Bleary eyed and clutching at the alarm clock, the lavish comforts of the Hotel Las Aquilas almost delayed me from my 5.45am start from Puerto de la Cruz to a golfing challenge at Buenavista Golf.
The dark and relative cold of Tenerife north was a rude awakening as I followed the coast road, but at least travelling up from my southern home the night before had saved a long early drive. It was the first game of the Tenerife Golf Circuit 2010 and as the sky became lighter the rain laden breeze was almost a gale as it came in off the north west corner.
This is the 4th year of the Circuit run by the Golf Association, and it has grown steadily, this launch event was well oversubscribed and even whittled down to 160 players of several nationalities, it needed an early start to fit everyone in by the 3pm final tee off.
Mine was the second group out so it was bright enough to appreciate the imposing Teno mountain range and the course rolling down towards the wild breaking sea. With such a large field and a wet start drying out, it must have presented many challenges to the organisers, not that we saw much evidence, all the hard work was expertly marshalled by the association.
The greens for our tournament had been hollow tined, about two weeks before, so putting for us was tricky to say the least but I understand the management and green keepers position. The Ladies European Tour is here from 1 to 4 July for the Tenerife Ladies Open and the best professionals and rising amateurs in Europe will expect and get the best possible playing conditions.
I finished my game at around 12.30 so I had plenty of time to head back to the Hotel Las Aquilas in Puerto to have a swim and relax before the presentation of prizes at around 9pm. Dinner at the hotel, matched its reputation and I was able to meet John Beckley from Sorted Sites who was blissfully unaware that he had a trophy to collect for coming third in his category.
To sum up the day my golf was not up to standard so no prizes for me this time, but I enjoyed the experience,the golf, meeting old friends and making some new ones. I am looking forward to the next outing at the Las Americas Golf on June the 19th, here in the South, where I am sure the weather will be much kinder to us soft Scots.
Take a bow all the following winners.
Nearest to the flag on the 4th hole was Liz Watson with 76 cm. The top senior player was Julio Rodanes Ovejas with 36 points, and the top scratch player was Jose Manuel Hernendez Martin with 30 points
Ladies Section
First Category
1st. Marlene Bananier with 31 points
2nd. Mª Teresa DomÃnguez Jerez with 28 points
3rd. Pamela Evans with 26 points
Second Category
1st Maria Castellano Cabrera with 39 points
2nd Beatriz Oreja with 36 points
3rd. Dulce Ramón Sosa with 30 points
Mens Section
First Category
1st. Jose Hernández MartÃn with 37 points
2nd. Rafael Socorro Alemán with 36 points
3rd. David Ian Pritchard with 32 points
Second Category:
1st. Said Tahar GarcÃa with 39 points
2nd. Julio Rodanes Ovejas with 36 points
3rd. John Dale Beckley with 36 points
Third Category
1st. José Manuel Pérez Lema with 45 points
2nd.José Manuel Sosa RodrÃguez with 37 points
3rd. Epifanio Jesús Hernandez Delgado with 36 points
There are 6 more matches to come at, Golf Las Américas, Golf del Sur, Golf Costa Adeje, Tecina Golf, Abama Golf and the grand final la grand final at Golf del Sur. The next event is at Golf Las Americas on 19 June.
Don’t miss out, everyone is welcome, for more information and to sign up go to www.isladegolf.com email to [email protected] or call Beatriz Cantero on 620038839
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