West Cliffs opened in 2017, the newest course on this entire list, and has spent the years since establishing itself as one of the most discussed layouts in European golf. Crafted by the Dye Designs Group — the family behind some of American golf’s most demanding modern courses — on the Silver Coast near Óbidos, the course was built with genuine environmental sensitivity, preserving native sand dunes, coastal vegetation, and pine groves rather than reshaping the land to fit a predetermined design.
West Cliffs is barely a decade old and already spoken about in the same breath as courses three times its age. The dune preservation work alone tells you how seriously it was built.
The course: what you are actually playing
A par-72 stretching up to 6,382 yards, with five distinct tee options per hole offering genuine flexibility across a wide range of ability levels. Fescue fairways and agrostis greens give the course a firm, authentic links feel, and the routing offers sweeping Atlantic views across a genuinely spectacular links layout that has quickly earned a reputation among Europe’s top modern tracks.
The hole worth knowing
The nine holes visible from the Royal Óbidos clubhouse terrace give a strong sense of the course’s overall character — panoramic, genuinely exposed to the elements, with the Atlantic a constant visual presence rather than an occasional reward.
The resort: what families actually need
West Cliffs shares its accommodation infrastructure with sister resort Praia D’El Rey, five minutes away — the same 5-star Marriott hotel, villas, and holiday residences serve both courses, with guests of either property receiving reduced green fees and complimentary shuttle service between the two.
On-site hotel: which one and why
The Marriott Praia D’El Rey, five minutes from the West Cliffs course itself, is the practical and only sensible choice — there’s no separate accommodation built specifically around West Cliffs, and none is needed given the shared-resort arrangement.
Best time to go
April–October, following the same wider Silver Coast playing window as Praia D’El Rey — the coastal exposure that makes West Cliffs distinctive also means checking wind forecasts matters more here than at more sheltered courses.
Getting there: the logistics reality
Lisbon Airport (LIS) is roughly an hour by car — identical logistics to Praia D’El Rey, given the shared resort infrastructure and near-identical location on the Silver Coast.
What to wear: the Inesea style edit
Atlantic white, deep slate, Silver Coast grey — a genuinely more austere, links-appropriate palette than the warmer Algarve tones, suited to a course that leans hard into authentic dune-links character.
Three pieces worth packing
A Galvin Green wind layer in deep slate — essential rather than optional, given the course’s genuine exposure to Atlantic wind.
An ANEW Golf polo in Atlantic white — clean, technical base suited to the course’s fescue-and-dune terrain.
Pearly Gates accessories in Silver Coast grey — understated enough to match the course’s authentic, unmanicured links character.
The honest family verdict
Who should book it:
Serious golfers who want to play one of Europe’s most talked-about modern courses. Anyone already staying at Praia D’El Rey looking for a genuinely different second round.
Who might look elsewhere:
Golfers wanting a more established, decades-tested design should choose Praia D’El Rey’s original course instead.
Official site
About the author
Diana Suke
Diana Suke is the founder of Inesea and Europe's leading editorial voice on women's golf fashion and culture. A business transformation director by profession, she coordinates junior golf programmes across Malta and travels the Mediterranean circuit with two competitive junior golfers. She came to golf in her mid-thirties and hasn't looked back.
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