My New Favourite Golf Course!

Iona plays David McLay-Kidd’s new golf course, Dunas course at Terras da Comporta near Lisbon alongside Director of Golf Rodrigo Ulrich.

The golf course hopes to be the most environmentally sustainable in Europe which is amazing!

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This is the kind of golf I want in my life really fun playful but but challenging Golf welcome back to on the road with Iona and I don’t know if I’ve been quite this excited to bring an episode to you as I am today I’m joined by Rodrigo thank you so much for joining us at the newest addition to the Portuguese golfing roster teras comporta have I said that

Correct very well thank you good good well listen it’s it’s an absolute Delight to be here so huge thank you for having us again and you are the man in charge here so you can tell us you can give us the inside scoop of what is

Going on here at dunas I have I’m very like I have an amazing team and here at dunas we um our objective is to set a new standard for golf in Portugal particularly from the sustainability point of view and uh combined with an amazing design from David mcleay kid we

Opened on the 5th of October so last year last year 2023 so we are talking brand spanking new y if you could describe this this golfing experience in three words you can choose your language cuz I know you’re multilingual what three words would you choose it’s simply amazing perfect

It’s simply amazing and we’re about to find out why if you go straight just just to the edge of the bunker M with a slight drawer uh then you’ll be okay well guaranteed birdie after you I feel you want to show me the way thank you oh yeah Beauty thankfully there is

No match involved today we are not chasing any red we are just here to see some of the highlights of this very special venue that’s a great sh that will play not too shabby eh you can tell I’m pretty excited to be here well it’s still relatively Under

Wraps because yeah I had to do quite a lot of digging online to find you know obviously I could find the website but that also creates an era of kind of Mystique yeah which is cool mystery but we’re bringing you the mystery today that’s what this episode

Is all about I really hope you enjoy this because this is one of my favorite things to do in golf bringing this to you sharing what golf has to offer in different parts of the world is one of my favorite things and you can probably

Tell I am just like a kid in the candy shop today one of my pet Heights is when you using the lasers the range finder it’s it’s sometimes not easy to catch so I have a prism on top of each flag oh ni so the flag goes from this big to Y big

And you can actually catch it straight away instead of having to cuz with all the the the pine trees it would be difficult yeah yeah yeah so nice Come on B go oh yeah beautiful what do you think David and yourself what were you trying to achieve that

That first impression of a golf course is so important and the opening hole very very often plays the key prot protagonist in that situation so what’s the goal here well the the on most of David’s golf courses he starts with very wide Fairways not too long of ho so you

Get the rhythm going and then it gets tougher as you go along but you’ve warmed up so for David he wants to to give you he he always likes a challenging hole never an easy hole but this is you see how wide the Fairway is

Uh you will have 100 a shot to to to the green and cuz David wants the he I think it’s because of his dad being a superintendent he wants pace of play he wants the course to run not start too difficult cuz you haven’t warned up properly so I think David wants you

To uh relax on the first hole MH and then he’ll come back I like that I think that’s a great idea I also love a golf course that starts with an elevated tea because you get to just stand there and you get that moment of I’ve made it you

Know cuz everyone wants to make it to the first tea of a golf course somewhere if you’re doing that in your life you’ve done something right so you get to the tea and you get to look out and go I’ve made it yeah okay I’ve got 120 yards

Here so it is a nice little wedge but it’s off a little down slope going to come out a we bit lower like that it nice shot where do you think this course ranks in the mlay kid roster in terms of design and being so close to the

Ocean I would say this is clearly a top five of David um you see it has features of um mamunes in s Valley you have um bits of obviously Bandon Junes uh cuz you see where the way he he some holes are are very similar and that’s rare cuz it means

That you have the same type of land and um the greens remind me of uh Gamble Sands which means they can be quick fast greens um but um yeah I think I think this is this will be a mix just because took him almost 15 years to finish the project so

Yeah come on turn turn turn oo beautiful part I think we call that one good actually thank you very nice A little bit of left to right very nice thank you great condition of the greens for some something so new they look wonderful you see the second bunker if you go to the

