Frade Golf Club

The Frade Golf Club is near the port city of Angra dos Reis in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. It is part of the Hotel Frade Golf Resorts, which is on a 17-million-square-meter-large area between the rainforest of the national park Serra da Bocaina and the southeast Atlantic coast of the Costa Verde. From the city center of Angra dos Reis one can reach the Frade Golf Club via the BR-101 in about a half an hour, but from Rio de Janeiro it takes almost three hours to get to the club. In 1961, it opened an 18-hole-course with par 72, which was designed by the British golf professionals Peter Allis and Dave Thomas. In 2007, the 5,870-meter-long course was completely redesigned by Rafael Navarro. Today’s course has alternating wide and narrow fairways, which run close to the edge of the Atlantic rainforest, with elevated tees and greens, as well as six lakes as water hazards. Some of the tees are very narrow and require golf know-how. At hole 8, an aqueduct ruin from the 19^th century puts the technical skills of the golfers to the test. But the highlight of the course at the Frade Golf Club is hole 11, which has a tee box on a hill at a height of 45 meters and offers a great view of the ocean with its many little islands and the bay of Angra dos Reis.