Alanis is the lowest-paid employee at the Algarve’s newest golf club. But he is also high-flying proof that they are trying to think of everything at the £15 million Victoria Clube de Golfe, writes John Wardle.
Alanis is a falcon, brought in to deter the seagulls that can pose problems for greenkeepers and players alike at this impressive coastal course in Vilamoura. “We‘re delighted with Alanis. He’s doing his job very well,” said Eugenio Reviriego, the director of golf whose presence at Victoria indicates the ambition that lies behind the club.
Reviriego previously held the same post at Sotogrande and it needed something special to tempt him away from one of Europe’s most prestigious courses. He believes he has found it at Victoria.
“For me,” he said, “Sotogrande is the best course in Spain along with El Saler from the design point of view. Victoria has a different style, but it’s just as good. I love this course and its marvellous views.”
Golfers will soon be able to judge for themselves. The course will stage the Portuguese President’s Cup this summer and its designer Arnold Palmer will be the special guest when it opens to the public in September.
Not that many of the 50,000 golfers who play 200,000 rounds on Vilamoura’s five other courses each year will have the chance to sample Victoria. Green fees will be £100 per round and a maximum of 60 people will be allowed on the par-72 course on any day.
So what will they get for their money? Land that was once so flat that it featured an airstrip now has wide, undulating fairways following the movement of 710,000 cubic metres of earth and large, gently sloping greens.
It stretches for 7,014 yards from the back tees – the Palmer tees – and, as with other Palmer designs, there are large greens and water, water everywhere, with lakes and cascading waterfalls occupying about 10 per cent of the course which is undoubtedly equipped to stage the major international tournaments which its owners, the Lusotur Group, hope to attract within the next five years to raise Vilamoura’s profile even higher.
Amateurs will find it challenging – even from the front tees – particularly on the breezy days which can occur in this part of the world. But the 15,000 trees planted on the Bermuda grass course will need to grow to give it definition and make it a more attractive proposition.
However, there can be no question mark against the spacious, superbly-equipped clubhouse, which is unarguably one of the best in Portugal, with valet service for players from the moment they pull up in the car park.
The owners set Palmer the task of building a flagship course for Vilamoura – one capable of challenging rivals of the calibre of Penina for the right to host European Tour events. Without question he has succeeded.
Whether it can replace Vilamoura’s Old Course in the affections of golfers is more debatable. But at least they will play Victoria in the knowledge that they won‘t be troubled by seagulls. Alanis will see to that.
For more information on Portugal, contact the Portuguese Tourist Office (Tel: 0845 3551212, calls charged at local rate), e-mail at tourist.london@icep.pt or visit the website www.portugalinsite.com. For more information on Vilamoura, visit www.vilamouraalgarve.com
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