| *Wednesday at Warrington still on – The manager believes full greens will be in operation as long as the course is not covered in snow- I will update my website at 8.30am on Weds morning *
Maxitours Quinta do Lago AM AM Tee shirts and shorts were the order of the day once again as 48 Maxitours players enjoyed the stunning Portuguese sunshine. After two terrific rounds on the best courses that the Algarve has to offer (Laranjal and Quinta South) Roger Percivals team had a four shot lead over Jim Clarkes team. On the tremendous Quinta North Course they were overhauled after a fine final round by Clarke(12), Graham Jackson(8), Pete Ledger(19) and James Joyce(6). I followed them on the back nine and a great team effort was really excellent to watch. Third place went to who the Chris Adams’ Prestbury team and Alan Baxters’ Mere team ended the tournament in an impressive 4th place. Thanks to everyone for making this trip so enjoyable to run. Terrific wine, food, company and golf throughout the week means eleven teams have already rebooked for next year. Yours in Golf, Tim
Day 1 Winners Not in the top 3 overall. |
Results from fantastic Quinta South
Second Day at Quinta do Lago
There was barely a cloud in the sky for Maxitours competitors at the gem that is Quinta do Lago South course today.
Incredibly fast greens and the Meditteranean breeze mean scoring was tougher than yesterday.
‘What a course- that is class!’ Enthused Colin Roberts and his team.
Going into the final day the Lymm team of Roger Percival, Martin France, Pete Atherton and Andrew Wright have a four shot lead over Jim Clarkes team. Chris Adams Prestbury team lies in third place and Alan Baxters quartet are sitting pretty in 4th place.
I am going out for a meal with Roger Percivals team tonight. (Professionals Tip of the day – always go out to dinner with the daily sweep winners.)
Tomorrow should be very interesting.
Yours in Golf, Tim
| Quinta South Scores | 20-Jan-2019 | |||
| Pos | Team Players | Score | OoM | Comment |
| 1 | Roger Percival, Pete Atherton, Martin France, Andrew Wright | 80 | ||
| 2 | Jim Clarke, Graham Jackson, Peter Ledger , James Joyce | 76 | ||
| 3 | Chih Hu, Graham Bonser, Chih Hu, Ken Weatherley | 73 | ||
| 4 | Alan Baxter, Elspeth Baxter, Paul Blackwell, Alison Blackwell | 72 | ||
| 5 | Chris Adams, Mike Clewley, Garry Titchen, Steve Hall | 71 | ||
| 6= | Joe Kirwan, Simon Hemsley, Gareth Bradley, Al Demmy | 70 | ||
| 6= | Bob Eastwood, Ian King, Ashley Elliot, Peter Robinson | 70 | ||
| 6= | Al Brown, Mike Brown, Steve Baldwin, Mike Bennett | 70 | ||
| 6= | Barrie Simpson, Martin Cox, Bob Kwan, Pete Sinclair | 70 | ||
| 10 | Colin Roberts, Marc Morris, Koos Alders, Ron Sloane | 69 | ||
| 11 | Gary Bailey, Geoff Allen, Gary Hempstesd, John Walker | 68 | ||
| 12 | Mike Tarrant, Kev Hart, James Wilson, Paul Yearsley | 67 |
| Overall scores after 2nd Day | ||||
| Pos | Team Players | Score | OoM | Comment |
| 1 | Roger Percival, Pete Atherton, Martin France, Andrew Wright | 166 | 11.20am Tomorrows start time at Quinta North | |
| 2 | Jim Clarke, Graham Jackson, Peter Ledger , James Joyce | 162 | 11.12am | |
| 3 | Chris Adams, Mike Clewley, Garry Titchen, Steve Hall | 155 | 11.04am | |
| 4 | Alan Baxter, Elspeth Baxter, Paul Blackwell, Alison Blackwell | 154 | 10.56am | |
| 5 | Joe Kirwan, Simon Hemsley, Gareth Bradley, Al Demmy | 149 | 10.48am | |
| 6 | Al Brown, Mike Brown, Steve Baldwin, Mike Bennett | 148 | 10.40am | |
| 7 | Bob Eastwood, Ian King, Ashley Elliot, Peter Robinson | 147 | 10.32am | |
| 8= | Colin Roberts, Marc Morris, Koos Alders, Ron Sloane | 144 | 10.16am | |
| 8= | Chih Hu, Graham Bonser, Chih Hu, Ken Weatherley | 144 | 10.24am | |
| 8= | Mike Tarrant, Kev Hart, James Wilson, Paul Yearsley | 144 | 10.08am | |
| 11 | Barrie Simpson, Martin Cox, Bob Kwan, Pete Sinclair | 136 | 10.00am | |
| 12 | Gary Bailey, Geoff Allen, Gary Hempstesd, John Walker | 135 | 9.52am |
Results from Sunny Laranjal!!!
