If the last three years have taught us anything, nothing is certain, and the Portugal Masters was in serious jeopardy of not being held this year with at least two other venues outside of Portugal vying for the same week in the calendar. If the prize money hadn't been found Portugal may have lost the Masters for good. Well certainly the Algarve. With plenty of arguments being made by some of the main sponsors and the DP World Tour that the event could easily be held in the north closer to a major air hub, such as Lisbon airport, which is a lot easier to get to than Faro.

This announcement was enormous for Edge Golf College as we had been promised a start in the DP World tour Portugal Masters 2022. Our first-year students in 2021-2022 competed over 5 Championships knowing that the winner of the Order of Merit had a very good chance of playing in the Portugal Masters. Then the prize money increased, part of the pledge from the DP World Tour to its playing members (that they would play for a minimum prize fund of 2,000,000 Euros per event).

The start is supported by both Visit Portugal and the DP World Tour and has sent enormous waves of excitement through the College and anybody that has a passing interest in what we do. We spend a lot of time in the classroom talking about what it takes to play on a major tour, how to prepare for performance when you are inside the ropes and the organisation that goes behind putting on such a big event at such a prestigious venue. To have a spot allocated to one of our students is something that money can't buy and will always be treasured.

DP Wold Tour debut

Very fitting that the winner of the Order of Merit for the Edge Golf Championships, over the winter, was the College’s captain Noah Brunner, who can proudly say in two weeks’ time that he is about to have his DP World Tour debut.

And I've been asked to caddy! Now normally this would not pose a problem for me but caddying for one of my students comes with a huge amount of honour and an equal amount of pressure. The pressure comes mainly from the fact that I know how small the writing is on Dion Stevens’ yardage charts. The numbers are miniscule on those charts, which increases the likelihood of me miss clubbing my player enormously. The one cardinal sin a caddy must not do. What could possibly go wrong…?

If you're in the Algarve and able to attend the Portugal Masters and you want to see something completely different, namely a short-sighted caddy, carrying a bag for debutant player where the nerves are potentially going to be less for the player than they are for the caddy, then all you have to do is look at the start sheet for Thursday or Friday, look for the name Noah Brunner and follow us.

Any support will be hugely appreciated, hope to see you there!