"GOLF IN PORTUGAL" - NEWSLETTER - Nº 69

Welcome to the October 2007 edition of the monthly "Golf in Portugal" Newsletter.

General - Algarve
As followers of the PGA European Tour will have already learnt, 32-year-old Steve Webster was the worthy winner of the inaugural Portugal Masters played on the Oceânico Victoria Course at Vilamoura. Although, the course was set up to challenge the players with taller clinging rough and fast greens, the rainfall on the Monday really only meant that the large greens were more receptive for the opening rounds. Combines with the warm sunny weather with little wind the result led to low scoring. In fact, and very happily for golfer Martin Kaymer from Germany, a new course record of 61 on the opening day was registered, whilst Webster's overall winning tally was an impressive 25 under par, and two strokes better than the runner-up, Robert Karlsson. There was a 4-way tie for 4th place on 19 under (Swedes, Peter Hanson and Fredrik Andersson Hed, Lee Westwood and Daniel Vancsik). Westwood was in close contention until the par-5 twelfth hole where he went for the green in two but his ball ended up in the lake flanking the green and led to a bogey, followed by another at the par-three 13th. On these two consecutive holes Webster followed with eagle-birdie and five strokes less than Westwood had scored over the same holes.

Webster's courage was to be admired on the par-five 17th hole in the final round. His long tee-shot onto the fairway was out-driven by his fellow competitor Karlsson who at that stage was the only other virtual contender for the title. Webster pulled out his 5-wood to attack the green which is defended by a lake in front and to the right. The gamble came off and Webster two-putted for birdie to go 26 under par. Karlsson also scored a birdie, but Webster retained his 3-stroke lead and had the luxury of playing safe on the last hole which he bogeyed to win by two.

This emotional win - especially in view of the untimely death of his mother five months previously - was only his second win in his 12 years on the European Tour, and projected him from 72nd to 28th on the order of Volvo Order of Merit.

The national Portuguese players, both José-Filipe Lima and Tiago Cruz passed the cut. Tiago managed this in spite of a 2-stroke penalty in the 2nd round as he dropped his ball in the wrong spot. Lima was well placed in a tie position for 9th on 14 under par going into the final round, but a last round 73 including a lost ball left him in a tie for 21st with nine others, including renown stars such as Retief Goosen, Justin Rose, Nick Dougherty and Andres Romero.

The total tickets sold for the entire event was 24,188, including 6,740 on the last day – a record for any golfing event in Portugal. In light of the success the organisers have announced that 2008 prize money
will be increased by 25% to four million Euros!

In early October, the Pestana Golf Resort held their annual Golf Festival, a five-day series of tournaments at their Vale de Pinta, Gramacho and Silves courses. This is one of the most popular golf events of the year and a total of 270 rounds were played, with an average of 125 golfers - mainly from abroad - playing in each tournament. The principal prize-winners, shown in the photo, were: Player of the Week, Victor Connelly, Paulinho Glória, Emanuel Amador, Osvaldo Santos and Mrs. Lynn Cook.

General - Lisbon & North Portugal & Portuguese Islands
Tiago Cruz won the 22º "SATA Azores Open" held on São Miguel Island using both the Batalha and Furnas Courses. Tiago, a 25 year old pro, scored 211 and was the only player below or on par over the three days. This win was his third time of winning a competition but this was the first time at an international level. These two golf courses have been recently sold by Oceânico to the Madeira company Siram.

The final three golfers who have successfully qualified to represent Portugal in the Final Round of the BMW Cup to be held in Sidney, Australia, are Maria Silvestre, Albino Coelho and Ângelo Almeida.

The young winners of the "Taça FPG Amadora Nacionais" was Pedro Figueiredo and Joana Silva Pinto. These two national champions played against a large field of inspired young golfers, Pedro with a final score of 290, and Maria Joana with 298. The 7º Event on the "Tranquilidade" Tour held on the Quinta do Perú course produced two new promising names. João Carlota who is just 17 years old, and Carla Cruz.

The Oceânico Victoria Course in Vilamoura has a new Director of Golf. Romeu Gonçalves replaces the familiar friendly person of Maria de Jesus Beltrão.

The Troia Golf Course closed on the 25th of October for restructuring and improvements. The reopening date is set for February 2008. The Vidago Course located in the north of Portugal near Chaves is being extended to 18 holes with an opening towards the end of 2008.

The 1º "Lusitania Securos Trophy" was played on the Estoril Course on the 3rd of October and was won by Teresa Muhlenbeck followed by Richard Evans. The "Royal British Club Plate was played on the following day and was won by David Gray with Graciete Gibbin in second place. Richard Evens won outright the "Silver Jubilee Plate" for achieving the best score over the two days.

