The North was ranked in Continental Europe’s top 100 when my quest began in 2020, and it was the first we played during a lovely, sunny March week in the Algarve.

How many times would you expect to say “wow” during a round of golf? I reckon I uttered it between eight and a dozen times along the Pacific coastline at Te Arai’s South course.

To round off this great course with a par and a win was a genuine thrill.

“The course that my soul loves best of all the courses in the world”, wrote celebrated golf writer Bernard Darwin of Aberdovey. And as I...