Results from sunny Laranjal!
A terrific first days golf at Laranjal was enjoyed by all 48 Maxitours players.
This is a lovely course and gives players the opportunity to open their shoulders and play attacking golf in the sunshine!
The course is not long but is defended with plenty of water, sloping greens and large sand traps.
Even hard to please Kev Hart couldn’t find anything to moan about.
‘What a venue- that’s the best course I have ever played.’
Martin France was delighted to put his name on the nearest the pin marker after an excellent shot into the 3rd hole. Unfortunately, we aren’t having nearest the pins this week and the markers were put out for a group of lovely old ladies playing after our party.
At the end of round one it was great to see the Mere husband and wife teams of the Baxter’s (Alan and Elspeth) and the Blackwell’s (Alison and Paul) featuring on the leader board. They could be ones to watch after a commendable 82 points.
The Prestbury team of Steve Hall (next years Captain) Chris Adams, Garry Titchen and Mike Clewley have got more money than sense and they came out three days early to acclimatise and this paid off with an 84 point haul.
.
Taking the early lead was Jim Clarke, Pete Ledger, Graham Jackson and James Joyce who also had a practice round yesterday and they were joined at the top of the leader board by Roger Percival, Martin France, Pete Atherton and Andy Wright both teams recording 86 points. Well played chaps.
We are playing my favourite – Quinta South – tomorrow with wall to wall sunshine forecast. Get to bed Colin Roberts.
Yours in Golf,
Tim
| Day 1 Laranjal | 19-Jan-2019 | |||
| Pos | Team Players | Score | OoM | Comment |
| 1= | Jim Clarke, Graham Jackson, Peter Ledger , James Joyce | 86 | Better back nine | |
| 1= | Roger Percival, Pete Atherton, Martin France, Andrew Wright | 86 | ||
| 3 | Chris Adams, Mike Clewley, Garry Titchen, Steve Hall | 85 | ||
| 4 | Alan Baxter, Elspeth Baxter, Paul Blackwell, Alison Blackwell | 82 | ||
| 5 | Joe Kirwan, Simon Hemsley, Gareth Bradley, Al Demmy | 79 | ||
| 6 | Al Brown, Mike Brown, Steve Baldwin, Mike Bennett | 78 | ||
| 7= | Bob Eastwood, Ian King, Ashley Elliot, Peter Robinson | 77 | ||
| 7= | Mike Tarrant, Kev Hart, James Wilson, Paul Yearsley | 77 | ||
| 9 | Colin Roberts, Marc Morris, Koos Alders, Ron Sloane | 75 | ||
| 10 | Chih Hu, Graham Bonser, Chih Hu, Ken Weatherley | 71 | ||
| 11 | Gary Bailey, Geoff Allen, Gary Hempstesd, John Walker | 67 | ||
| 12 | Barrie Simpson, Martin Cox, Bob Kwan, Pete Sinclair | 66 |
Maxitours at Brilliant Vale Royal
| **Spaces Available at Warrington Team of Four Weds 23rd Jan £25 and Fairhaven Pairs £27.50 Tuesday 29th Jan** both 11am shotgun starts
Please let me know if you wish to come to Quinta do Lago in Portugal next year- I will only have room for about 5 new teams. The weather looks great for our trip this week. Maxitours at Brilliant Vale Royal A damp start at Vale Royal in the heart of Cheshire gave way to glorious sunshine and ideal golfing conditions for my Maxitours competitors today. The golf course was presented to its usual incredibly high standard. This is now a terrific golf venue. ‘Those greens and fairways were excellent. We had a truly great day!’ Said Martin Higgins. No need to beware of the injured golfer today. If International tennis superstar Andrew Murray thought he had problems with a sore hip he could do with looking at hard man John Waddicor – he required the Vale Royal lift to get upstairs just to pick his scorecard up! His team finished last with 71 points. The new golf rules seem to have speeded up play a little as most players were around in the four hour mark. Leaving the flag in helps pace of play and James Malkins group looked like something out of a Benny hill sketch as they all frantically tried to locate his ball within three minutes rather than the usual five. On form Ryder Cup player Matt Kuchar won for the second time this season on the US tour last week but he proved to be an unpopular winner when it was revealed on Twitter that he had paid his local Mexican caddy just 3000 dollars when he won prizemoney in excess of 1.3 million dollars after his first victory last month. It is rumoured that he wouldn’t give a door a bang. His caddy should count himself lucky. As a junior I once caddied up and down 18 holes at Macclesfield Golf Club and was given a Mars bar. My father in law caddied for me when I won the 36 hole Rhyl Classic in 1998. I generously bought him a bacon butty before we went out each day and then I gave him a sleeve of Wilson Ultras as a bonus. In today’s event Dave Sully and his team of Coppers should have been finding criminals, instead