Stowe PGA Golf Coaching & Development Trip – Portugal 2018
11 April 2018
At the beginning of the Easter break, Stowe golfers set sail for the sun-kissed fairways of the Algarve as we embarked upon another exciting six day PGA Golf Coaching and Development Trip to Portugal. With 19 Stoics participating, we based ourselves at the award winning Amendoeira Golf Resort, home to both the Faldo and O’Connor championship courses, along with a 9-hole Academy course and superb practice and teaching facilities. With daily expert PGA coaching provided by Andrew Hancox, Stowe’s PGA Golf Professional and Head of Golf, it was no surprise to see the Stoics making significant progress with both their golf technique, short games and overall on course performance. Through use of the latest V1 digital golf coaching software, Stoics were able to compare and contrast their biomechanical swing patterns during both practice sessions and on course competitions, thus developing their understanding throughout. Special mention must go to Ed Snushall (Fifth Form, Temple) who worked incredibly hard on his golf swing mechanics and reaped the rewards out on the golf course throughout the tour.
In addition to playing the O’Connor and Faldo courses at Amendoeira, we visited two of Portugal’s most prestigious and iconic venues – Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo. Quinta has been at the forefront of international golf since its creation and today the resort boasts three outstanding golf courses all of which are among Europe’s best. These exceptional golfing credentials, including being named “Europe’s Best Golf Destination” at the World Golf Awards in 2015 and 2016, ensure Quinta do Lago’s place among the world’s golfing elite. On Sunday 25 March we opted to play Quinta’s crown jewel – the South course. Designed in 1974 by William Mitchell, who introduced American-standard greens, tees and bunkers to the Algarve, the South course soon gained a prestigious reputation and became a flagship European Tour venue hosting the Portuguese Open for eight consecutive years. The 6,500 metres par 72 layout is set among umbrella pines, lakes and wild flowers, overlooking the serene Ria Formosa National Park. With the greens running at close to 11 on the stimpmeter, Stoics found it challenging and often struggled with longer-range putts as pace control proved to be a real test. That said, there was some good competitive golf played by Tom Youds (Fifth Form, Chandos), Max Smith (Fifth Form, Cobham), Tom Riley (Fifth Form, Bruce), Pierse Odell (Upper Sixth, Grenville), Archie Barnes (Fourth Form, Chandos) and George Hooper (Fourth Form, Chandos).
Following a fantastic day back at Amendoeira and the first round of the inaugural ‘Portugal Classic’ on the Faldo Course, we headed off to Vale do Lobo – a luxury golf and beach resort - in order to play the Ocean Course. The Ocean Course is composed of two of the original 9-hole golf courses designed by Sir Henry Cotton, which were opened in 1968 and 1972, and without question forces you to think very carefully and shape your shots accordingly in order to gain as much as possible when faced with challenging approach shots from undulating fairways. This tough examination was ideal for Stoic golfers who had worked hard the day before in practice trying to emulate a range of different shot shape patterns. As per at Quinta, we saw some very solid and consistent golf played by Tom Youds and Max Smith.
In a very closely fought contest, Tom Youds was crowned winner of the inaugural Stowe Golf Portugal Classic after recording the lowest 36-hole gross score.
Max Smith was a very close runner-up and played some superb golf on the Faldo Course. In the handicap competition, Edward Wentworth-Stanley (Lower Sixth, Chatham) finished runner-up to Freddie Smith (Fourth Form, Cobham), who capped off an excellent overall performance. It was also particularly pleasing to see Ed Snushall playing such good golf and clearly making excellent use of the expert PGA coaching available throughout the trip.
In summary, the trip was a huge success and I must thank Mr Panos John and Mr Craig Sutton for assisting me and supporting me throughout the duration of a very busy and demanding trip. The Stoics behaved impeccably throughout and were a real credit to Stowe – I eagerly anticipate our return to Portugal next year.
Andrew Hancox, Head of Golf