The first of the Algarve 40

When moving to the Algarve this month I had no idea there were 40 golf courses!

Like many I decided to take up golf in COVID and in the Summer of 2020 I treated myself and my Wife to a set of clubs and a few lessons at our local pay-and-play golf club, Tilsworth, back home in Bedfordshire, UK.

After selling our family home we moved to Loule in the Algarve with our youngest Son and five miniature dachshunds and as a budding fair-weather golfer I decided to do some research into the different golf clubs in the Algarve, after all the Algarve is supposed to be golfers paradise.

I turned to ChatGPT and asked my first question:

"How many golf clubs are there in the Algarve" The answer: 40 golf clubs!

Wow, what an opportunity. Is possible I could play all of them. Wouldn't that be a nice challenge to set myself, what if I could play all of them in the next 12 months.

I began looking into the first few on the list. Okay, so budget and distance of travel might be an issue, I thought. So here came my next question for ChatGPT...

"Re-order the list based on budget and location to Loule" and within seconds I had a new list.

The first on my list was one of the Dom Pedro courses, Dom Pedro Pinhal. We learnt from a very helpful local at Pinhal that the Dom Pedro Victoria had previously hosted the Masters, however the Algarve no longer hosts the Masters, and we're not sure why, but I'm sure we'll find out at some point. He also gave us some helpful advice to avoid the tourist areas as they are expensive, and if for day trips out we should head to the Algarve hills as opposed to the expensive beach resorts.

We opted for the twilight time of 4pm (as it was considerably cheaper) and to our surprise there was no-one else playing. That might have been because it was 28 degrees celsius, a little hot but we had plenty of factor 50 on.

After the first few holes I was averaging 7 shots on Par 4 and 5's so not the best start but I hadn't played since December (almost 6 months ago). I was (am) a fair-weather golfer, only playing in the Summer but last year my Son and I committed to playing through the winter which we soon found wasn't as easier as just committing to it. We had to account for weather affecting our local course. Who knew you couldn't drive a buggy on the course once it had rained. And who knew you couldn't use your trolly if it had been raining hard. We found out the hard way. Once, the course steward ran onto the course to tell us we couldn't use our trollies.

Then came the shot that made it all worth while. The eleventh hole, a 321 yard par 4. My drive was straight, landing to the right of the fairway, giving me a 130 yard, 8 iron to the green. I hadn't been landing any on the green yet so to land 12 inches from the hole felt good.

Overall I had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon, with one birdie and one par. There's only way to go from here and that's up.

Which course is next?

Next on my list is Laguna, another one of the Dom Pedro courses here in Vilamoura. Now to check the price list.

Until next time, #2 of the Algarve #40, see you next time!