Ireland picks up the Nation Team Trophy at the 23rd International Portuguese Senior Ladies Golf Championship
Over the course of two days in the Algarve, 117 senior golfers from Spain, Portugal, England, Ireland, Scotland, Finland, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg, France, Sweden, Norway and Canada took part in the 23rd International Portuguese Senior Ladies Golf Championship played at the Oceânico Old Course, the Oceânico Millennium and the Oceânico Pinhal courses in Vilamoura in late January. The tournament was played simultaneously on the three courses and was organised by APSGS the Portuguese Seniors Golf Association Ladies. The overall winner was Irish golfer Sheena McElroy (Grange). This international competition featured the fourball better ball and stableford net formats, with first, second, third and fourth categories, the results of which counted twoards the Nation Team Trophy, which was won by Ireland with 317 strokes against England’s 321, losing by just four strokes. There was also a special award for the best Portuguese player and the best Super Senior on the course, played in stroke play and stableford (gross). The Spaniard Victoria Pertierra Monforte, in stroke play gross, and the Portuguese golfer Maria de Jesus Beltrão, in stableford gross, won the Super Senior title, but a special mention goes to English golfer Marsha Button who scored a hole-in-one on Oceânico Pinhal’s 14th hole, a short 130m par 3, using a 7 iron. Following the tournament, all the players were greeted with a cocktail on arrival by the APSGS, followed by a gala dinner at Oceânico Old Course’s clubhouse restaurant, where the prizegiving ceremony took place. For the occasion, the president of the APSGS, Teresa Symington, highlighted the association’s role in promoting senior golf in Portugal, and added: “We are pleased to have the participation of many great players from various countries in this international tournament. I hope you enjoy yourselves and the hospitality of our Algarve.” Romeu Gonçalves of Oceânico Golf and Anke Eckardt from APSGS assisted Teresa Symington with the prize-giving, a task that was extremely well-organised considering the number of awards that were presented. The tournament’s sponsors included BPI, the Portuguese Golf Federation, Symington Family Estates, Vista Alegre and Castelbel.
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