W.W.G.S.
Portugal 2021
After a year's delay and two earlier attempts we finally managed our annual end of season trip abroad. This time our group were split into two, with seven going to our traditional Portuguese venue and another eight going to Turkey. I was on the Portugal trip so this short report will cover that.
As in previous years we opted for the tried and tested location of the beautiful fishing town of Alvor, about 45 miles from Faro Airport. To spice things up a little the organiser John Ford changed a couple of the courses played bringing in two highly respected Championship standard locations. The trip was also increased by two days due to the flight timings meaning we played five games instead of four.
We played the following courses in this order-
Friday - Gramacho
A regular on our annual Portugal trip. For me Gramacho is the pick of the courses played in this region, a stunning parkland course located adjacent to Vale da Pinta on the outskirts of Portimao.
Saturday - Christie O'Connor Junior
The first of our two new courses for this season. A scenic and relatively flat parkland course with a LOT of water hazards making this a very tough course for higher handicapper's, myself included! We estimated the seven of us lost at least 50-60 balls between us.
Sunday - Vale da Pinta
Another regular course on our trip, Vale-da-Pinta is a beautiful parkland course set on the outskirts of the town of Portimao and is the sister course to Gramacho.
Monday - Faldo
The second of the two new courses for this season. The Faldo is the sister course of the O'Connor, sharing a very impressive clubhouse which is perched on top of a hill and can be seen for miles around. The course itself is once again a scenic parkland course though much hillier than the O'Connor course. Thankfully there is a lot less water but what it looses there it makes up for with lots of bushes and scrubland.
Wednesday - Boavista
After a rest day spent in and around Alvor we took the short trip along the road to play the fifth & final round of this season's Portugal trip. Boavista is is another parkland course and it is also Paul Marshall's "home" course.
After seven days and five games of great golf the Tour winner was Dave Watts, who led from start to finish. This was Dave's second Tour win to my knowledge.
For a link to the score cards and full results in Excel format please click HERE
Last but certainly not least a big thank you from everyone involved must go to John Ford for once again organising another fantastic trip. This was a particular challenge task given the on - off nature of foreign trips thanks to the COVID19 Pandemic. Let's look forward to a more relaxed trip next year, with a bit of luck!
