Ernie was in attendance for the occasion of the official opening of The Els Club Vilamoura on July 21, 2025, the first ever Els Club on European soil, with a world-class championship golf course and the Algarve’s first invitation-only private members’ golf club.
“It has been exciting for us to bring our design philosophy to Portugal,” commented Ernie. “People might recognise the setting here, but they won’t recognise this golf course. It’s completely new. We decided very early on in the process that we were going to reverse the back nine routings and create some new holes. That brought with it some logistical challenges, but it was absolutely the right thing to do. The feedback we’ve had has been overwhelmingly positive. As part of that work, we also created a new world-class practice area, which a golf course of this calibre deserves.”
In addition, it was announced that The Els Club Vilamoura is to be the host venue for a brand new PGA Champions Tour stroke play tournament in the summer of 2026 on an initial five-year agreement. 78 players will compete for a purse of $3 million USD. It is the first TOUR-sanctioned event of its kind in this beautiful country.
“Whenever our firm designs a golf course, we always have an eye on what makes it a successful tournament venue, so this was always a big part of our plans for The Els Club Vilamoura,” commented Ernie. “It’s wonderful to see those plans now coming to fruition and we’re grateful to PGA TOUR Champions President Miller Brady, the team at Arrow Global Group and Tourismo do Portugal and Tourismo do Algarve, for sharing in our vision and bringing this exciting new tournament here.”
Ernie went on to say, “We’re very proud of this course. There are a lot of great holes, a lot of memorable holes, and overall it’s a really well-balanced test of golf. Everything about The Els Club Vilamoura makes it the ideal tournament venue. The players are going to love it; not just the golf course but this whole destination.”
The Els Club Vilamoura is more than just a tournament venue, though. It is a thriving private members’ club, a place centred on a sense of community, friendship, family and the finer things in life.
“This is a golf course primarily for its members and we’ve done everything possible to make sure it’s an incredible experience for them,” says Ernie. “The course is incredible, the location is unbelievable, the people are great, very friendly, the food is great, the weather is great. Anyone who visits here is going to experience world-class amenities literally every step of the way.”
The Champions Tour’s Portugal Invitational takes place at The Els Club Vilamoura from July 31-August 2, 2026.
