Vale do Lobo

Vale do Lobo

Vale do Lobo beach
Club information
Location Algarve, Portugal
Established 1968
Type Private
Total holes 36
Tournaments hosted Portuguese Open (200203)
Website www.valedolobo.com
Royal Course
Designed by Rocky Roquemore
Par 72
Length 6,059 metres
Ocean Course
Designed by Sir Henry Cotton
Par 73
Length 6,137 metres

Vale do Lobo is a golf resort located in the Algarve region of Southern Portugal. The resort has two golf courses, the Royal and the Ocean, and hosted the Portuguese Open in 2002 and 2003. Vale do Lobo is the first of the three corners of what is today known as Algarve's Golden Triangle.

History

Vale do Lobo was among the first tourist resorts to be built in Portugal, having been catalysed by the Estado Novo's decision in 1962 to build Faro Airport[1] following the success in the 1950s of luxury Spanish resorts such as Torremolinos. In 1962, Trust House Forte acquired the land which became Vale do Lobo with the intention of turning it into a luxury resort. At the time, the region was a stone pine forest with a sand beach. Townhouses and villas were built for tourists and permanent foreign residents. An 18 hole golf course designed by Henry Cotton was built and Vale do Lobo quickly become a popular destination with the British market. In 1968, Trust House Forte and Costain Group opened the first five-star hotel in the Algarve, the Dona Filipa, named after Philippa of Lancaster, whose marriage to John I of Portugal confirmed the 700-year-old Anglo-Portuguese Alliance.

In 1977 the Dutch entrepreneur Sander van Gelder acquired the resort out of receivership, after it had struggled financially following the 1974 Carnation Revolution. Venlo-born van Gelder had just sold his jewellery store chain Schaap en Citroen to insurance company Amev in the previous year, having acquired the chain eight years previously in 1969.[2] He had originally intended to acquire a plot of land in the area and ended up taking the opportunity to acquire the whole resort.[3] The resort was run under van Gelder's ownership for the next 30 years, adding another 18 hole golf course and many facilities including bars, restaurants, and shops. The resort hosted the Portuguese Open in 2002 and 2003.

In 2006 a combination of Portuguese and international investors together with the Portuguese state-owned bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos acquired the development from van Gelder, installing Diogo Gaspar Ferreira as CEO.

Ocean Course

Score Card

Hole Par Whites Length Yellows Length Reds Length
1 4 429mt / 469yd 399mt / 436yd 359mt / 393yd
2 4 347mt / 379yd 286mt / 313yd 257mt / 281yd
3 5 497mt / 544yd 457mt / 500yd 409mt / 447yd
4 4 381mt / 417yd 368mt / 402yd 336mt / 367yd
5 3 198mt / 217yd 165mt / 180yd 142mt / 155yd
6 5 416mt / 455yd 410mt / 448yd 358mt / 392yd
7 3 171mt / 187yd 166mt / 182yd 149mt / 163yd
8 5 385mt / 421yd 374mt / 409yd 305mt / 334yd
9 4 347mt / 379yd 326mt / 357yd 304mt / 332yd
Out 37 2732mt / 3468yd 2951mt / 3227yd 2619mt / 2864yd
10 5 445mt / 487yd 435mt / 476yd 418mt / 457yd
11 4 413mt / 452yd 386mt / 422yd 355mt / 388yd
12 4 379mt / 414yd 292mt / 319yd 273mt / 299yd
13 3 144mt / 157yd 135mt / 148yd 94mt / 103yd
14 4 346mt / 378yd 344mt / 376yd 332mt / 363yd
15 3 195mt / 213yd 180mt / 197yd 137mt / 150yd
16 5 483mt / 528yd 433mt / 474yd 409mt / 447yd
17 3 144mt / 157yd 135mt / 148yd 126mt / 138yd
18 5 411mt / 449yd 376mt / 411yd 340mt / 372yd
In 36 2732mt / 3237yd 2716mt / 2970yd 2484mt / 2717yd
Total 73 6131mt / 6705yd 5667mt / 6198yd 5103mt / 5581yd

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Golf courses.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vale do Lobo.


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/9/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.