Edge of that bunker is with a with a drawer yeah it’s a PA five but you will be on in two cuz you’ll be cutting the corner right uh I will be going over this front bunker here cuz I can’t reach in two okay so it’s a par five it is

This this view standing here i’ I’ve been lucky to play a few of the mlay kid courses not all of them just a couple and looking out here is reminding me of Beaverbrook the way that you can see glimpses of the other holes but not the

Not the hole entirely you can just get a little teaser of what’s to come yes I agreed trying to cut the corner nice so we’re playing off the 57 layout so this part five is 514 yards but it gets close to the 560 560 yards off the tip so this is a

Serious serious Hole that’s a great shot thank you there’s like two Fairways here so you can go on the the low one or the high one indeed um I would recommend a low one yeah low one looks good but I love the way that mlay kid is offering the golf for a

Choice and saying you choose you design how you want to play this hole even if you choose the easier way but then the following shots will not be so easy he’s always testing you in oh love shot that’s a beauty I’m also going to lay up here at this par five with my

Hybrid just keep it down the left with that Fairway kicking from left to right beautiful shot what a shot it’s impossible not to bring good golf to a venue like this that asks you to elevate your game but it’s asking me to elevate myself as well just as a human being

It’s expansive for the mind it makes you think of the possibilities in a wider context and that might sound crazy but that’s truly how this is making me feel the board wants to create the most sustainable Resort in Europe if not the world so wow right we we were looking at another 120

Yard shot but up the hill ever so slightly so I’m just going to play it like a 125 shot oh it’s a little bit left but we could be dancing you hear that thud you can hear it’s real linkx Turf this even though they’ve had an enormous amount of rain you can feel

There’s a firmness underneath that I think it’s good to roll to be quite close it’s it’s a lynxy test TI little bit tight to the right hand side we have big greens the greens the they are all massive um which is great because allows you to have multiple pin positions you

Know it’s never the same and if I’m I’m in a very very bad mood I made closer to the edge here so get in get in oo great but thank you how would you like the flag oh it ends fine it’s oh it’s good o great effort very thank

You they’re running at 11 today 11 what do you think’s the most distinctive feature of a mlay kid design um the way he respects the the natural shaping of the land M he tries not to make too much Earth movement so and you can see you even here you can clearly

See so it’s always been like this okay you do shape for the greens but we had minimum Earth movement while building this golf course right real serious test of golf if you want to take it from the tips but they’ve got a real variety of

T’s 1 2 3 four six different T’s which is absolutely superb because it means it’s open to everyone well 178 m per three you have multiple options so when it’s dry you can actually you see the guys playing off the tips that you have they don’t aim for the green they own to

The right and then it will roll trickles down to the green yeah cuz they explain the the entrance to the green is downhill so it makes it tougher for them to stop the ball got you oh wow what a golf shot thank you beauty so that will roll down yes yeah I

Was going to hit my three-wood but I’m going to hit my five wood that’s perfect go on Bo get in oo nice what a shot how many holes Mone have you had in here huge Green from front to back it’s almost an entire golf hole in itself this must be 60 yards in

Length lot of a lot of pin options for the green keeper go ride come on I did not see it going that way there’s a lightness to this grass that makes reading them quite tricky yes to the eye what kind of grass is this the the the

Bent grass greens they are pure select uh which is the ideal so they can withhold high and low temperature and it’s a nice combination with the Fescue the Fescue will become Greener and the temperatures are going to go up now ah just had a little look and thought not

Today you’ll have to come back again which is still a great par fine I’ll take a par on a 200 yard par three any day oh well done brilliant Tac thank you cracking hole well let’s go to seven and eight shall we yeah then you can decide on the

T- shot of of each cuz seven is stroking next one is it a par four yeah it’s a good hole okay cool yeah I think it’s always good to see stroke index one it’s a good hole oh I I I love it to bit it’s a good

Hole stroke index one that’s where we’re headed next I always feel like stroke in the hole on a golf course that stroke index one is kind of like the top dog if you know what I mean that hole sets the tone for the course and everything else

