My Golf Trip To Portugal Day 1 We departed from the UK early last Monday morning and arrived in Portugal mid-morning. As we had a lunch-time tee booking on the O'Connor course at the fabulous Amendoeira Golf Resort, there was no time to spare. The weather wasn't great, with cloud, rain showers and a strong breeze to contend with, but both groups completed their rounds. Format was a 4BBB Stableford. Winning pair were West Bradford members Pete Ferris & Greg McDonough, quite a formidable partnership! Day 2 The day started with blue sky and only a light breeze. Group coaching on the resorts amazing practice facilities was followed by another 18-holes on the O'Connor. This time the format was an Individual Stableford. The weather was mixed for the round, with some heavy showers early on but on the whole fairly decent. The winner was Richard Bloodworth (what a short game!) and runner up was Pete Ferris (a trend was starting!). With a terrible forecast for the next day, half of the group took advantage of the dry weather by playing the 9-hole par 3 academy course. This was a lovely facility with holes varying from 60 to 120 yards. Day 3 We woke to heavy rain and extremely strong winds! There had been thunder storms during the night and these were forecast later in the day. Pete, Greg and myself decided to take our chances and teed off, this time on the Faldo course. This is very different to the O'Connor, with huge undulations on the fairways and faster greens, and is known as the harder course on the resort. The fairways were very wet but the course was superb to play. We kept dry until the 12th hole and then the heavens opened, made worse by ever strengthening winds! We completed the 15th hole, Pete and Greg both teed off on the short par 3 16th, before a course marshal asked us to leave the course due to the imminent threat of an electric storm! Greg was the winner, I've a feeling his current handicap of 22 won't last for long! Day 4 9 holes had been planned on the academy course, but due to further rain and wind and the fact our transfer back to Faro airport was booked for late morning, we decided not to bother. By this stage the late nights; sorry, early mornings were starting to take their toll!
Then the fun started! After around 6-hours at the airport, our flight back to the UK was eventually cancelled due to the snow at Leeds/Bradford. Jet2 arranged coaches to pick us up and we spent a night at the impressive Ria Park Hotel at Vale do Loba. A quick visit to Vilamoura for lunch the next day and then we were on our way again to the airport. We finally landed at Leeds/Bradford just after midnight, so a day and a half later than planned! I thoroughly enjoyed my first overseas coaching/golf trip and have received some excellent feedback. I'd like to say a massive thank you in particular to the West Bradford members, Pete Ferris, Greg McDonough, Helen Shields, Richard Bloodworth and Peter Chippindale who made the trip so much fun! I am already planning my next trip for later in the year, so keep an eye out in the newsletter and at the club for more details.
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