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Sergio Garcia wrapped up his LIV season in August, finishing ninth in the standings, a result of two top-10 finishes and a win in Hong Kong. It was a decent season for him, sure. But none of that is the reason behind the award he just picked up. In fact, his latest piece of silverware has nothing to do with playing an event at all.

A few hours ago, Garcia posted a picture on his Instagram holding a ginormous trophy in his hands with the caption, “A special project and one I am very proud of! 🫶⛳️” He was talking about his newly designed golf course, Comporta Torre, winning the world’s best new golf course award for 2025.

“I am excited that my brand-new golf course, Comporta Torre, in Portugal, has won the world’s best new golf course at the 2025 Golf Course Awards. I encourage everyone to experience its beauty!”

This course marks Sergio Garcia’s debut as a golf course designer, and it was created in partnership with Vanguard Properties, Portugal’s largest real estate developer and the driving force behind the project. Comporta Torre opened just a month ago and is an hour and a half south of Lisbon along the peaceful Alentejo coast.

Much of Garcia’s inspiration for this project came from his favorite course, Valderrama Golf Club in Spain, the famed 1997 Ryder Cup venue. He wanted to bring some of Valderrama’s strategy and character into his first major design.

Garcia drew upon some of the best elements from that course and attempted to recreate a similar vision here in Portugal. Like Valderrama, it features small greens, dog-leg holes, blind tee shots, and challenging bunkers throughout. But there is one thing the course is missing. It is the famously dense trees that Valderrama is wrapped in, making every shot more challenging. Torre, instead, opens itself to the coastal landscape, letting the wind and natural contours become part of the challenge.

One of the most important things Sergio Garcia kept in mind while designing the course was to make sure that it’s playable for all abilities. It’s not just for the pros or low-handicappers, but it’s meant to welcome anyone who wants to play.

“Our goal was to make a golf course that was beautiful and challenging, but at the same time the kind of course that when you finish playing, you can’t wait to come back and play it again,” Garcia told Golf Monthly back in August.

He indeed designed a course so beautiful that it won three major awards at this year’s World Golf Awards, reinforcing Portugal’s position as a leading international golf destination. The headline-grabber was that Comporta Torre outshone fellow nominees, The Els Club Vilamoura (Portugal), an Arnold Palmer design, and the Trump International, Scotland (New Course).

While Trump International didn’t win the new course award, it did win three headline honors at the 12th Annual Golf Awards.

As Sergio Garcia Takes Top Prize, Trump International Secures Triple Honors

Trump International Scotland may have missed out on the “Best New Course” title this year, but it hardly left the World Golf Awards empty-handed. In fact, it walked away with three of the night’s biggest honors. It was crowned World’s Best Golf Course 2025 and Europe’s Best New Golf Course 2025, while the resort itself earned World’s Best Contribution to Golf Tourism Hospitality 2025.

Set against towering dunes and rugged seaside terrain, the New Course was designed to complement the original Championship Course and complete a 36-hole destination that now stands among the very best in world golf. Praise and gratitude poured in from all over as President Trump called the award a great honor.

“It’s a great honor to win such a prestigious award from the highly respected World Golf Awards. I am very proud of the job that Eric Trump and my team did on building one of the greatest golf courses anywhere in the world. It will make people happy for a long time to come!”

It’s a remarkable achievement for a course that only opened last summer, quickly establishing itself as a dramatic, demanding addition to Scotland’s northeast coastline.