Toledo, Ohio – Oitavos Golfe at Quinta da Marinha will host to the 2005 Estoril Open de Portugal Caixa Geral de Depositos, the European PGA Tour event scheduled for week of March 30 through April 2.
Designed by Toledo, Ohio-based Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest & Associates, Oitavos Golfe opened for resort play in 2001, and hosted a pair of European PGA Senior tournaments, in 2003 and 2004. Golf Digest has named the seaside Oitavos among the top five courses in Portugal, but the 2005 Portuguese Open will serve as coming-out party for the only Certified Gold Audubon Signature Sanctuary located outside the United States.
“I think the course will hold up well, especially if the wind is up,” says Arthur Hills, who collaborated with partner and senior design associate Drew Rogers on the Oitavos project. “We try to build our golf courses according to the site and our client here, Miguel Champalimaud, blessed us with one of the finest pieces of golfing terrain anywhere in Continental Europe. There are six or seven very demanding shots out there, but if the wind blows that figure doubles or triples. Nearly every hole at Oitavos has a view of the Atlantic, so the wind is always blowing.”
Oitavos Golfe, located 30 minutes from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, takes advantage of the area’s dunes. While all 18 holes offer ocean views, the middle portion of the out-and-back design plays through a natural dunescape in full view the cliffs at Cabo da Rocha, the westernmost point in Continental Europe.
For the 2005 Estoril Open de Portugal Caixa Geral de Depositos, Oitavos will be stretched to its full distance of 6,893 yards and play to a par of 71.
Shortly after it opened, Oitavos was named a Certified Gold Audubon Signature Sanctuary, the highest designation awarded by Audubon International’s Signature Sanctuary Program. Oitavos Golfe is the first and only course in Europe to boast Gold Signature status; there are only eight worldwide.
Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest & Associates has 180 courses to its name and projects under construction on five continents. Hills/Forrest was recently commissioned to design its first course in Bahrain, and the firm has projects under construction in Mexico, China and Sweden.
Designed by Toledo, Ohio-based Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest & Associates, Oitavos Golfe opened for resort play in 2001, and hosted a pair of European PGA Senior tournaments, in 2003 and 2004. Golf Digest has named the seaside Oitavos among the top five courses in Portugal, but the 2005 Portuguese Open will serve as coming-out party for the only Certified Gold Audubon Signature Sanctuary located outside the United States.
“I think the course will hold up well, especially if the wind is up,” says Arthur Hills, who collaborated with partner and senior design associate Drew Rogers on the Oitavos project. “We try to build our golf courses according to the site and our client here, Miguel Champalimaud, blessed us with one of the finest pieces of golfing terrain anywhere in Continental Europe. There are six or seven very demanding shots out there, but if the wind blows that figure doubles or triples. Nearly every hole at Oitavos has a view of the Atlantic, so the wind is always blowing.”
Oitavos Golfe, located 30 minutes from the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, takes advantage of the area’s dunes. While all 18 holes offer ocean views, the middle portion of the out-and-back design plays through a natural dunescape in full view the cliffs at Cabo da Rocha, the westernmost point in Continental Europe.
For the 2005 Estoril Open de Portugal Caixa Geral de Depositos, Oitavos will be stretched to its full distance of 6,893 yards and play to a par of 71.
Shortly after it opened, Oitavos was named a Certified Gold Audubon Signature Sanctuary, the highest designation awarded by Audubon International’s Signature Sanctuary Program. Oitavos Golfe is the first and only course in Europe to boast Gold Signature status; there are only eight worldwide.
Arthur Hills/Steve Forrest & Associates has 180 courses to its name and projects under construction on five continents. Hills/Forrest was recently commissioned to design its first course in Bahrain, and the firm has projects under construction in Mexico, China and Sweden.
