By Phil Campbell
Ernie Els was delighted to see her new Portuguese golf club launched in style alongside two big ones of all time and a range of sports royalty.
The quadruple major champion played an exhibition of nine holes to open the Els Club Vilamoura with the Scottish legend Colin Montgomerie and the 2001 open champion David Duval.
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Els Club Vilamoura, is an 18-hole golf course at the championship field, designed by ELS, which offers a luxury clubhouse and signature equipment such as the 261 bar, and was built on the previous Victoria course, which welcomed the Masters Portugal from 2007 to 2022.
ELS, which won the US Open in 1994 and 1997 and two crowns opened in 2002 and 2012, invited Montgomerie and Duval to play the course, as well as the winner of the Portuguese Champions League Luis Figo and the former English striker Peter Crouch.
Els Club, Vilamoura, was built in partnership with the details of the company Global Fund Investment Arrow and the management company and is the first private member club in Algarve
Els said about her new club: “I have been coming to Vilamoura for many years, I spent many summers with my family here and we love Portugal.
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“The golf is in a fairly soft place right now and [creating this course] was a very nice business.
“We want the conditions to be absolutely perfect and people have great experience and good food.”
Els Club, Vilamoura, was built in partnership with the English investment fund Arrow Global and the details of the management company and is the first club of private members of the Algarve.
Membership is only extended to those offered by the founding members or those invited by the club.
During a press conference on the morning of the launch of the ELS club, it was also announced that the course would host the new PGA Champions Tour event, Portugal Invitational after having signed a five -year contract.
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The first edition of the event should take place from July 31 to August 2, 2026 and was provoked by the work of the PGA Tour, Arrow Global Group and Turismo champions of Portugal and Turismo from Algarve.
A field of 78 players will be welcomed on the new track with people like Bernhard Langer and Miguel ángel Jimenez who compete for the event which has a huge price bag of 2.23 million pounds Sterling ($ 3 million).
The president of the PGA Tour, President Miller Brady, said: “This tour is a global showcase of legendary players of the game, and we know that major golf fans in Portugal and through Europe welcome the opportunity to see them participate in person in the Els Club Vilamoura.”
ELS added: “It’s wonderful to see these plans materialize now and we are grateful to the Champions President of the PGA Tour Miller Brady, the team of Arrow Global Group and Turismo from Portugal and Turismo from Algarve, for having shared our vision and bring this new exciting tournament here.”
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Vilamoura is only 25 minutes by car from Faro airport, which has 90 airport connections worldwide, and is also two hours drive from Lisbon.
The complex is rich in culture, gastronomy and outdoor activities and shelters its famous Marina who is a multiple winner of the International Marina Prize for the Harbor Association Yacht.
Montgomerie said: “The golf course is superb, and the clubhouse is fantastic. It is not only a course for the present; it is also a course for the future”, while Duval added: “It will be highly awaited for everyone during the Champions tour, and I find it difficult to see how it will not be a huge success from a year.”
PGA Tour Champions announces that Portugal Invititational will be held at the Els Club Vilamoura on the course designed by Ernie Els. PGA Tour Champions, Arrow Global Group, Turismo de Portugal and Turismo de Algarve will offer a five -year partnership and will do its debut the week of July 27, 2026, and will offer an area of 78 players. For more information, visit https://www.portugalinvitational.com/
