Quinta Da Ria – Saturday, 28th July 2012 – Weekly Competition

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It has been been nearly three years ago since the Algarve Golf Society has played Quinta Da Ria. A course designed by the famous golf architect Rocky Roquemore famed for such classics as San Lorenzo, Quinta Da Lago (North) & Vale Do Lobo Royal. His trademarks are all here on Ria; open fairways, abundant bunkers and large contoured rolling greens. It is easy on foot and a delight on the eye with no on course construction and the back nine holes tracking the outer boundary with fabulous coastal views giving way to sweet smelling orange groves. The course was in fine form though the greens would have benefitted from a good cut and roll. The centrally located clubhouse with a large open terrace area is great place to meet for pre and post game drinks. It also doubles up as a clubhouse for its sister course Quinta Da Cima which is to its side – another one well worth a visit and shall be on our calendar very soon.

Afterwards it was another turn from our ‘Experience’ series with a visit to a local portuguese cafe / restaurant on the seafront at Olhão. Fresh prawns and crabs is the speciality here at this important fishing port city. Olhão takes his name from a big natural water fountain, an ‘eye of water’, like the locals call it (Olhão means Big Eye). The Olhaneses (inhabitants of Olhão) are more notorious for the trip to Brazil, in a small fishing boat (60-65 ft) with 17 fisherman, that, without maps or any guiding tools (but the stars), went to warn King John VI, who was exiled in that country, that the French had been defeated and banished from Portugal.

Our thanks to Eve Koch for the co-ordination of another great ‘Experience’. Watch out for the next one mid- august this time coinciding with the sardine festival in Portimao.

1st: Patricia Dorig (h/cap 33): 36pts
2nd: Fraser Graham (h/cap 8): 35pts (b/9: 18pts)
3rd: Trevor Maw (h/cap 12): 35pts (b/9: 16pts)

Nearest The Pin (17th): Eithne McMahon

New Golf Rules

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Rule 1.a.5: A ball sliced or hooked into the rough shall be lifted and placed on the fairway at a point equal to the distance it carried or rolled into the rough with no penalty. The golfer should not be penalized for tall grass which green keepers failed to mow.

Rule 2. d .6 (B): A ball hitting a tree shall be deemed not to have hit the tree. This is simply bad luck and luck has no place in a scientific game. The player must estimate the distance the ball would have traveled if it had not hit the tree and play the ball from there.

Rule 3.B.3(G): There shall be no such thing as a lost ball. The missing ball is on or near the course and will eventually be found and pocketed by someone else, making it a stolen ball. The player is not to compound the felony by charging himself or herself with a penalty.

Rule 4. c .7(h): If a putt passes over a hole without dropping, it is deemed to have dropped. The law of gravity supersedes the Rules of Golf.

Rule 5: Putts that stop close enough to the cup that they could be blown in, may be blown in. This does not apply to balls more than three inches from the hole. No one wants to make a travesty of the game.

Rule 6.a.9(k): There is no penalty for so-called ‘out of bounds’. If penny-pinching golf course owners bought sufficient land, this would not occur. The golfer deserves an apology, not a penalty.

Rule 7..G.15(z): There is no penalty for a ball in a water hazard, as golf balls should float. Golfers should not be penalized for manufacturers’ shortcomings.

Rule 8. k .9(S): Advertisements claim that golf scores can be improved by purchasing new golf equipment. Since this is financially impractical for many golfers, one-half stroke per hole may be subtracted for using old equipment.

Oceânico Laguna – Saturday, 21st July 2012 – Weekly Competition

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Chez Carlos Golf Society played Oceanico Laguna on this wonderful Saturday afternoon. The weather, although sunny and warm, was bearable, which made the atmosphere even more enjoyable for the 15 golfers. The course was in great condition and very challenging as always. This is a pretty open course with many lakes, (the name “Laguna” is no coincidence) and with a total of 79 bunkers, which combined with the frequent wind turn this into anything but a walk in the park. Nevertheless, everyone was in good spirits, which no doubt contributed to the good scores:
Joe Fraser, playing off 8 hcp – 39
Chris Milford, playing off 12.6 hcp – 34
Alan Toole, playing off 18 hcp – 34

There was no nearest-to-the-pin as everyone missed. All the par-5 holes are high in strokes, which proves to be a challenge to the average golfer. On the other hand, the par-3 are low in strokes, which are all things to be taken into consideration when playing a stableford, since the slightest distraction can result in a disapointing score. On this particular day the bunkers were quite hard, in fact almost solid, which didn’t help matters. Overall, the back nine, with an extra 200 metres, is much more challenging than the front nine. Check out Laguna’s scorecard and the pro tips.

After this exciting game we went back to Parkys where, as always, we were welcomed by Del and had a well-deserved drink with complimentary nibbles whilst watching the good players on the TV screen.