Portugal is having a moment.

According to a recent report from a leading travel and relocation company, Portugal tops the list of destinations for Americans considering a move abroad. The company surveyed more than 116,000 U.S. residents to identify the most desirable countries for those looking to leave the United States.

Participants completed a 20-question assessment covering factors such as climate preferences, monthly budgets, and language considerations.

The results? Portugal ranked No. 1 among American hopefuls.

And with elite beaches, incredible wine regions and friendly locals, the move makes sense, especially for those trying to live a big life on a modest retirement. But with its California-like microclimate, Portugal’s southern half has gone one better, wooing some of the world’s more affluent itinerants.

That, in turn, has helped push the creation of a bevy of new upscale golf clubs in the country’s southern region. As part of a recent Golfweek raters trip, a group played Sergio Garcia’s new Torre course as well as David McLay Kidd’s Dunas course, which opened in 2023, among many others.

But the Els Club in Vilamoura, which will host the PGA Tour Champions in 2026, proved a real treat for the group as we were the first non-member group to be welcomed to the redesigned golf club.

Romeu Gonçalves is the director of golf at The Els Club Vilamoura in Portugal. He welcomed a group of @golfweek raters as the first non-members earlier this fall. The course will host the first @ChampionsTour event in Europe next year. Incredible experience. pic.twitter.com/VOMWnY3MlW

— Tim Schmitt (@TMSGolfweek) November 17, 2025

The exclusive club occupies the former site of Victoria Golf Course, an Arnold Palmer design that hosted the Portugal Masters on the DP World Tour from 2007 to 2022. The course closed in 2023, shortly after Arrow Global acquired five golf courses and three hotels within the Vilamoura resort.

Since being redesigned, one nine retains its original path, enhanced with tweaks and redesigns, while the other features an entirely new routing that essentially reverses the previous layout. Among the highlights, the par-5 11th hole, which takes plenty of strategy and might to get through, and the par-4 16th, which hugs one of the many lakes.

Since there’s not much cover, the winds can make The Els Club a bear, one that will certainly challenge the world’s best senior players. But with a snake tee setup, even novices can enjoy a great day, as long as they stay away from the healthy diet of water.

Els fell for the region when his family was still growing and living in England; the Algarve was a favorite spot for vacations in which Els could still work on his game, but the family could enjoy a day at the beach.

His affection for the region shines through on the course, which is the first private golf club in the Algarve region. Sitting about 20 minutes from the city of Faro and its international airport, the

“Playing around the world these past 35 years, on golf courses of all different types and in every possible kind of landscape, you develop almost a sixth sense for the little details, the shot values and design touches, which come together in your own designs,” Els told Golf Course Architecture magazine. “It’s always a balance, because you want golfers of all standards to enjoy a golf course. I like to give golfers the opportunity to put the ball in play, so the fairways are generous. The second shots, I like to start playing with you a bit, greens at angles and so forth. I like a certain style of bunker, so you’ll see that at Vilamoura.”

Els has admitted that he kept the project somewhat of a secret as he tweaked to get the course exactly the way he wanted it. Officials from PGA Tour Champions, Arrow Global Group, Turismo de Portugal and Turismo de Algarve announced earlier this year that a five-year deal to host the Portugal Invitational will debut the week of July 27, 2026, and will feature a field of 78 players, including World Golf Hall of Fame and PGA Tour Champions members, as well as Legends Tour members.

It will be the first PGA Tour-sanctioned individual stroke play event to be held in Portugal and will feature a purse of $ 3 million USD. It will follow the ISPS Handa Senior Open and precede the Staysure Senior PGA Championship on the Legends Tour in a compelling three-week swing of European golf featuring some of the game’s most iconic players.

Another fun piece of the resort that’s been revived since the Els redesign — a seldom-used tunnel that travels underground to get players from the adjacent Victoria Golf Resort to the new course. The tunnel is lined with tributes to past champions and neon signs intended to inspire players.

It’s all part of something special Els has created, and although it’s private, the Champions event will allow the masses to see what he’s accomplished.

“I loved the challenge of creating something exceptional in this part of the world,” Els said. “And I can’t wait for people to see it.”

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Els Club Vilamoura in Portugal to host PGA Tour Champions