public. It has lakes, dunes, pine forest and will now be presented to the world, so we are very excited ", João Cabaça, CEO of VIC Properties, owner of the project.
While Phil Harrison, the Global Ambassador of Legends Tour, acknowledged that it is “a pleasure to be in Portugal and that players, in addition to being very excited to play at Pinheirinho, will do their best to promote the countryside and the Behavior”, Portugal’s President of Tourism, Carlos Abbot, marked a “happy day” with the performance of the event in the Alentejo region.
“ We are witnessing the construction of a destiny of ever greater excellence. It is not a destination made of volume, but of growth in quality. And the investment that is being made by Vic Properties is, in fact, this bet on this much value growth and to position Portugal in the place where we want it to be positioned and to find a more suitable proposal for market segments with higher added value ", praised Carlos Abbot.
Defending golf as a strategic product for Portugal, Abbot says that tourism in Portugal and tourism globally “have been making a very significant bet on what are international events for Portugal”.
“ In 2027, it will be a particularly important year on this path because we believe that these international events are not only able to minimize economies but, above all, to position Portugal worldwide, to value what is the brand of Portugal ", stressed.
On the other hand, the Alentejo Tourism President praised the Legends Tour bet on the Comporta, a region that currently has three more golf tracks, the Dunas Golf Course, the Golf Course Tower and the Troia Championship Course, stage of the Portuguese Open in 1983.
“ We have tried to put the value of sport excellence also as a strong attribute of Alentejo. Golf is a new side, within 30 to 40 km we get four golf courses, and our idea is not to sell golf as an isolated product, but to join gastronomy, wine, crafts, etc. It is a low-scale destination, but it competes for quality, and the sports experience is an important vector of our projection strategy of the region ", said José Santos.
For the Portuguese Golf Federation, the return of the circuit to Portugal is, according to its vice president Jorge Carreira, “a contribution to the promotion of Portugal as a golf destination and also one outside of promoting the modality and awakening the interest of other audiences.”
Among the 60 golfers, Nuno Campino will be the only national representative to compete for the Portugal Legends Championship, the 10th event of this circuit in Portugal, after the passage through the Algarve, Cascais, Azores, Sintra and Vidago.