Leonor Bessa first woman winner of the PGA Portugal Tour

Leonor Bessa first woman winner of the PGA Portugal Tour

Leonor Bessa, Photo: Carla Guerreiro / PGA Portugal

Leonor Bessa winner of the PGA Portugal Tour

December 1st, 2020, entered in the history of national golf as the first time that a woman won a mixed tournament on the PGA Portugal Tour, the Portuguese Professional Circuit.

The national champion defeated her boyfriend Tomás Melo Gouveia in the play-off at Amendoeira Golf Resort, in the center of the Algarve and a unique natural beauty with the award-winning Faldo Course, designed by Sir Nick Faldo and the challenging O’Connor Jnr course.

Leonor Bessa is the author of this accomplishment ended the calendar of high competition in Portugal in the 2020 season.

Leonor Bessa had already won both women’s tournaments, in July and September, and is, therefore, the current national professional champion and absolute national champion. This most recent triumph maintained her invincibility internally and had a special impact for the historical record.

The 22-year-old Portuguese totalled 67 strokes, 5 below the Par of O’Connor Jr. Golf Course at Amendoeira Golf Resort, thanks to an exceptional round, unique in her professional career, as she had never made 18 competitive holes without suffering bogeys and converted 5 birdies.

The title decision was played at hole 18, where Tomás had even made a birdie and Leonor had matched the Par-4. Therefore, none played particularly well and it was with 1 bogey that the national champion took over her third title of the year.

A “sudden death”, at least curious and unusual, because Leonor Bessa and Tomás Melo Gouveia started dating this year and often train together in Algarve golf courses, such as: Vilamoura Pinhal, Vilamoura Millennium, Vilamoura Laguna, Vilamoura Old Course, Vilamoura Victoria as well as in Vale do Lobo Royal & Ocean, San Lorenzo & Pinheiros Altos and Quinta do Lago North, South & Laranjal, a region where they both reside and full of wonderful accommodation offers for an unforgettable golf holiday, we highlight the 5 star Hotels, Tivoli Marina Vilamoura, Crowne Plaza as well as the 4 star Hotels, Vila Galé Ampalius, Vila Galé Marina, Dom Pedro Vilamoura & Dom Pedro Marina.

Besides boyfriends, Tomás was Leonor’s caddy in tournaments of the Spanish Santander Golf Tour at the Real Golf Pedreña and at Oliva Nova Golf (Valencia) and she was also a caddy of him in a European Tour tournament, so the normal thing is to pull each other and not directly rival each other.

Her international season was also positive, ending, for the first time, in the top 10 (7th) of the Santander Golf Tour ranking, the Spanish professional circuit.

But the great achievement of this PGA Portugal Open was to meet for the first time this year, in the same tournament counting only for internal rankings, Tomás Bessa (-4), the national champion of professionals, who competes in the Alps Tour Golf; Ricardo Melo Gouveia (-3), the absolute national champion, who fights on the Challenge Tour; and Pedro Lencart (Par), the national amateur champion. In 2020 this happened only in the Portuguese tournaments of the European Tour and in this event.

The top-10 of the PGA Portugal Open 2020, held at the O’Connor Jr. Golf Course at Amendoeira Golf Resort, was as follows:

1st Leonor Bessa, 67 strokes (5 under par), (play-off victory), tee off from the blue marks;

2nd Tomás Melo Gouveia, 67 (-5), white marks;

3rd Tomás Bessa, 68 (-4), white marks;

3rd Miguel Gaspar, 68 (-4), white marks;

5. Ricardo Melo Gouveia, 69 (-3), white marks;

5th Tomás Silva, 69 (-3), white marks;

7th Susana Ribeiro, 71 (-1), blue marks;

7th Vítor Lopes, 71 (-1), white marks;

7th Alexandre Abreu, 71 (-1), white marks;

7th Pedro Cruz Silva, 71 (-1), amateur, white marks;

Tee Times Golf Agency congratulates Leonor Bessa on her success and wishes her many more achievements in her bright future, as well as, to all our clients, unforgettable golf holidays in our country that we will be happy to organize.

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

Ryder Cup star and former “Race to Dubai” champion, Tommy Fleetwood, will return to the Portugal Masters at the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, in Vilamoura, from 10 to 13 September.

Tommy Fleetwood will return to the Portugal Masters - Victoria

Tommy Fleetwood

Tommy Fleetwood will participate for the sixth time in the European Tour tournament, having competed in the Algarve every year between 2012 and 2016.

«I am looking forward to returning to the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course. It is a beautiful area of the world and I have beautiful memories of when I played there in the past,” said Fleetwood.

«In 2020, I started well in the Race to Dubai, with two positive weeks in the Middle East, including a 2nd place tied behind Lee Westwood in Abu Dhabi. As with everyone else, my season was suspended shortly after, but I am focused on a strong conclusion of the season and I think the Portugal Masters will be the ideal place in Europe to face a good list of participants, before heading to the US Open the following week, ”he added.

The 14th edition of the Portugal Masters is part of the “Iberian Swing” of the European Tour. Play right after the Estrella Damm N.A. Andalucia Masters, which ended last Sunday in Spain. The Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos concludes this series next week.

The European Tour resumed its competitive activity in July with two “dual-ranking” events in Austria, and soon afterwards with the new six-week “UK Swing”, fulfilling the strategy of, whenever possible, holding events in succession in chosen regions, avoiding long trips whenever possible.

As with all the tournaments in the 2020 rectification calendar, the Portugal Masters will be subject to the European Tour Safety and Health Program (COVID-19 Health Strategy) and, consequently, spectators will not be allowed on the Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course.

The Portugal Masters will also be covered by the new “Golf for Good” initiative of the European Tour, which aims to support the local communities where the European Circuit passes, honoring the true heroes, as key elements of the front line, at the same time that it intends promote the health benefits of golf.