Europe's New Superstar Playground

When architect David McLay Kidd played the first round on his brand-new Dunas course at Terras da Comporta, Chris Bertram was one of his playing partners...

- Chris Bertram

That’s what I want to hear, roars like that. That’s the excitement I think this course will create.”

David McLay Kidd is walking down the 14th of Terras da Comporta’s Dunas course, talking about the reactions in the group to his iron shot moments earlier narrowly failing to clear the front-left bunker of this exquisite par 3 and instead now sitting in the white sand of the front-left bunker.

It is the first time Kidd has played the full 18 holes of his brand-new design and he is having a thrilling match with his construction guru Conor Walsh, so his excitement is hardly a surprise. But he’s right. The Dunas course is an amusement arcade for golfers. Play it and walk off underwhelmed and unenthused and I’m not sure I will believe you.

I was the third member of the group, privileged to be part of the first tee time at a course I believe will establish itself in the top tier of continental golf the moment it fully opens.

The round was a long time coming; Kidd and I first talked about Dunas over dinner in the Ugadale Hotel in Machrihanish in 2012. We had met on the Mull of Kintyre to do a deep dive into his celebrated career for the now defunct Golf Illustrated and, after the interview was over, the conversation flowed as readily as the red wine.