Pinheiros Altos Members Newsletter - March 2014

March 10th, 2014

Introduction from the Captain...

Mr. Graeme Thomson

The month of February is generally one of the quieter months in our Club's active diary... it's the time of year when many of our resident members head off on holidays to warmer climes and more settled weather, in order to recharge their batteries (figuratively speaking) for the year ahead.

Recently, however, we've introduced a couple of events for February which have certainly sparked interest with the membership and have been well supported.

The first - and now in its second year - is the reciprocal social with Quinta do Lago. Which, despite the weather intervention, is going from strength to strength, and I must thank Iain Callaghan of PA and Mark Foot of QdL for all their additional coordination on this occasion.Please see the Social update later in this newsletter.

The second was our re-vamped St. Valentine's Tournament held over two days and two courses: Pinheiros Altos & San Lorenzo, with a very enjoyable dinner dance at the Dona Filipa Hotel.

Winning Partnership

The overall winning partnership were our Lady Captain and Inter-Club Captain... Rie Cherubini and Christian Holst, who had an exceptional second day on San Lorenzo.

The competition was a mixed 2 ball better-ball stableford on ¾ handicap, open to members and guests, and with the majority of participants playing with their spouses it could have proved fractious! 38 couples (partnerships) took part, of which 16 pairings were visiting guests resident in the Dona Filipa Hotel. This arrangement proved highly beneficial and afforded the membership the opportunity to play San Lorenzo on preferential terms.

Generous Charity Work

I feel duty bound to thank not just the visiting guests, all of whom thoroughly enjoyed themselves and have indicated an interest in returning next year, but also to the many members who purposely returned to the Algarve and supported this inaugural event. €1500 Euros was raised from the 'Buy a Mulligan' helium balloons for the 'Friends of Faro Cardiology' unit in Faro Hospital, and a further €1527.77 Euros was raised for our Lady Captain's charities through 'Silent Auction' bids on two 4ball vouchers.

I wish to record my appreciation to the following members for their generosity and assistance with this event: Ian Hepworth, Paul Jervis, David Ford and David Markey, and also the successful auction bidders: Mike Sharp, a recently new member who with his wife Fiona will now be enjoying a visit to Woburn; and lastly Bob and Sandi Beatson, who travelled from Vale da Pinta to participate and
will shortly be visiting the KClub in Dublin.

Read the Newsletter in full here...