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Penha Longa golf update, March 21st

The sun has been shining over the last week and with highs reaching close to 20 the Atlantic course is starting to firm up. The balls are starting to bounce on most holes with only a few plugged balls throughout the round. There is evidence of a lot of work being carried out over the last week, see photos March 21 on menu bar above, click photo for enlarged image. The wild boar holes have been fixed as well as the tire tracks on the 6th. Plenty of sand has been added around the course especially on the problem holes. Some sanding of the greens has also taken place and they are playing much slower than last week and there was no evidence of hollow tining on greens or fairways. As you can see clearly on the photos, the 18th is still slightly wet. It’s amazing how a new drain can be bone dry and 2 meters further, fairways sopping wet! The scarring on the fairways where the drainage was installed also takes away from the course’s beauty (see photos). The driving range is still in pretty bad shape and unappetizing. It is still mind boggling to me that 2 million was spent on renovations, see article bottom of page from Golfblogger UK. I just hope the new greens keeper (who apparently has quite a resume) can get the course back to its former glory! All in all the day was quite pleasant, despite the fact that Tonster (an Irishman with a practice swing that would scare a Canadian Lumberjack) and weekend golfer got their asses kicked by 2 laid back, easy going, straight down the middle Portuguese members, (names withheld) who have obviously been working on their game elsewhere over the last few months, so beers were on us! If you are teeing up over the next week you should be fine, I am sure the course will improve by the day so you may be pleasantly surprised.

Penha Longa Golf update, March 13th

The Atlantic course is now fully open, see photos by clicking on photo tab on menu bar located above. The good weather since the last post has helped immensely. Keep in mind that the photos were taken on Saturday and the course is improving by the day. There is still a lot of work to be done (as you can see) and we still need another few weeks of sun to get it up to scratch.

The course was a bit sluggish going and was not all that enjoyable. The greens are in great condition and the tee areas the best I have seen in years. The driving range is slightly wet (as you can see) and we found ourselves dealing with a lot of plugged balls in the fairway. I am sure if the weather holds up, the balls will stop plugging and we might even get some added yards with some roll this week. I thought it would be of interest to add some photos of the clubhouse where the hamburgers are great and the beer cold. I must say the 19th hole was the most enjoyable of the day. Lets hope next week's golf is better.

Penha Longa Golf update, March 8th

Here we are once again expecting 1 to 2 inches of rain over the next 24 hours. I am informed that we have a new greens keeper at Penha Longa. I must say the greens are looking fantastic! We did a little inspection yesterday and even putted on a few of the greens and were quite impressed! The areas around the greens are also looking great and well manicured but unfortunately not the same can be said for other parts of the course. There seems to be the ongoing problem of grass not growing as well as it should over the new drainage installed around the course. The color of the grass is different and you can clearly see the lines where they have been installed. Considering they were put in over 6 months ago and we have had so much rain since, you'd think it would have matted well by now! We also inspected fairways 6 and 8, where most of the problems seem to be and you cant walk across the fairways without sinking a few inches. There were also tire tracks around 12 inches deep that have just been left there. You'd think they would fix them by hand before it dries and causes more damage. Holes 6,7 and 8 of the Atlantic are still closed with 6, 7 and 8 of the Monastery replacing them, free buggy's are on offer. Good news is,looks like sun is on the way and that should definitely help, lets see what this week brings, bye for now.

Penha Longa Golf update, March 6th

With the Portuguese Open less than a month away, some of the members have been questioning whether the course will be in good enough condition to host the event??? It has been in terrible condition for 3 months. After a year and a half of renovations (supposedly costing around 2 million euros) the course is probably in the worst shape ever! The lack of sand on the course is one of the major reasons. Although there has been more rain in the last 3 months than we can remember, it seems all the other courses we have played in the area are in excellent condition. The promise of sand and hollow tining never came to fruition and now the course is losing money hand over fist because of it. It is so wet that on some of the fairways it is impossible for the tractors to get out to cut the grass, never mind hollow tining! The new drainage installed during the renovations obviously are doing next to nothing! The condition of the course, as well as the loss of green fees over the last 6 months hasn't been good all 'round. If Penha Longa does host the event it will be more likely due to good weather and not the large amount spent on renovations. Follow my blog for a weekly update on the condition of the course.