Firstly, let's get the good bits out of the way - The course design is magnificient as you would expect from Jack Nicklaus. The clubhouse design is good, but having to go outside to get from the changing rooms and then inside to the bar, is strange. The staff are very good, but seemed less enthusiastic than in previous visits. I cannot comment on the villas or food as I didn't use these. THE COURSE - I first played Monte Rei the year after is was opened and was spell bound by the condition of the course. Lush green fairways, bright soft sand and perfectly manicured greens and tees. I have played it thrice in the last 12 months and even in this short time the course condition has become absolutely disgraceful. The greens were dressed in sand, possibly necessary but no pre-warning. The fairways are a joke! Very little grass and we resorted to preferred lies - on the best course in the Algarve as it is claimed to be? With the lack of watering, the fairways are very hard, and although wide enough in good conditions, anything landing on a slope at the edge of the fairways results on a lost ball when it bounces at right angles and runs into yellow flowered, clover like plants which devour your golf ball. Your chances of finding your ball is between nil and zero. Why these plants have been allowed to take over the course is a mystery. It should be a relatively easy task for the green staff to strim them back, but all we could see was the same green staff searching through these plants for lost balls! The course manager has got his priorities totally wrong. There is a plan to build an additional course, again with Jack Nicklaus' signature on it, but the money which would be spent on it would be better utilised on bringing the course back up to the standard it once was. The weather is not the problem, it is the management of the course which is the issue. Try playing Quinta Da Cima and Ria just down the road which are in superb condition. Try playing the Quinta do Lago courses which are even better! The Monte Rei course is no longer the best course in the Algarve, I wouldn't rate it in the top 20 at the moment. Superb villas do not mask the terrible condition of the course which is the main reason people go there. Monte Rei is living on its short past history of excellence. We played it in an organised group of 24 golfers and our organisor has stated that he will not bring goups here again until it has been brought back to the standard it once was. I felt sorry for he guys in the group who were playing it for the first time, they were so disappointed and didn't even get the small bag tags as momentos. So to sum up my experience on my latest visit - The course is in terrible condition, The course management is dire, The staff in the shop and bar areas are not so enthusiastic, probably due to negative comments from golfers, It is far too overpriced for the golfing experience you get. I'm not sure how long this facility can survive when a new
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