Golf in Portugal

Tiago Cruz is 3rd on Ballesteros Course in Quinta do Vale

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Tiago Cruz 1º Quinta do Vale Classic

Tiago Cruz

Tiago Cruz

Tiago Cruz keeps strong at the Portugal Pro Golf Tour. He was for the second straight tournament the best Portuguese and although we do not known where he stands now in the rankings of this international Portuguese tour, he is likely to hold or even improved his 3rd place from the last update, one month ago.

In the 1st Quinta do Vale Classic, in Castro Marim, the former two-time national champion was 3rd place, with 68 strokes, 4 under the Par of the course designed by the late Seve Ballesteros.

Cruz was only 1 shot short of Englishman Ben Parker and Swiss Marco Iten, who could only play the title-winning play-off two days later, due to inclement weather in the Algarve.

Marco Iten Wins the Quinta do Vale Classic

Marco Iten – Winner

Marco Iten won on the first hole of the play-off and pocketed €2,000 of the €10,000 total prize Money at stake, for his first title at the Portugal Pro Golf Tour.

This second tournament of the 7th Swing of the 2017/2018 season seemed doomed from the start and was contested with high winds and heavy rain.

It was planned for the Castro Marim Golf & Country Club, but was moved shortly before to the “neighboring” Quinta do Vale Golf Resort.

And then came the bad weather that whipped the field and led the organization to sanction only the first round results. The second started but had to be canceled later on. It was the first time that this happened in a tour where the weather conditions are not usually an impeachment to golf, even in the Winter.

For Tiago Cruz the 3rd place was positive. He came from a 10th place in the 1st Quinta de Cima Classic, where he had tought times on the greens, but he did not face the same problem in Quinta do Vale, mainly because he managed “to hit more fairways and put the ball closer to the hole.”

“Quinta de Cima Classic is a longer course and there were not so many birdie possibilities. Here there are six holes of Par-5 and in four of them we can reached the green in 2 shots. In some of them we played a 9-iron or even less,” said the BiG player, who converted 4 of his 5 birdies in those Par-5s (holes 4, 7, 13 and 17).

On the other hand, “the course was in good shape, especially if we take into account the storm. I liked to see that the lakes were clean and the greens were a bit slow, but the ball was rolling well», he added to the Tee Times Golf.

There were 71 players in the 1st Quinta of Vale Classic, 12 of whom Portuguese, and they had the following scores:

3º Tiago Cruz, 68 (-4)
11th (tied) Ricardo Santos, 71 (-1)
11th (tied) João Ramos, 71 (-1)
11º (tied) Tomás silva, 71 (-1)
19th (tied) Miguel Gaspar, 73 (+1)
23º (tied) Tomás Bessa, 75 (+3)
37º (tied) Hugo Santos, 76 (+4)
44º (tied) Pedro Figueiredo, 77 (+5)
44th (tied) Tiago Rodrigues, 77 (+5)
44º (tied) Filipe Lima, 77 (+5)
60th (tied) António Sobrinho, 80 (+8)
68º Alexandre Abreu, 84 (+12)

The Portugal Pro Golf Tour travels now from the Quinta do Vale Golf Resort to the Amendoeira Golf Resort, in the municipality of Sines.

Hugo Ribeiro / Tee Times Golf

Chez Carlos Golf Society Tournament 20th January

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Vale da Pinta golf course

Vale da Pinta

Vale da Pinta golf course hosted the Chez Carlos Golf Society this week for a most enjoyable game of golf. It is a beautiful 18 hole par 71 golf course, with a distance of 6,127mts from the white tees. Vale da Pinta golf course has a good layout and all the usual hazards including bunkers and lakes but also a variety of trees including carob, fig and ancient olive trees, making the golf course a challenge for golfers of all abilities.

The golf course is in good condition with firm bermuda grass fairways, good greens and some wonderful holes.

Vale da Pinta golf course

The favourite hole of the day was the 6th, par 4, stroke index 2, with a left hand dog leg which needs a well positioned tee shot to leave the green in view. Nearest the pin was played on the 15th, a downhill par 3 proctected by a large bunker, and that was won by Mair Robinson. Other great holes of golf course are the 4th, par 5 and the 9th, although a bit short it’s a nice hole if you manage to avoid the trees in the left corner. Vale da Pinta golf course has many elevated tee shots, a real pleasure to play, a true test of any golfers skill and well worth a visit. The golf course has been host to the European Senior Tour Qualifying Final for the last 8 years and has been voted one of the best designed golf courses in the Algarve.

Tee Times Golf Agency Open Championship 2018

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Tee Times Golf Agency Open Championship 2018

Tee Times Golf Agency Open Championship 2018 - Michael Ewings - Winner

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.

Tee Times here page

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.

Tee Times Golf Agency Open Championship 2018 - Stephen Draisey - 2º place

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.

Tee Times Golf Agency Open Championship 2018 - Thomas Roberts 3º place

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