This was our third Greencard Golf Tour visit to the Algarve over the New Year period. Our base was once again the recently refurbished Dona Filipa hotel with the golf programme including three rounds on the superb San Lorenzo and two on Pinheiros Altos.
The refurbished Dona Filipa Hotel – a perfect post Christmas weather escape
It is always nice to escape the weather in the UK after Christmas and despite a few showers the week was absolutely fine for golf and certainly proved to be the warmest of our three visits to date over this time.
Whilst it is the usual procedure to have the AM AM as the opening round, we wanted to ensure that the majority of individual stableford rounds were played on the superior course. As a result the first round of the competition took place on the opening morning.
Solid Start at San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo opened in 1988, this world-class course has been consistently ranked alongside the best in Europe. It was looking in good shape as the first group set off on Monday morning. Claire Howell, who narrowly missed out on winning this event last year began her challenge with a tremendous 36 points. Warrick Dawson, on his first Greencard, finished with an impressive 35, Sam Judson was just a point back on 34. John Meagher, our 2105 Tour Champion began the new season with a solid 33.
San Lorenzo is one of the best courses in the World and provided a fantastic venue for the 2016 Opener
We returned to San Lorenzo the following day for the second round. Unfortunately, our defending champion from this event in 2014/15, Fred Parks had fallen prior to leaving the UK and had cracked a rib. Having struggled through the first round he decided that he couldn’t continue and sadly his defence came to an abrupt end.
Jackie Carter Opens Two Point Lead After 36 Holes
Meanwhile on the course, there was some very impressive scoring going on. Ian Robinson, Marian Raybone and Jackie Carter all finished the day with 37 points. This was enough to ensure that Jackie held top spot at the half way stage on 69. Claire had another solid round of 31, which left her just two behind the leader. Neil Marr was finding various ways of scoring 32 points. His eventful first round, included blobs, lost balls and birdies, while his second round was less dramatic but a total of 64 meant he was still very much in the hunt. John Meagher was one behind Neil, whilst Warrick was a further point back.
Change of Plan Brings a Golfing Gem into the Schedule
The next day we were scheduled to play Pinheiros Altos but reports had come through that the greens were not up to their usual high standards. We therefore made the decision to move the group to play at the nearby Vale do Lobo Royal. We would keep Pinheiros Altos for the AM AM but it was fantastic to have the Royal course added to the programme.
The Signature 16th Hole on the Royal Course at Vale Do Lobo
This course certainly tests the accuracy from the tee, with several of the opening holes requiring precise tee shots to allow a chance of hitting the green in regulation. The back nine includes holes alongside the coast including the spectacular par 3 signature 16th hole, where one has to play over the ravine to a green at a distance of around 200 yards.
Impressive Scoring on Challenging Course
Reuben Fielding certainly enjoyed the challenge and was finishing the year on a high with a fantastic 36 points, which included 21 on the back nine. Sam Judson also joined the party, matching Reuben’s score. Sue Spencer, on her first Greencard, was playing great golf off a handicap of 5. She ended the day with 35 and moved into third place prior to the last round. Claire Howell had another impressive day and her 35 ensured that she would be second position going into the final day. Warrick Dawson shot a 34, which enabled him to secure his place in the final group.
Round of the Day Gives Leader 5 Point Gap
However, the round of the day went to Jackie Carter. After scoring 37 points the previous day, she had a truly impressive 38, giving her a total of 107 after three rounds and a 5 point lead over Claire.
Last Round of the Year is Time for the Teams
The next event on the golf programme was the team event at Pinheiros Altos.
There are three sets of nine here and we played the combination of Pines and Corks. The format was two scores to count on the par 4’s and par 5’s with three scores on the par 3’s. The forecast looked a little dodgy for the first part of the morning and this indeed turned out to be the case. However, before we had all set off the rain had disappeared and conditions returned to being very pleasant for golf.
