In the early 1500s, famed Portuguese explorers like Vasco da Gama and Magellan, perhaps inspired by the seafaring spirit of Prince Henry the Navigator nearly a century before, set sail to discover even more distant lands around the world.
They landed in places such as Brazil, India and Africa, and helped Portugal — a country smaller than New York with a population of about 10.7 million people today — rule half the world during this Golden Age of Exploration.
Five centuries later, there’s another Portuguese-powered sea change underway along the country’s Atlantic Coast. And this time the land poised to be discovered — or rediscovered to some degree — is the country’s very own southernmost region called the Algarve.
To be sure, this 90-plus-mile stretch of attractive coastline has long been synonymous with golf and Blue Flag beaches for Brits and other northern Europeans seeking sunny leisurely escapes.
Now, with the recent opening of the Algarve’s first private golf club community, The Els Club at Vilamoura, the developer behind this upscale master-planned project, Arrow Global, is looking to transform not only the Algarve but Portugal. It seeks to create a high-profile, sports-centric destination that will transcend traditional golf course development and rival some of the world’s top resort-style communities.
To further celebrate Vilamoura’s complete makeover of what was formerly the Arnold Palmer-designed Victoria Course, Arrow Global and Ernie Els announced that the four-time major champion will host the Portugal Invitational, a new PGA Tour Champions event, in 2026. The tournament marks the country’s first-ever PGA Tour-sanctioned individual stroke-play event.
A five-year partnership deal between the PGA Tour Champions, Arrow Global and Portuguese tourism officials is just another strategic way Vilamoura seeks to redefine the region as more than just a place for seasonal golf trips or beach-oriented holidays. With the tournament and the ambitious sports-oriented center, which includes a world-class equestrian facility, in the plans, Arrow Global and Portuguese tourism officials believe they have the elements for a new economic engine for the country.
“(The PGA Tour Champions event) is a major step in realizing our vision for Portugal as one of the best global golf and lifestyle destinations, and we believe this tournament will showcase the world-class quality of the course and the strength of our long-term commitment to the region,” said John Calvao, Arrow Global fund principal, during Vilamoura’s grand opening events on July 21. "We’ve made a significant investment in the destination, elevating it with world-class hotels, a completely renovated marina, upgraded golf courses, and a high-end equestrian center. We’re also further developing high-quality real estate that reflects the lifestyle our guests and residents seek. Soon, we’ll be adding a country club and a beach club, making this a destination that truly has everything for families and all generations to enjoy."
Arrow Global, which oversees approximately $130 billion of real estate asset-backed investments for several high-profile private equity clients and sovereign wealth funds, also has significant ownership stakes and economic ties in other parts of Portugal’s infrastructure, real estate and hospitality sectors. Among the company’s holdings are 12-plus courses and 20 hotels, including four other courses at Vilamoura, highlighted by the acclaimed Old Course that opened in 1969 as one of Portugal’s first courses.
Thomas Rubi, who directs Arrow Global’s hospitality business development, says the firm’s multibillion-dollar Vilamoura property is about the size of Monaco. It’s a fitting comparison considering Monaco is precisely the caliber of lifestyle or type of real estate cachet his group is developing.
For instance, prices for Els Club estate lots, which are mainly being reserved now as double lots to make room for large estate-sized homes, range from $1.3 million to $4 million per lot, according to Rubi. Meanwhile, Rubi reports the club’s initial 50 invitation-only Founder Members are sold out. A total of 400 memberships are planned overall.
The first tranche of 25 memberships will be released in September and the non-refundable initiation fee is $60,000 (plus a value added tax levied by the European Union).
"We’re not doing this private club because we want to somehow create this bourgeois status," Rubi said. "It’s because there’s a need in the market for quality tournament conditions and things like pace of play — so you can go in, come out and get on with your day or go on to work. We’re finding a lot more people living here full-time that might commute once a month to London for work or whatever. … Because of remote work and the various structural changes that were occurring, Covid kind of accelerated that, so these formerly resort holiday locations (for Algarve regulars) have become primary home destinations."