The "Castanheira Cup" played on the Quinta do Perú Course and won by Luis Rodrigues Sá followed by José Carapinha. Pedro Barroso won the 5º "Circuit Solverde" followed by João Varela Gomes on the Oporto Course. The "Open TAP" which takes place in the Algarve has been completely subscribed with a record number of golfers also being turned away. The "Tourneio Fidelidade Mundial Imperial Bonança" played on the Aroeira I Course with João Neto Santos winning the Mens section and Else Farto taking the Ladies section. The "Alfa Romeu Tour Trophy" on the Aroeira I Course was won by Bessa Tavares followed closely by José Barata. This win places Bessa Tavares in the overall general lead of the Tour. The "Tourneio Reparil" played on the Golden Eagle Course was won by Rui Ginja Duarte. The 10th anniversary of the Praia D'El Rey course was celebrated with a competition which was won by Pedro Passanha followed by Nam Lau, Laurence Coelho taking the ladies section. The "Tridente Trophy" played on Aroeiro I Course was won by Guilherme Pacheco followed by Teófilio Pires Tenreiro. The 4º "Jaguar ladies Invitational" played on Belas Course was won by Cláudia Dantas with two strokes above Par, with Mónia Bernardo taking second place.  The "Cententário Cup" played on the Oporto Course was won by Adelino Ribeiro with 149 strokes against the second placed Thomas Perkins with 155 strokes.

The "Outono Trophy" played on the Porto Santo Course was won by Álvaro Mendonça followed by the youngster Luis Carlos Dias. The "Columbo's Resort Trophy" which was also played on Porto Santo was won by Alberto Nunes with Carlos Jorge in second place.

International News
Chad Campbell won the Viking Classic, part of the PGA Tour's Fall Series, with a final round of 69 for a single stroke margin of victory over Johnson Wagner. His fourth PGA Tour win, Campbell climbed to World Number 67 and a jump of 30 places.

Camilo Villegas from Columbia made a successful visit to Japan where he triumphed in the Coca-Cola Tokai Classic in a play-off with Toyokazu Fujishima after the pair had tied on 2-under-par totals of 282. Villegas climbed 10 places to Nº 56.

Scotland’s Peter Whiteford secured the first European Challenge Tour victory of his career at the Dutch Futures tournament in Holland. The win improved his Ranking by 319 places as he moves to No 489.

Ernie Els captured a seventh HSBC World Match Play Championship when he overcame US Open Champion Angel Cabrera by 6&4 in the final on the West Course at Wentworth Club, Surrey, England. The win took the South African up a place to Nº 4 while Cabrera moved up four places to Nº 17.

George McNeill won his first career PGA Tour title in the Frys.com Open in Las Vegas, shooting a 5-under 67 for a 23-under 264 total and a four-stroke victory over D.J. Trahan. McNeill climbed 123 positions to Nuº 119.

Mads Vibe-Hastrup became the Danish winner on The European Tour when he won the Open de Madrid Valle Romano title by three strokes at the Real Sociedad Hipica Española Club de Campo. Vibe-Hastrup moved 156 places up to Nº 178.

Japan's two highest ranked players finished first and second in the Japan Open Championship with Toru Taniguchi picking up the title by two strokes from Shingo Katayama at Sagamihara Golf Club. Taniguchi climbed 19 places to Nº 42 and Katayama up 13 places to Nº 53.

Canadian Mike Weir won for the first time in three years as he holed a six-foot putt on the 18th hole for par to win the Fry's Electronics Open at Greyhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale Arizona. Weir who was Nº 48 entering that week moved to Nº 30.

Englishman Steve Webster won the inaugural Portugal Masters, his second win on the European Tour, after shooting a Sunday 64 to win by three strokes at the Oceânico Victoria Clube de Golf in Vilamoura, Portugal. With this win Webster moved up 120 places in the Ranking to Nº 107.

At the 2007 Bridgestone Open, Japanese golfer Shingo Katayama picked up his seventh win of the rolling two year period of the ranking, a record surpassed only by Tiger Woods who has seventeen. Katayama won by a shot after a final round of four under par and moved up eight places to Nº 45 joining compatriot Toru Taniguchi within the World Top 50.

Sweden’s Mikael Lundberg shot a final round of 73 and won the Toscana Open Italian Federation Cup on the Challenge Tour by five strokes. The win is his first win on the Challenge Tour this season and moved him to Nº 257 with an improvement of 140 places.

Ron Whittaker of the United States won the Chatanooga Classic on the Nationwide Tour with a final round of two under for a one shot victory. He went into the week at World Number 377 on the Ranking, and after his first victory on the Nationwide Tour this season, has now moved up to World Number 253.

The final groups at the Ginn sur Mer Classic at Tesoro had to return on Monday to finish and it was Daniel Chopra who emerged victorious for his maiden PGA Tour win by a single stroke from Shigeki Maruyama and Fredrik Jacobson. A birdie on the 16th gave Chopra the lead and he closed with two pars for the title. The win moved Chopra up 61 places to Nº 141.

Frenchman Grégory Bourdy carded a final round 67 for a 12 under par total of 268 and a two shot victory over England’s Sam Little at the Mallorca Classic at Pula GC. This maiden European Tour victory moved Bourdy to Nº 129 with an improvement of 91 places.

Michael Lorenzo-Vera was crowned the King of the European Challenge Tour winning both the final tournament and the Challenge Tour Rankings. His win at the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final took him to Nº 149 with a move up of 61 places.

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