Challenge Golf Tour postpones start of the golf season by two months

Ricardo Melo Gouveia in Challenge Golf Tour

Ricardo Melo Gouveia, Photo: Octávio Passos

Challenge Golf Tour

Ricardo Melo Gouveia and Filipa Lima will have to choose between three golf tournaments in South Africa and the Portugal Golf Masters to be held at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf course, in Vilamoura.

The Challenge Golf Tour announced the postponement of the start of the season in about two months, directly affecting Portuguese players such as Ricardo Melo Gouveia and Filipe Lima, who are members of the second European division, and Stephen Ferreira, who is entitled to play some of the events on this circuit via Sunshine Golf Tour.

The European Challenge Golf Tour and the Sunshine Golf Tour jointly announced the confirmation of the postponement of the three co-organized tournaments in South Africa.

For the time being, no similar measure is planned for the European Golf Tour, which has everything set to start on January 21, with the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. It is a tournament of the Rolex Series, that is, one of the strongest of the year in the first European division, and no Portuguese should have entry. Ricardo Santos is the best placed but is currently ten places out of the list of subscribers.

The European Golf Tour follows an extremely strict health and safety plan, with all players, coaches, caddies, journalists, circuit, hotel and golf courses staff to be tested before entering the “health bubble”.

The Sunshine Golf Tour and the Challenge Golf Tour are dependent on the pandemic worldwide evolution, being postponement according to this evolution.

The two circuits should return to their activity in February. The Dimension Data Pro-Am would open the season from February 11th to 14th, followed by the Cape Town Open from February 18th to 21st and the Limpopo Championship from February 25th to 28th.

With this change of calendar, the Challenge Golf Tour will only start from 22 to 25 April safely in South Africa. The Cape Town Open will follow from 29 April to 2 May, and the Dimension Data Pro-Am, from May 6th to 9th.

Professional Ricardo Melo Gouveia from the luxury Quinta do Lago area with its greats Quinta do Lago North, South and Laranjal Golf Courses, as well as San Lorenzo & Pinheiros Altos Golf courses and the magnificent overlooking the Atlantic ocean 5 stars Hotel Quinta do Lago, has his situation regularized with the British state as a foreign resident and Brexit will not affect him.

In competitive terms, things have not been easy for Ricardo Melo Gouveia. It was scheduled to start his season on January 17th, at the Palmares Open but the Portugal Pro Golf Tour decided to cancel its entire 2020/21 season.

When the circuit returns, Ricardo Melo Gouveia will have a difficult decision to make. This redefinition of the calendar puts the Cape Town Open right on top of the Portugal Golf Masters of the European Golf Tour.

However, Ricardo Melo Gouveia has a special relationship with Portugal Golf Masters held at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf course in Vilamoura. He has been the best Portuguese player in the most important national golf event for six years running, and in those six years, he has made two top-10 and two top-30.

Playing a tournament in South Africa, returning to Portugal, to return to the Sunshine Golf Tour in three straight weeks is an idea, but physically very exhausting.

An identical dilemma should present itself to Filipe Lima. Stephen Ferreira never received invitations to the Portugal Golf Masters, so he will surely play the three tournaments co-organized by the Challenge Golf Tour and the Sunshine Golf Tour.

Tee Times Golf Agency is attentive to all updates of all national and international tournaments and available to organize all the necessary services (golf packages with accommodation, green fees, transfers, rent-a-car, club rental and others) for players and companions, travelling alone or in groups.

Source: Hugo Ribeiro / Tee Times Golf (teetimes.pt) for Record

Better golf

Callaway Big Bertha. Better golf

Better golf

Callaway Golf has launched its new Big Bertha B-21 range of drivers, fairway woods, hybrids and irons, ‘for distance any way you swing it‘.
The manufacturer says these new clubs have been engineered with premium technologies and legendary Big Bertha design features, and launched the range with the tagline ‘this is distance any way you swing it’. Basically, the clubs have been designed for higher handicap golf swings, promising added distance through lower spin, easy launch and extra slice-fighting forgiveness.

Big Bertha B-21 Driver
This new driver is long, forgiving, easy to hit, and targeted at players who tend to slice and find it tricky to get a consistent ball flight. It’s Callaway’s first driver with high launch, low spin and significant draw bias.
Big Bertha B-21 features the company’s A.I. designed Flash Face SS21 made of a super strong, heat-treated TA-15 titanium. Internal heel weighting generates lower spin to help reduce the amount of curvature on your ball flight. The clubs also have Callaway’s Jailbreak Technology, which is two internal bars connecting the sole and crown to promote fast ball speed, and a significantly lighter carbon crown makes it easier to redistribute weight for increased forgiveness.

Big Bertha B-21 Fairway Woods
Callaway says this is their easiest to launch fairway wood yet, promising greater distance, more consistent contact and smoother turf interaction. They share many of the same technologies as the driver, with the addition of an increased offset which is designed to eradicate the big slice or miss-hit from your game.

