Sergio Garcia Unveils His Latest Torre Golf Course Masterpiece in Portugal

Spanish golf legend brings his design vision to life with stunning new course set to open in the fall.

Professional golfer Sergio Garcia has traded his clubs for blueprints once again, and the results are spectacular. The Spanish star recently spoke with Premier Golf about his latest course design in Portugal. The new course, called Torre, is located at Terras de Comporta and joins the acclaimed Dunas course. It is set for a soft opening on 4 October this year, with a full public opening planned for the 2026 season. What emerges from our conversation is a passionate designer who is bringing the same precision to course architecture that made him a Masters champion.

What Makes Portugal the Perfect Canvas?

When asked why he chose Portugal for this venture, Garcia’s answer was refreshingly straightforward: “Why not?” But there’s more depth to his decision. “Portugal is beautiful to start with, very close to Spain, which is my home country,” Garcia explained. “But more than anything, Vanguard and Jose and Rodrigo and everyone involved, they were so accommodating. They were so excited for me to be a part of it. When we saw the piece of land, we fell in love with it.”

The collaboration proved seamless, with Garcia praising the development team’s enthusiasm and the natural beauty of the terrain. “It was an easy decision for us,” he reflected, “simple as that.”

Garcia’s Design Philosophy: Valderrama’s Influence Meets Portuguese Beauty

Garcia’s favorite course, Valderrama, clearly influenced his design approach, though he’s careful not to simply copy what works elsewhere. 

Drawing from years of his golf experience at the highest level, he understands what makes courses both challenging and enjoyable. “Obviously, it’s difficult to recreate Valderrama unless you have the kind of terrain and vegetation that you have in the Sevillas,” Garcia noted. “But if you notice, you can see some of the vegetation is different there.”

The influence shows in subtle ways – particularly in the green design. “Small greens, you know, that’s very typical of Valderrama. That’s something that I’ve always enjoyed,” Garcia shared. The course features challenging tee shots, banked greens, and strategic doglegs, but with a crucial difference: accessibility.

“We wanted to make sure to make a golf course that would challenge you, but at the same time, we wanted to make a course that all kinds of amateurs could enjoy and would be willing to come back,” Garcia emphasized. “We don’t want to make a course that is so difficult that you play it once and you’re like, ‘Okay, that’s it.'”

The Philosophy of Smaller Greens

Garcia makes a compelling case for smaller greens that goes beyond just shot-making. From a sustainability perspective, smaller greens require less water and fewer maintenance products, which are increasingly important considerations in modern golf course management.

From a playability standpoint, Garcia believes smaller targets create more engaging golf: “When you have smaller greens, it makes you focus a little bit more because you know that the target is smaller. If you hit a good shot, it always feels like you have a birdie chance. It feels like you’re much closer to the hole.”

He argues that a perfectly struck approach to a small green often leaves a better scoring opportunity than a wayward shot that finds a large green 40 feet from the pin, but the penalty is greater. “It’s always tougher to control those chips than a 40 or 50 foot putt,” Garcia observed.

Standout Holes and Design Highlights

When pressed to pick favorites, Garcia highlighted several standout holes:

• The 1st: “I love the look of the first hole. That second shot with the trees, downhill with the little pine trees around the green – that’s a beautiful looking hole.”
• The 5th: A short par-three that Garcia particularly enjoys, calling it representative of “those kind of holes” he’s always loved.
• The 12th: Despite still needing some grow-in time, Garcia calls this “a great hole” with “spectacular” views.
• The 13th: A par-three down the hill that Garcia describes as “very old” in character.

The par-three variety was especially important to Garcia’s design philosophy. Drawing again from Valderrama’s influence, he wanted variation in length and challenge. “You want to have a little variation, so it makes you think a little bit. It makes you hit different shots, different clubs,” he explained. Players reportedly used everything from gap wedges to 7-woods during the media day, depending on wind conditions.

Balancing Playing and Designing

Garcia started his design career later specifically because he believes good course architecture requires time and attention. With decades of experience playing in golf majors and countless rounds on the world’s best courses, he brings unique insights to design that can only come from elite-level competition. “My idea when it comes to golf course design is that it requires time. If you want to do it the right way and not just do courses, you need to put in the right amount of time to make sure that you do a really good job.”

The transition to LIV Golf has provided Garcia with more scheduling flexibility to pursue design projects seriously. “Now that I’m a little bit older and I have a little more time, and also with the LIV schedule, which allows me to have a little bit more time, then it’s easier to get involved in design.”

Future Projects and Tournament Aspirations

Garcia’s design portfolio is growing thoughtfully. Beyond the Portugal project, he’s working on courses in Mayakoba, Mexico (a multi-year project) and recently started a new venture in Bahrain. He’s intentionally limiting concurrent projects to ensure quality over quantity; an approach that reflects the same attention to detail that characterized his professional playing career.

The expanding Sergio Garcia golf course portfolio represents a natural evolution for the Spanish star, who’s applying his competitive insights to create memorable golfing experiences.

As for hosting tournaments at the new Portugal course, Garcia is cautiously optimistic but realistic. “Obviously, I would love to be able to host both [DP World Tour and LIV events] if possible,” he said. “But first of all, we want to make sure that the course is working nicely, that people are enjoying it, that people are playing it.”

A Designer’s Touch

After five site visits over the project’s duration, Garcia hasn’t been back since September, making him eager to see the finished product. “I’m really excited to see how it looks after it opens and how it’s playing and everything,” he said, with the grand opening planned for later this year.

The course represents Garcia’s vision of golf architecture: challenging enough to engage skilled players while remaining enjoyable for amateurs, environmentally conscious in its maintenance requirements, and beautiful enough to keep players coming back. If his track record as a player is any indication, Garcia’s design career is off to a promising start.

The Portugal course opens for its soft launch in October, offering golfers their first chance to experience Garcia’s design philosophy in action. Based on the early reviews from media who played the course, it seems Garcia has successfully translated his playing experience into thoughtful, engaging golf course architecture.

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