Pinheiros Altos location for the pre New Year’s Eve Party Team Event
The closing holes on the Corks set of nine are challenging, in particular the par 5, 17th hole, which John Meagher managed to birdie. However, it wasn’t enough to secure a victory for his team. The fourball captained by Bill Coupe and including Shirley Halhead, Neil Dalton and Jean Dalton finished with 97 and took the runners up place. The victory went to the team led by Gavin Wilding and included John Moore, Diane Wilkes and Julia Bashford who managed to score 100 and take the win by the slender margin of 3 points.
After the golf we all returned to the hotel, some via the Irish bar and other outlets to prepare for New Year’s Eve. Following the hotel cocktail, we moved to our private restaurant for the gala dinner. It was great to have the whole group together and the scene was only matched by the tremendous firework display at midnight (thank you Reuben).
The next day people recovered from the night before by either chilling out in the hotel, playing a bit more golf or visiting one of the nearby restaurants to enjoy a leisurely lunch.
Scene is Set for a Classic Finish at San Lorenzo
The final round was to be held on San Lorenzo and based on previous events here, it promised to be a thrilling one. We had experienced heavy showers overnight and as a result the course was wet. These tricky conditions would mean that precise ball striking would be required to score well.
Tim Spencer set the bar with 36, including an incredible 23 points on the front nine. Reuben continued his form and carded a 33 and John followed his victory in the team event with an impressive 35.
The Final Round on San Lorenzo set up another thrilling finish
Deja Vu on the 18th
However, at this stage it was too late to mount a challenge for the title. As the last few groups came in, we made our way down to the 18th green to watch the conclusion of the event. The final hole at San Lorenzo is a test at the best of times, requiring a drive over water followed by an approach of around 150 yards to an island green surrounded by bunkers. The difficulty level is raised significantly when you are so close to victory and have many of the Greencard group watching the events. Last year three out the final four ball required just one point to win and all four failed to score.
One of those players was Claire Howell, her approach, 12 months ago, had plugged in the front greenside bunker and promptly ended her challenge. Nobody knew the state of play as we watched the approach shots from that final group. Jackie hit a great shot to the left of the green, giving her a perfect angle to pitch towards the flag. Sue’s drive had found water and so having played three of the tee, she had to go for the green and unfortunately her ball once again found water. However, her 32 points was enough to secure third position in her first Greencard event.
Warrick cleared the water but required a tricky chip and putt to make par. Claire opted against going for the green and chose to lay up before playing her third shot towards the green. After the events of last year the shot wasn’t going to be short but unfortunately it skipped on and ended in the back bunker. This time it was not plugged and she played a solid bunker shot.
Battle of Nerves on the Final Green
Meanwhile, Warrick had chipped on but unfortunately then saw his putt miss the hole. Jackie’s pitch was understandably a little heavy and ended at the back of the green. Both Jackie’s and Claire’s approach putts finished short of the hole with Jackie’s the furthest away. We all watched on as her ball rolled around the hole before falling in and giving Jackie two vital putts. There was one ball left on the green, Claire stepped up and confidently stroked in a tricky three foot putt.
2016 Starts as 2015 Finished – All Square After 72!
Top Trio: Jackie Carter, Claire Howell & Sue Spencer
As the cards were signed and handed in, it was confirmed that Claire and Jackie had both finished the four rounds on a total of 137. However, Claire’s final round of 35 against Jackie’s 30 gave her the victory, that she came so close to last year, on the countback rule.
This is third time that Jackie has come second on countback but we are confident that it will be her turn soon to lift the trophy. Congratulations to Claire on her win and qualification to the Grand Finals, which will be held towards the end of the year.
I would like to thank everybody who took part in the event and made it such a wonderful week. The New Year event at Dona Filipa has been great fun over the past few years. We will be announcing the venue for the 2016/17 New Year event as soon as possible.
You Might Also Be Interested In…
