Macreddin Golf Club Members and Friends Travel to Quinta do Lago

Macreddin Golf Club - A True Members Club

At the crack of dawn on Saturday 26th May a group of Macreddin Golf Club members and friends departed Dublin airport for their club tour to fellow PGA European Tour Course Quinta do Lago, Portugal. With only weeks to go until Macreddin Golf Club opens for limited play for its members in Summer 2007, Quinta looked like the perfect setting to test each others golfing abilities.

As the second official club tour, Quinta had quite a lot to live up to. Back in October 2006 thirty members followed course designer Paul McGinley to Valderrama to watch his defence of the Volvo Masters Title. Although he was unsuccessful the tour proved to be the first step in creating the all important club atmosphere that Macreddin endeavoured to establish from its very inception.

Although the group travelling to Quinta consisted of primarily post Valderama members the rumours of the lazy afternoon spent in Almenera with Paul McGinley and the nights in Sinatras Bar had become a talking point at the various member’s outings throughout 2007. 

On arrival in Quinta the members checked into their townhouses and headed off to tackle Quinta do Lago’s South Course, host to eight Portugese Opens.

The South course was in fantastic condition, and although the persistently heavy showers made play difficult at times, all the players seemed to enjoy the opportunity to pit themselves against the course. The format for the day was a singles stableford competition with the winner being Liam Murphy with a very impressive score of 35 points. In 2nd place was Joe O’Connor with 31 pts, and the nine prizes were won by Dermot McMullen -15pts (1st nine) and Karen Yates – 18pts (2nd nine).

That evening the group were in high spirits whilst they tucked into the traditional Portugese fare and tentatively watched Ireland’s one point defeat to Argentina. Macreddin Golf Club member and international rugby star Shane Byrne was on hand to provide insight into the nuances of front row play. Irelands defeat was followed by a night of quiet reflection in the many bars of the Quinta do Lago area. 

Sunday’s golf on the north course consisted of a singles stableford competition. In which Larry Macken prevailed with a score of 31pts. 2nd was Brendan Murdock with 29pts, with the nine prizes going to Malachi Quinn (1st nine) and Michael Raleigh (2nd nine), much was expected of the two Shane’s (Mooney and Byrne) as an earlier error when unpacking the boot of the taxi resulted in an unexpected snack of chicken tikka sandwiches, courtesy of the unsuspecting taxi man.

After two days of golfing and getting to know one another the majority of the group opted for a lazy afternoon by the pool before a late flight home on Monday to Dublin airport.

Due to a delay in Faro the members took the time to reflect on the trip. The consensus overall was after completing the challenge of fellow PGA European Tour Course Quinta do Lago they are  ready to tackle the 160 acres of statuesque pines and meandering brooks in Macreddin Valley.