Pinhal is the second-oldest course in the Vilamoura complex, opening in 1976 to a Frank Pennink design before Robert Trent Jones Sr. came in to refine it in 1985 – a rare meeting of British and American architectural styles on the same layout. Martin Hawtree has since reworked the 5th, 12th, 15th and 16th. The result is a par 72 measuring around 6,350 metres, draped over gently rolling parkland with umbrella and Atlantic pines lining almost every fairway. It’s not a course that beats you up with water – a stream and a few small ponds appear here and there – but the trees and the small, sloping greens demand accuracy off the tee and a sharp short game. The opening stretch is honest about its intentions: two stout par fours and a pair of long par fives in the first four holes will test you before you’ve settled. The par-three 8th, played across water to a two-tiered green ringed by four bunkers, is one of the better short holes in Vilamoura. The back nine opens out a touch, with sea glimpses and a quirky 11th – a sharp dogleg par four that bends 90 degrees left. Conditioning is generally good, the pace tends to be steady rather than rushed, and as part of the Dom Pedro Golf stable (alongside the Old Course, Millennium and Laguna), it sits comfortably in any Vilamoura itinerary as the strategic, thinking man’s round.