Feeds off that and if the stroke index one hole isn’t something you’re going to remember then I don’t necessarily believe it deserves to hold that title it’s quite a privilege to be stroken deck number one on any golf course if I was a hole I’d want to be that

One ow what what a hole number seven sooking X1 look at the green all the way down there yeah look at the size of the green this looks this could be a ski slope I feel this is a nice little red run I just want to take

My Jung Jung Jung all the way down it’s beautiful but where do you hit your t- shot cuz there’s a bunker right in the middle left of the bunker left yeah although you have a second the second shot is blind um cuz the wider you go the longer the second shot it becomes

Impossible but that’s David see classic David right that bunker is yeah it’s 240 to carry it into the wind not a chance oh it’s a peach thank you so I’m trying to take this down the left hand side which doesn’t set up brilliantly for my little fade but I’m going to try

And see if I can get one moving from right to left that’s a beauty come on come on come down oh is that going to trickle down we’ll have to go and find out stroke index one it’s really asking a lot of me here I’ve got more or less a 200 yard shot

Blind over this bunker but the good news for me is it’s slightly downhill cuz it’s back into the breeze got my trusty fivewood oh what a shot let me see no idea I think it should be fine okay similar to me now I feel like we’re moving out of the Scottish Highlands

Into the Arabian Desert sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit sit get in get in hit get in get in get in that is abs absolutely rapid very testing to miss it on that side oh IA just pulled it a little bit off the Potter oh dear well Str index One Bites

Back very tough hole caught out on the low side good effort though amate a mistake that’s why it’s the toughest hole but it’s a cracker par on there would feel like a a birdie every day of the week today we had it into the breeze but not a

Particularly stiff breeze so it will play more difficult than that so this is this feels like quite a a playful hole yes I love it when the architect does that and gives you you a really tough test especially after seven which might beat the few few people up

It could be you know you could be walking off that greenen feeling a bit sorry for yourself so it’s really nice that he’s going well sorry about that but here’s here’s a gift let’s have let’s have a bit of fun again yeah just just to have the the possibility to

Drive the green because of and it has nothing to do if you could hit a very long one or not cuz he will help you with the calculated the slope just right to it to trickle down to the green hopefully come on carry carry carry oh

Did come on come down this could be good this could be really good you’ve been here before Rodrigo you know that is funneling down beautifully so I’ve got a tough task ahead of me here oh I’ve gone right at It Go line go on oh

No I couldn’t resist I got sucked in by the flag tried to take it on it’s still it’s a great shot yeah it’s going to be it’s going to be a flick on you’ve won the closest to the flag I imagine cuz I’m not on the green just for the fun

I’ve got to have another go please yeah I had a huge smile on my face where I was about to hit that driver I thought this is this is the kind of golf I want in my life really fun playful but but challenging golf similar line it’s just that this

This fade the harder I try to hit it the more it will fade yeah great golle loving that it lures you in but you’ve got to stick within the parameter that it offers you which is down the left hand side and I just could not O that’s a beauty go on ball go go go thank you nice shot oh nice go on go on go on go on go on go go what a shot brilliant absolutely brilliant classy little Lynx number there that’s such a good P thank you it does feel like a birdie hole so that’s

The good news after making a boogie on seven it gives you one back thanks David yeah very nice pair of birdies not too bad not too bad at all and now it begins from scenery point of view 13 18 it just keeps getting better and better yeah okay I’ll follow you let’s Go oh my word proper golf hole sheesh holy smokes I I’ve I’ve not seen many holes more impressive than this this is 13th this is possibly the most photographed golf hole on the whole the whole Golf Course people just you can see them with the shadows and M

We played from here the first shot ever uh back there which is it’s a big hit Paul McKinley yeah did he yeah first shot ever I I’ve heard in the research I did before coming here like I said there there’s a Mystique and a mystery about

This place which I think makes even more exciting but one of the references I saw was people comparing this to Portugal’s Pinehurst 13th hole and the 18th hole uh they say that have they have the fine H field which is an amazing compliment for us can you imagine yeah yeah but uh but

