Kevin Markham: The 18 finest golf holes in Portugal

Kevin Markham picks his best 18 holes in Portugal.

The beauty of a short par-4 is on full display with the 9th at Vilamoura.

As of today, there are 80 golf courses across Portugal, including those in Madeira and the Azores. These range from 27-hole resorts to 9-hole par-3s. Over the past few years I have played 79 of these, for an upcoming book. The 80th – CostaTerre – is so uber-exclusive that I haven’t a hope of being invited.

Producing a list of the Best 18 Holes – from 1,400 – is no easy task, but the following produces a traditionally balanced par-72 scorecard with all holes in the correct sequence, i.e. 1 through 18. If I was simply selecting my best 18 holes, five of them would be the 13th. As a result, some very famous holes don’t make the list.