Big Bertha B-21 Hybrids
Like the driver and fairways woods, Big Bertha Hybrids feature the A.I. designed Flash Face SS21 and Jailbreak tech for increased ball speed. They are Callaway’s easiest to launch hybrids yet with an increased head volume, and a greater offset to correct wild spinning shots. These clubs have the addition of tungsten weights which are precisely placed into the sole of the clubhead to enhance launch and trajectory.

Big Bertha B-21 Irons
Again with an emphasis on forgiveness and distance, Callaway has made the Big Bertha B21 irons easy to hit by generous offset, wide soles and thick toplines to inspire the confidence we all need at address. This is the first time that their A.I. designed Flash Face Cup is on a Big Bertha Iron, which promotes high balls speeds and increased spin robustness. There’s a tungsten toe weight which promotes a stable centre of gravity and forgiveness, while a second weight low on the sole to the rear increases launch angle for those who struggle with a consistent ball flight.

Vilamoura Dom Pedro Golf Courses

Alamos & Morgado Golf courses

Oceânico Golf Courses

Quinta do Lago South & North & Laranjal

Vale do Lobo Ocean & Royal

Spend Your Golf Holidays At Portugal: Here Are 5 Golf Courses To Look At

San Lorenzo Golf Club. Spend Your Golf Holidays At Portugal

Spend Your Golf Holidays At Portugal

Portugal has been long known for its beautiful beaches, ideal climate, and relaxed lifestyle, but it is also a spectacular place to spend a Golf Holidays.

Additional Read: The New Golf Rules Changes For 2019: The 20 Most Important Changes

With hills, white cobblestone streets and a massive castle looming above, Lisbon has been considered the San Francisco of Europe and is an ideal place to start. From there, a trip to the Algarve coast to enjoy the fresh seafood, crystal-clear waters and spectacular rock formations provide travelers a host of activities to complement their rounds on some of the most picturesque golf courses in Europe.

So when you’re looking to hit the links in Portugal, be sure to check out this lineup.

Oitavos Dunes

Oitavos Dunes

Oitavos Dunes
Cascais

Located on the most westerly tip of Europe, Oitavos Dunes Golf Club mixes wondrous views of the Atlantic Ocean with a magnificent backdrop of the Sintra Mountains. The course was designed by renowned golf course architect Arthur Hills. The course is a perfectly natural course located on an elevated piece of land overlooking the ocean and features lush, well-groomed fairways to accompany the lightning-fast greens. Perfect for a quick walk on the greens wearing your favorite golf shirt.

Rated by Golf Magazine as one of the top 100 courses in the world, the par-71 tract measures just over 6,300 metre from the back tees and features a mix of woodland style and links-type holes.

Quinta do Lago South

Quinta do Lago South

Quinta do Lago, South Course
Algarve

One of the most exclusive golf experiences in all of Europe, the Quinta do Lago Resort features three golf courses located as part of the Natural Park of Ria Formosa. Known as the Jewel of the Quinta do Lago crown, the South Course, designed renowned architect William Mitchell, has hosted eight Portuguese Opens and was listed as one of the top five courses in Golf World magazine’s listing of the Top 100 golf course in Continental Europe in 2018.

A favorite among European Tour professionals, the South Course is one of the most famous in the area and has seven times played host to the Portuguese Open. Even with the championship pedigree, the par-72 layout features pine-lined fairways, bold bunkering and several water features providing an eye-catching layout for golfers of all skill levels.

Monte Rei Golf Club

Monte Rei Golf Club

Monte Rei Golf Club
Vila Nova de Cacela, Algarve

The Monte Rei Golf Club is one of just a few Jack Nicklaus “Signature” design courses in Europe, and is the first in Portugal. Located away from the concentration of courses in the Albufeira area, Monte Rei is set in the picturesque foothills of the Eastern Algarve, with sweeping views of the Serra do Caldeirão mountains to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the south.

The par-72 course measures 6,567 metres from the Tournament Tees and features numerous water hazards along with some highly strategic bunkering, creating a challenge for even the best of players. While Monte Rei is a public course, the club’s attention to detail and service provides guests with a private-club feel.

San Lorenzo Golf Club

San Lorenzo Golf Club

San Lorenzo Golf Club
Quinta do Lago, Algarve

In order to play the San Lorenzo Golf Club, guests must stay at the Dona Filipa Hotel and even such, the course is one of the most popular in Portugal. Located on the southeast corner of Quinta do Lago, the Bermuda grass fairways wind throughout an undulating pine woodland that borders the estuary and saltwater lagoons.

The 18-hole, par-72 course was designed by American golf architect Joseph Lee and is laid out in a figure-eight pattern with the magnificent San Lorenzo Clubhouse at the heart.

Vale do Lobo Ocean

Vale do Lobo Ocean

Vale do Lobo, Ocean Course
Algarve

Algarve’s oldest golf resort, Vale do Lobo is the largest luxury resort in Portugal. The 18 holes at Vale do Lobo were built in the early 1960s, but the original layout was split in two to form the Ocean and Royal courses.

The Ocean Course provides a solid, sandy layout and is the more open of the two nines. The handful of ocean holes, which is the source of the name are beach holes that will lead you closer to the sea than any other course in Algarve. Holes are flanked by umbrella pines and eucalyptus trees, with the greens set in beach-front sites and even features a links-type hole.

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