SPGU chooses Oceanico Golf courses in Vilamoura to celebrate its 100th birthday
16/01/2012 -
16 January 2012 - The Sussex Professional Golfers Union (SPGU) elected Oceânico Golf courses, Oceânico Pinhal, Oceânico Victoria and the recently awarded Best Portuguese Golf Course by Today’s Golfer Magazine - Oceânico Old Course to celebrate its 100th birthday in great style.
The eldest and biggest golf alliance in the UK with over 600 members, has chosen the Algarve and Vilamoura for their annual outing for more than thirty years. Tony Collins, the UK Golf Tour Operator in the Algarve, who has helped SPGU organise their trip since their first visit said “We have organized SPGU visits for 34 years and what makes us return year after year is the climate, the quality of the golf courses but it is largely the friendly and efficient staff”.
Cliff Pluck, SPGU’s Secretary, added “We’ve pretty much stayed at all the local hotels, but there is one thing we don’t change – and that is the golf courses!!” The week’s outing included five rounds of golf in a ProAm format, where each professional, mainly picked by its club members, played with three amateurs in a Medal play, having the best two net scores to count per team. Antonio Rosado was the Portuguese professional invited by the organisation to play as an honorary member of SPGU. “Antonio played last year and his company was really appreciated by those playing with him. It was an honor to invite him back and have him play with us again this year”, commented Mr Collins.
75 amateurs paired with 25 professionals were out to test the Oceânico Golf’s Vilamoura courses. Tony Collins added “The main goal was to provide all participants with a memorable week’s golfing holiday and that goal was achieved”
But whilst amateurs play for the fun and practice of swing, there is an added challenge for the professionals with a £10,000 prize fund to be shared amongst them.
The winning professional was Marcus Groombridge with an overall score of 17 under Par.Mr Groombridge also contributed to the winning team, playing along amateurs F. Stenning, I. Leithead and F. Sibley, with a total score of – 74.
