Madeira 2008, Golf and Gourmet

Madeira is only a short 3 hr flight from the UK and made much easier for us in Essex as easy jet have now opened a new route their from Stansted. The island is situated in the Atlantic West of Morocco.

There are two golf courses on the island. Santa da Serra a par 72 designed by Robert Trent Jones. All the holes offer spectacular views of the mountains and valleys and Madeira's dramatic coastline, and views to the islands of Desertas and Porto Santo. Santa da Serra hosts the Madeira Open each year and the great Seve Ballesteros described the course as "fantastic". One can only assume he was hitting it straight from the tee that year as some of the shots are very demanding. There are many feature holes most notably the par 3 4th hitting over a ravine with spectacular views beyond. It is worth noting there is a third nine which is not as good or part of the championship layout this is the yellow loop. Don't play this you want to play the blue and red loops.

Palheiro Golf is situated in the grounds of Casa Velha Hotel. The par 72 course was designed by Cabell Robinson in 1993 and is skilfully set in the estate of Quinta do Palheiro. Remarkable for its Bermuda fairways, fast greens and the presence of many spectacular mature trees. Five par 3 holes add to the fun and challenge most notably the par 3 13th over a valley into a sea of agapanthus. The course is undulating and a tough walk all of our clients opted for buggies a wise decision.

Our main motivation for coming to Madeira is the Casa Velha do Palheiro Hotel, a former hunting lodge built around 1800, consisting of three houses, now a beautiful hotel with 32 bedrooms and five suites and amazing gardens.
The fine dinning in the Casa Velha restaurant is exceptional; we would recommend like us you take a half board package as there is no reason to dine anywhere else. Each meal accompanied with an exceptional wine recommended by Luis the efficient and excellent head waiter.

The gardens at Quinta do Palheiro to which the guests have privileged and private access, are famous not only for the variety of plants that grow there but for the beauty of their setting in the hills to the east of Funchal the capital of Madeira. The gardens were planted by the original owner the Conde de Carvalhal. In 1885 the Quinta passed into the hands of the Blandy family and successive generations have given much work and devotion to one of Madeira's finest gardens.

The golf during the week had some notable scores Adrian Bidder scored over 40 Stableford points at Santa do Serra and Terry Drew over 40 points at Palheiro but neither could overhaul eventual winner Peter Morris, with John Stevens in second place.
The ladies event second place went to Jose Stevens and the winner Eileen Whittle, both winners walked away with £100 vouchers and the seconds £50. Speaking of seconds it was Jose and John Stevens third visit to Casa Velha and each year we celebrate their anniversary, a big congratulations to them and lets hope we get an opportunity to celebrate next year as we have included Casa Velha in next years programme due to the success of this tour.

CALENDAR 2010
From:		to	Nights	Country & Location:	Price from
02/09	-	09/09	7	Madeira , Casa Velha 5	£1325*	details
02/10	-	09/10	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£820*	details	GS
01/11	-	14/11	13	USA, Myrtle Beach	£1,995**	details
20/11	-	27/11	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£795*	details	GS
CALENDAR 2011
8/01	-	24/01	14	Vietnam Escorted Tour, Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) & Hoi An	£3,495**	details
31/01	-	13/02	12	South Africa ,The Winelands and Garden Route Escorted Tour. Only 1 remaining place	£3,160**	details
05/03	-	12/03	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£855*	details	GS
12/03	-	19/03	7	Portugal, Festival of Golf, Penina / San Lorenzo 5	£955*	details
16/04	-	23/04	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£855*	details	GS
07/05	-	14/05	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£855*	details	GS
_/05	-	_/05	TBC	Itay , details available soon
10/09	-	17/09	7	Spain, Benalup; Fairplay Hotel and Spa, Luxury All Inclusive 5 £150 single supplement	£1280*	details
15/10	-	22/10	7	Portugal, Western Algarve, Le Meridien Penina 5	£855*	details	GS
__/11	-	__/11	TBC	Dubai, details available soon
				*Prices per person sharing including golf excluding flights **Prices per person sharing including golf & including flights
GS - Golf School     Available Fully Booked