Penha Longa Resort: Atlântico

Penha Longa might be considered Portugal’s mountain course. Most clubs and resorts are built within easy eyeshot of the Atlantic coast, but the Atlantico course at this 27-hole complex near Lisbon sits up in the Sintra Mountain foothills and feels higher than the 500-foot elevation suggests. Built next to a monastery founded in the 14th century, the 1992 Robert Trent Jones, Jr. out and back design flows gently downhill for ten holes before turning to ascend again toward the old monastery, now the site of a Ritz-Carlton. The course is full of attractive risk/reward driving holes with engaging fairway bunkers that must be navigated, punctuated by short par 5s and two tantalizing short par 4s at three and 13 that make players think hard about what club to pull.