I love the fact that you see over there I think you see the the the sand dunes yes so that’s the ocean it’s it’s it’s half a mile straight line to the ocean um we are going to have uh because of our environmental responsibility even the transfers either electric or solar

Powered um it’s it’s it’s a nice part of the world this is truly a A Slice of Heaven just the magnitude of the golf course has a a real presence but all the mature trees that kind of sculpt and shape the holes but you’ve got that plus

The proxim it to the Sea and the Sea Breeze that’s blowing in you can smell the salt in the air and you can hear the waves it’s obviously a very aggressive sea on this west coast of Portugal you got to know what you’re doing out there

But you can hear the waves crashing I’m not sure if the audio is quite picking that up but we can hear it and it’s a real submersion into Mother Nature we have the wind from the back white Fairway yeah so you can just give it a rip everything you have you

Got the wind behind and off the right on a beautiful elevated tea this hole is breathtaking I like to tea high and just get loudy right down there that’s too far for me to see I can’t see that far that is gone an absolute mile got a beautiful

Kick off forward that’s the kind of kick I’m looking for beautiful thank you come on Kick Kick ah Rodrigo is possibly one of the loveliest men I’ve ever met the the hospitality so far has just been incredible they’re so excited we’re here they’re so welcoming this is how fesu

Should feel it’s like a the fur of a dog so this is this is Fescue yeah yeah this is fine fescue it’s amazing isn’t it just the feel all of this look I know this is this this is like real Egyptian rug stuff this is not

A blade out of place here if you look closely you’d often see you know a bit of patchy indiscrepancy but there is nothing it’s just mint and and I like the firmness that Fescue allows you to like proper links y but is this still sort of embedding or yeah the the yes we

Just receded the whole course again it’s Fescue takes around 2 to 3 years to settle 100% you can feel that underneath when you when you do nip one you can the way that the sand sort of Puffs you can feel it’s quite new but it does demand a

Very accurate strike if you don’t quite strike the ball off this kind of turf you find out about it very quickly yes you do not a lot of margin for error little a bit of Lefty go go go go ah this is one of the best

Drives I think I’ve ever hit to be honest right down the middle I’ve left myself 94 yards in off a down slope downwind so it’s going to knock the ball out the air a little bit but there’s an UPS slope in front of this flag which I

Love you be right what what a shot what a shot Jesus thank you can I clap amazing the condition and the quality for such young grass is is really remarkable and I’m just going to slot this back in there Perfection go on oh you’re kidding that’s I’ll take the PA yeah very nice

Par of it it did think about giving you the birdie yes straight in three that’s a peach that’s a great birdie great hole well Played Rodrigo is saying they don’t use any chemicals across the course it’s all 100% natural which I think something to Aspire to and they they have have aspirations in themselves of being one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable golf venues in the world so 18 yeah this is what the club

Us is going to look like wao that’s amazing it’s got real sustainable Vibe it almost looks kind of Scandinavian and it’s um it does absorb CO2 so it’s it’s uh can you imine having that as a backdrop cuz yeah Rodrigo a huge thank you for letting us come here

Today and have a sneak peek at your wonderful golf course I didn’t expect this I knew it was something impressive because the rumors have begun but I didn’t quite expect it to be of this scale so good luck with everything in the future and I hope that you’ll invite

Us back again thank you you are always [Applause] invited it’s a beauty thank you oh yes a bit fat but it will go 170 yards playing more like 180 that’s a good shot bird territory yeah that’s that’s amazing one of the things that I I asked and it’s

Important to me I like to see this the bunkers like this raed on a daily basis it just looks everything helps to looks it looks nice and tidy yeah it’s more than tidy it looks it looks absolutely outstanding like very aesthetically pleasing almost like a Japanese garden you know the way

That they rake the bunkers to to real detail run nice one oh beautiful dropping in the front of the cup okay give us the birdie please see if I can finish this on a high a so close but not to be aart at the last very tough hole I’ll take that

Any day of the week huge thank you thank you so much we wish you all the best congratulations on achieving this so far and I think the best is yet to come thank you so much thank you for coming pleasure you have to come back we will we absolutely will you don’t have

To ask us twice