Moreover, sparked by an increased number of direct flights available from the United States, Rubi notes a lot more Americans are starting to discover Portugal and moving there. Consequently, Arrow Global and its management company, Details, is introducing more American-style amenities and lifestyle concepts at Vilamoura that are commonplace these days at top-ranked U.S. private club communities.
"In Europe we don’t have a long legacy or tradition in country clubs and amenities," Rubi said. "So what we’re trying to do is bring American-style amenities, not because they’re American. But based on them being much more ahead of the curve in terms of what the customer wants.
"Also in Europe, we’ve never developed out a consistent amenity package in our resorts. They think a swimming pool is enough. But it’s a lot more to it because we’re creating a lifestyle."
That means state-of-the-art, tech-infused health and wellness facilities. An example, is something as simple and foreign as the ubiquitous family-friendly lazy river pool complex that longtime consulting architect Howard Kuo of Kuo Diedrich Chi Architects is helping design.
"Can you imagine nobody even knows that word in Portugal," Rubi said. "We’re putting that in our country club because we know there’s nothing like it here."
The influx of more full-time Americans and other westerners is also affecting how Arrow Global is designing and building out the rest of Vilamoura’s landscape — from schools to hospitals and all the other lifestyle features.
"Much like the early Portuguese explorers, it’s been enlightening to be part of Arrow’s creative journey to reimagine Vilamoura and Portugal,” said Kuo, whose Atlanta-based firm is about to work on its sixth golf project with Arrow Global in Portugal. "The demand is strong in the region and our goal is to support John Calvao's and Thomas Rubi’s vision through our club design expertise in creating lifestyle concepts new to the Algarve. The golf and club market here is both experienced and nascent. In many respects it’s a re-emerging star ready to make its mark globally."
DEALMAKERS, CLOSING AND GROUNDBREAKINGS
Troon North Golf Club, whose 18-hole Pinnacle and Monument layouts have been must-play courses since the Scottsdale, Arizona, club opened in 1990, will soon be giving golfers even more reasons to stick around and experience more high-end golf. That’s because Troon, the golf owner/operator with 575-plus 18-hole equivalent courses in its portfolio, began to circulate news that lodging accommodations are in the works.
The news was leaked by Kris Strauss, Troon’s longtime executive vice president for global sales and marketing, who notified his LinkedIn followers that the company-owned golf facility is looking for a resort manager. According to Strauss, early plans for the boutique property feature 31 "well-appointed, golfer centric" villas and suites that will have four-bedroom, four-bath configurations as well as two-bedroom, two-bath units with "great desert views and will be steps from the first tee(s) at Troon North." ...
When it comes to golf, South Carolina’s low country is synonymous with luxurious upscale private golf club living. Now, Mungo Homes, of Columbia, South Carolina, is giving folks a taste of the golf life in more affordable bites at Wyboo Golf Club in Manning. Located on the western edge of the low country region about 90 miles from Charleston, the new golf community is part of Deercreek Plantation, one of two gated resort-style communities in the Santee-Cooper golf environs.
Across the street from Deercreek is namesake Wyboo Plantation, which features the Player’s Course at Wyboo, an 18-hole par-72 championship course that opened in 1992. Seven years later, Deercreek opened its 18-hole Tom Jackson-designed layout and the public course has been a favorite of Palmetto State players ever since.
According to Neil Shepard, president of Mungo Homes Charleston, the company’s new Fairway Woods at Wyboo features one- and two-story homes ranging from 1,665 to 2,443 square feet with two-car garages and access to Lake Marion. Prices start at around $300,000 the company announced last month.
"We believe there just aren’t affordably priced homes currently offered in our region that offer the ability to live directly on a celebrated golf course with lake accessibility," Shepard said. "Fairway Woods offers a rare combination of value, recreation and resort-style living that currently doesn’t exist in the region. Fairway Woods truly is a hidden gem that, once discovered, is going to sell quickly."