Thursday, March 19, 2009

PORTO SANTO MAKES EURO TOUR BOW

PORTO SANTO MAKES EURO TOUR BOW


A new name will be added to the long list of European Tour venues on Thursday - Porto Santo.

For the first time the Madeira Islands Open BPI-Portugal is not being staged on Madeira, but on its neighbouring island at a new Seve Ballesteros-designed course.

In its own tourist literature Porto Santo is described as "one long beach with a bit of an island attached". It has a permanent population of only around 5,000 and is less than eight miles long and four miles across at its widest point.

The island, nibbled bare by rabbits centuries ago, has been undergoing a massive re-forestation programme, local residents even being offered free plants for their gardens at municipal nurseries.

Its volcanic sands - it is no longer active, the players will be relieved to know - have long been held to have curative powers and it was once home to Christopher Columbus.

The course, opened in 2004, features two distinct zones. Part is dotted with lakes and the other section played along spectacular clifftops.

Tournament director David Williams said: "A number of holes are the most dramatic you will find anywhere in the world.

"The players will relish the challenge of the 200-yard 13th and 393-yard 14th, back-to-back holes where you are playing across the clifftops with the sea 500 feet below."

Past champions taking part include Welshman Bradley Dredge, Sweden's Jarmo Sandelin and Frenchman Jean Van de Velde, who after the heartbreak of the 1999 Open at Carnoustie ended 13 years without a victory when he triumphed in 2006.


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