Tee Times Golf Agency Open Championship 2018
Michael Ewings – Winner
The 2nd Tee Times Golf Agency Open Championship 2018 amateur competition was played in January 2018 in a Stableford format with a mixture of pairs and individual scores over the 3 day tournament at Salgados, Laranjal and Quinta do Lago South Golf courses. The competition was fully booked, well in advance.
The event began with a meet and greet cocktail party at the Chez Carlos restaurant in Vilamoura on the Thursday evening. The pairs draw was made for the following day.
Salgados Golf Course hosted the first round of the competition. Although it was a cold and windy day the atmosphere amoung the players was exciting. Salgados is a very open golf course and as it was a breezy day, scores were definatly affected and not brilliant. It was a two tee start. Salgados Golf Course was in a good condition and well maintained. After the round the group sat at the club house terrace enjoying the sunshine whilst scores were collected. The players later gathered at The Chez Carlos restaurant for dinner, announcing of the days results and to make the draw for the following day.
Tee Times Golf Agency Open Championship 2018
The 2nd round was played at Laranjal Golf Course. It was a beautiful sunny day again with no wind, quoted by the players as “millionaires golf and an absolute pleasure to play”. The greens were true but difficult to read and the scores improved slightly from the previous day. Laranjal have introduced new tees and the players noticed that the golf course was longer but enjoyed the novelty of using Gold Tees.
The group met up later at the Chez Carlos restaurant to have dinner, discuss scores and to be advised of start times for the final round which was in order of merit.
Stephen Draisey – 2º place
Quinta do Lago South Golf Course was host to the final round and a favourite course for most. There were 8 to 12 players in with a chance of winning, which created an exciting buzz amoung the competitors. Quinta Do Lago are making some noticable improvements to the South Golf Course and the greens were good but slower then Laranjal Golf Course. Nearest the pin was played every day and on the final day, the longest drive was introduced on the 17th hole, a par 5. Colette Cohen won the Ladies and Peter McMahon won the gents longest drive.
The Tee Times prize giving dinner was held that evening at The Chez Carlos Restaurant with non golfers also attending, there was approximatley 65 people. It was a fantastic evening, a brilliant atmosphere with great food and excellent service.
Doug Smith hosted the prize giving looking very dapper in his red bow tie. The prizes were given for individuals and pairs, nearest the pin and the longest drive. The best dressed players also won prizes, the worthy winners were Roger and Carol Benzie wearing traditional Scottish kilts. Carmel McCarthy received the biggest cheer of the entire evening for the each day lowest score and she embraced this in great style.
Thomas Roberts – 3º place
Mr Carlos, owner and founder of the Tee Times Golf Agency congratulated the winners and thanked the sponsers for their support and complemented Douglas and Teresa Smith, for their input in the organisation.
Later a raffle took place with a variety of excellent prizes, for a childrens charity here in the Algarve and an amazing total of 1.725,00 euros was raised.
It was a marvellous event, thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. The evening culminated with some live music courtesy of Roger with his guitar and the guests partied until midnight. After a very merry night, some accidental coat swapping even took place. There could not have been a more fantastic group of people and we very much hope to see everyone for the 3rd Tee Times Golf Agency Open Tournament in 2019!
List of Prize Winners
| Day 1 Pairs Salgados | Pts |
| 1st – Thomas Roberts & Jeff Williams | 65 |
| 2nd – Rob Brown & Liz Scully | 63 |
| 3rd – Stephen Draisey & Mair Robinson | 58 |
| Nearest the pin – Ken Barnes 8th | |
| Winner of lowest stableford score – Carmel McCarthy | |
| Day 2 Pairs Laranjal | Pts |
| 1st – Trevor Ward & Trish Macbeth | 56 |
| 2nd – Tony Lopategui & Peter Mcahon | 55(c/b) |
| 3rd – Marie Harpur & Michelle Roberts | 55 |
| Nearest the pin – Neil Johnson 15th | |
| Winner of lowest stableford score – Carmel McCarthy | |
| Day 3 Individual Quinta South | Pts |
| 1st – David Harpur | 37 |
| 2nd – Colette Cohen | 33 |
| 3rd – Michael Ewings | 32(c/b) |
| Nearest the pin –Bill Hurrel – 1t1h | |
| Winner of lowest stableford score – Carmel McCarthy | |
| Mens Longest Drive 17th Peter McMahon | |
| Ladies Longest Drive 17th Colette Cohen | |
| Open Championship | Pts |
| 1st – Michael Ewings | 26 33 32 = 91 |
| 2nd – Stephen Draisey | 32 31 28 = 91(c/b) |
| 3rd – Thomas Roberts | 34 30 25 = 89 |
| 4th – Trevor Ward | 30 26 32 = 88 |
| 5th – Jeff Williams | 31 26 30 = 87 |
| 6th – Michelle Roberts | 30 25 31 = 86 |
| Best Ladies Score – Mair Robinson | |
| Best Dressed – Roger Benzie | |