they managed to find some form on the course and took 4th place with 86 points. Third place went to well-off Dave Sarsfield(18), wealthy Dave Rhodes(16), financial advisor Peter Dobson(9) and wealthiest of the lot, Michael Holmes(13). The Saddleworth quartet actually dropped shots on their final two holes but were delighted with 88 points and 3rd place. Seventy something year old Joe Yates(14) Alan Forber(14) Gary Nilsson (6) and John Longworth(14) took 2nd place also on 88 points. They had an outstanding 46 points on the tougher back nine win the card play off. Everyone likes Colin Roberts(20). He is a lovely man who plays in the first match out each week in the Summer months and plays every week off a nice tee in the Winter. In the last ten years he has had just 2 victories. Today Colin and his good pal Geoff Andrews(20) were two players short so I teamed them up with Styals’ Charles Herbert(19) and Northendens’ Ross Birch(8). They saw how golf should be played and took 1st place with a superb 89 points. Well played chaps great golf. Thanks to all whom played today- what a fantastic day for golf! (Snow tomorrow. ) Nearest the pin 10th Doz AD333 Mike Wainwright 2’s sweep £137.50 5 pro V1s or 11 srixons per 2
Maxitours team of 4 Am Am at Warrington |
Maxitours at five star Knutsford
| Maxitours at five star Knutsford
Maxitours players thoroughly enjoyed playing at Knutsford in the singles event over the past two days. Manchester based European tour star Denis Durnian always rated Knutsford as the best nine hole course he had ever played and the reviews from 80 Maxitours players were also great this week. ‘Please pass on my compliments to the greenkeeper -the greens are fantastic!’. Raved top DJ Charles Herbert. ‘The course was extremely dry and those Greens are amazing for January.’ Reported Colin Roberts. Cheshire amateur legend Gareth Bradley(+2) had never played Knutsford ‘I can’t believe how good the course is- I will definitely be back.’ Highly rated Head Green keeper Mark Dingle really knows his stuff and he has produced greens of the highest standard for the members over the past 8 years without fail. Keep up the good work Mark. Thanks also to our excellent new caterers Ceri and Rhiannon for looking after us so well. Brian Ankers likes to get his money’s worth and he said his pre-round bacon butty was the best he has eaten for years. ‘There was half a pig on that sandwich!’ Said the delighted Lymm man. Maxitours players looked to have partied well over the Christmas festivities and this had a negative effect on my sales turnover. I got my tight-fitting medium Galvin Green stock out for Phil Vokes as he is one of very few Maxitours golfers thin enough to try it on -but I was devastated to see him struggling to zip it up. For some reason portly Graham Newnes imagined he could get into an extra-large half zip jacket but he ended up needing the help of two teammates to take it off. Koos Alders wanted some change for the coffee machine and asked playing partner Martin Cox if he had a spare pound. ‘He’s got a few spare pounds.’ Joked good pal Mark Morris. When Peter Maher picked up his scorecard he showed me an amazing new golf ball that comes equipped with beeps and flashing lights so that it simply can’t be lost. I asked him if it was a Christmas present. In the singles event Milkman Don Milligan(13) whistled his way into the 5th place with an excellent 40 points. He showed his bottle with an excellent par on the tough 17th hole to ensure a solid finish. Mark Haggerty(14) had the best round of the day yesterday and the well spoken High Legh man wins a Galvin Green windstopper for his efforts. This was good enough for 4th place overall with 41 points. In the clubhouse John Farnworth(22) had a face which made Andrew Murray look cheerful. He dropped three shots on his final three holes to finish 3rd with 41points. Second place went to improving Guy Levers(21) from Hale Golf Club with 42 points but this was pipped by an emotional Les Russon (13). Les suffered a heart attack last month after he played at Ringway and this was his first event back. Fortunately for everyone concerned he didn’t feel the pressure today and recorded an excellent 43 points. Thanks to all players I hope you enjoyed the course and complimentary doughnuts. Nearest the pin 3rd Brian Hopkins Doz AD333 2’s £125 3 pro v1s or 7 srixon AD333s Martin Cox Dave Cooper x2 Barney Ross Jim McEwan x2 Ian Gallacher Ian Appleton Richard T-Carr Alison Shipstone Russell Humphries Brian Hopkins Ian Ponter James Shipstone
Maxitours AM AM at Vale Royal 1a Lewis Marland x4 Jim Clarke x4 |
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Maxitours Golf 