The Terras da Comporta Resort was developed by Vanguard Properties, the largest real estate developer in Portugal. The project comprises two plots of land, with the Dunas site occupying around 1,011 hectares of land in the Grândola municipality, around an hour south of Lisbon.

The Dunas Course was designed by David McLay-Kidd in a secluded setting on the edge of the Sado Estuary Nature Reserve. Built across 84 hectares of natural, sandy terrain, the par-71 links style course features vast playing areas and bold bunkering. The course opened in June 2023, and plans for the development include a second course which will be designed as a collaboration between Ryder Cup players José María Olazábal and Sergio Garcia.

David McLay-Kidd first started work on the Dunas Course at Terras de Comporta back in 2008, and was relieved after many setbacks to have finally finished the course and opened it for public play. He believes the course will come to be regarded as among the finest in southern Europe.

“I first came here in 2008 and it’s absolutely stunning," said McLay-Kidd. "If you look at any top 100 list, it is peppered by golf courses that are through pine, barren sand dunes – from the courses in Melbourne, Australia, to the courses in Long Island in the US and the stuff around the British and Irish coastline, they are generally through sand and through vegetation, and so here we are in southern Europe in Portugal with exactly that type of terrain, and yet no golf course has really capitalised on that. This is a massive opportunity for golf to build something that is unique in southern Europe."

The designer added, “the thing that is really great for me is that this is open to the public. I get to build courses but, more often than not, they are very, very private and no one gets to see them, so being able to build something like this that’s unique, so natural and is open to all at a reasonable price is great. I’m hoping that the course will fill with golfers quickly and be a showcase for links golf in southern Europe.”