Vilamoura Golf

Tournament Review – Quinta do Lago South – 24th Agt. 2013

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QLSouthA truly international field attended the lovely Quinta do Lago South Course on a fine day which had a light breeze to enable a pleasant round in cooler conditions than had been experienced during the week.  Host of the Portuguese Open eight times and included in the Golf World’s Magazine’s ‘Top 100 courses in Europe in 2012’ the South is beautiful as it meanders through the Quinta estate. Some of Europe’s finest properties are also to be found here touching the lush fairways but without intruding on play. It is an example of how construction can be in harmony with a golf course.

The course was immaculately presented with fast, true greens and rolling fairways. The stage was set!

28 players from as far afield as Holland, France and Italy as well as our expatriate friends from over the border in Spain joined our local Portuguese, English, Irish and Scottish members and guests and an enjoyable day was spoiled for some only by the quality of their golf!

Scoring proved tough as the pins were placed in tricky positions on many holes, but a fine round of 35 points by Mick Brown won the day.  2nd was new member Richard Moore who had made his debut the previous week at San Lourenco and was loud in his praise of the society as he had made many new friends during his holiday.  We look forward to seeing him again.

3rd Place went to Malcolm Maxwell who equalled Richard’s score of 34 points but lost out on the back 9.  4th was Chris Banner with 33 points winning by virtue of his score on the last 6 holes.  5th was Rodrigo Ulrich, Course Director at Boavista Golf Club in Lagos, also on 33 points.  The Society intends to visit Boavista at Rodrigo’s invitation in the near future.

Rodrigo also was nearest the pin at the 11th hole and kindly donated his bottle of wine for consumption!  Apologies to Bert Carroll who was nearest the pin at the 7th hole but who I think I overlooked and awarded his bottle of wine to Malcolm Maxwell instead.  I hope the matter has been rectified but if not please see me next time!

Our thanks are extended to the Hilton Group and Dom Pedro Hotels in their sponsorship of this event and to Tee Times Golf Agency in securing a great rate and tee time (something they are rather good at!). Playing partners Eamonn Kerr and Cathy Matthews were also very appreciative as some prizes came their way too.

The players and their guests were again treated to a lovely buffet meal with wine and Sangria back at the Chez Carlos Restaurant.  Thanks go to Felipe and his staff for their excellent food and service.

This was the 3rd event in our Quinta do Lago Series this year and has been proven to be as popular as last year. It is not too be missed.

Our next game is at the Old Course in Vilamoura and we look forward to another friendly occasion.

Ron McLachlan

Tournament Review – Quinta do Lago –13th July 2013

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This week we played the beautiful Quinta do Lago North course as part of our “Quinta Series” of games over the summer.  Having already played Laranjal and we will  finish with a visit to the South Golf Course on 24th August.  All the players appreciated the fantastic value meal which included a superb buffet with wine and Sangria after the match provided by Felipe and his staff, at Chez Carlos Restaurant.  Our thanks go to them.

We had a large field of 32 players and we were pleased to welcome many guests including 8 visitors from over the border in Ayamonte.  We hope they enjoyed their day and we look forward to welcoming them again at any time in the future.

Starting in sultry conditions the sun eventually came through and it was a fine day for golf.  The golf course was in top condition.  The greens were particularly good, being fast and true.

In view of the size of the field, we had 5 cash prizes and bottles of wine for 2 nearest the pins and a Longest Drive.

The scoring was generally good with 14 players scoring over 30 points.

The winner though, had a special round.  Playing off only 7 hcp, a reduction of 2 in view of his recent successes, Fraser Graham, shot 4 gross birdies in an opening 9 holes and whilst not as spectacular continued to hold his game together on the back 9 to score a magnificent 41 points.  (I fear that Carlos will impose a further reduction next time!)

Second was Darren Hampshy, visiting from Albufeira, with another excellent score of 37 points.  Third, and continuing his good form recently was member Peter Densham with 36 points,

4th was Carlos Ferreira’s guest, Pedro Silvestre who scored a fine 35 points, whilst returning member Peter McMahon finished 5th on 34 points.

Nearest the pin at the 8th hole was Tom Taylor who arrived just in time to claim his bottle of wine before it was consumed by his playing partners!

The longest drive on the 11th hole went to Fraser Graham who launched a mighty blow straight down the middle.

The final nearest the pin prize on the 16th hole was won by Barry Partner and so the cross border raid scored a minor success!

As had been the case on the previous “Quinta Series” , Carlos had managed to organise some special prizes which were drawn at random.  A voucher for 2 nights for 2 people at the Vila Gale Hotel in Vilamoura was won by member Mark Punter.  A similar voucher for any Luna Hotel which includes the Olympus in Vilamoura was won by guest Simon Wingfield.

As mentioned above, we were treated to a superb meal afterwards at Chez Carlos Restaurante .  It seems that many players continued to enjoy each other’s company for a long time afterwards both in Chez Carlos and Parky’s bar .

Vale Da Pinta – Charity Golf Event, 29th June 2013

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Chez Carlos Golf Society – APPC Charity Day = Vale da Pinta GC 29th June 2013

In a slight departure form our normal personalised golf days, 11 Society members and guests were pleased to participate in the 3rd annual tournament to support the APPC. The Portuguese Association of Cerebral Palsy Faro (Faro APPC) is a Private Institution of Social Solidarity for people with disabilities, founded in 1982, by a group of parents and professional s. It supports the prevention, diagnosis, evaluation and rehabilitation of children and young adults with Cerebral Palsy related problems. Several people who are afflicted with this condition attended and participated in the day. It was very humbling.

Vale da Pinta gave generously of their course, their staff and their time to provide a wonderful day for both the players and the beneficiaries of the charity. The buffet lunch was excellent and various sponsors had donated prizes for both the competition and the Tombola.

As for the golf itself, there was a “shotgun” start and Carlos had excelled by commandeering both the 1st and 10th, as well as the 11th tees, so that no one had to travel far from the clubhouse either before or after the game!

The Society excelled in several respects. Pride of place must go to the winner of the whole competition – Peter Bell – who scored a wonderful 40 points, having been spurred on by his playing partners who were not quite as good! The former Portuguese international football goalkeeper, Ricardo Perreira – a 2 handicap player – finished second, but Tony Roberts, another of our party finished 3rd with 38 points.

Peter kindly donated his trophy for permanent display in the Chez Carlos Restaurant. (Of course that means he does not have to clean it himself!)

Tony’s son George, at about 2 metres tall (6 footish if you are on old numbers) and weighing about 64 kg (10st) knocked a huge drive down the 18th to win the longest drive. Tony himself won the nearest the pin prize at the 15th and Peter Bell won a bottle of wine for hitting the green at the 17th which few people did throughout the day.

The tombola provided further amusement when Carlos won 2 tee times at any Pestana Golf course of his choice, and John Gibson won a tray of beautiful apples which he promptly gave to the kitchen staff – presumably for roast pork later. He is obviously more of a carnivorous nature!

Finally we returned to Vilamoura for one last drink at Parky’s to finish another great day of fun and camaraderie.

In short, we had a lovely day, with nice people who gave generously for a cause which, looking at the videos relating to the APPC and the carers and their dependants that attended the day, was very much deserving of our support.