The back story is this, I’ve gone out and played with a couple of my regular lessons to see what they look like on the golf course, and this inevitably led to some competitive edge to the matches and from there the banter was born.

Our opponents last Saturday were unbeaten, so they were feeling quite full of themselves and combined with the fact that their form, leading up until Saturday, was really good, they saw no reason why their unbeaten record was going to change. Hence why the match banter was pretty much full on with them even asking me if I was going to sign the €5 note this time?

What was really exciting about the match was that I had been invited to be part of the Chez Carlos golf society, and the venue for this outing was Palmares, one of my favourite golf courses in the Algarve.

Something which you need to know about the Chez Carlos golf society, is that anybody can join, they are a very well organised society which has a long history of putting together ‘golf get togethers’ all along the Algarve. They are the perfect solution for the golfer who doesn’t want to pay for a full membership at a Golf Club, or doesn’t want to be stuck at the same Golf Club in the same clique. They play a huge variety of golf courses which allows you to choose and experience the whole golf spectrum on offer. Nobody expects you to play, you just sign in for the day or course convenient for you on the website, follow the guidelines, and you’re included.

The events are run almost every Wednesday and Saturday and because the society has been in operation for so long, the rates that they are able to negotiate are incredibly reasonable; for example 18 holes at Palmares with a buggy, was less than €75.

Everybody was friendly and excited about playing together, each with the common purpose of competing individually and enjoying their golf in a stress-free environment, where all of the organisation for the day had been taken on by the society’s Captain.

The pinnacle of the events that they organise are the Nations Cup and the Prestige Event which are held over a combination of Monte Rei, Laranjal, Quinta do Lago and Vale de Lobo.

It was really an eye-opening experience and one that I would 100% recommend to the golfer reading this who would like to meet new people and play new Golf courses for a great price.

Anyway, back to the match; the one variable that my opponents hadn’t considered was that I knew the golf course very well, and my playing partner’s confidence was trending very much in the right direction, when you’re playing off a two handicap that can be devastating.

I can say with great pleasure, that the five euro note you see in the picture was handed to me by one of my opponents, after a five and four loss. To be honest, I’m not sure what gives me more pleasure, knowing how much it hurt for the player to hand it over, or me being able to tell you about it.

Here is the Chez Carlos Golf Society’s website, have a look and I hope you have as good an experience as I did!

https://www.algarve-golfsociety.com/