European Player Tour - Portugal 15/1/24 to 18/1/24

TOURNAMENT BLOG - EPT PORTUGAL

Sunday 14th Jan - Practice Day

I arrived at Vale Do Lobo Resort with 10 minutes to spare, I had to quickly get myself sorted as I was on the tee for the practice round on the ocean course. 

Normally I would be very stressed and worried about playing golf without any form of warm up but as this was my first bit of nice weather in months, I was grateful just to be out on the golf course again! 

We played the Ocean course, stretching in-between shots, it didn't take me long to get into a comfortable place with my game and I really enjoyed the course. Getting a feel for some strategy on the holes and the green speeds. The course was in very good condition, and I loved some of the holes especially by the beach! 

Monday 15th Jan - Round 1

On the Ocean course at Vale Do Lobo, it was one of the best days of the week for weather and this showed with the scoring. I managed to shoot my tied best score in a tournament with -8 and this was a great start to the week. My game felt very controlled, gave myself so many chances and I had 8 birdies, 1 eagle and 2 bogeys. 

A perfect way to start the week.

Tuesday 16th Jan - Round 2

Vale Do Lobo Royal course was the course today and I haven't played it before, only managed to look at some holes. This course certainly proved to be more of a test, a little tighter off the tee, smaller greens and slightly longer on paper. Add that together with some wind and rainy conditions, made it a tough test. I felt a little scrappy out there and I hit 2 tee shots out of bounds on my way to +3. A couple further silly drop shots did not help. 

Wednesday 17th Jan - Round 3 

Back to the Ocean course for the final time and it certainly showed its teeth compared to round 1. The wind was up to 30mph gusts, but it was sunny, so we didn't have the rain to deal with. My mindset for this round was very good, focused on what I could control and ensured I maintained consistent with my routine, clear shot intention. I finished -3 for the round which was the lowest score of the day. This left me 3 shots behind going into the final day, so it was all to play for. 

Thursday 18th Jan - Round 4 

The final round on the Royal course and we had a flip in conditions from round 3, the wind had dropped but we had a fair amount of rain throughout the round. I was very good tee to green considering the conditions, but my putter had gone cold. I gave myself so many chances but struggled to convert on the greens. But I was remaining patient and stayed focused. At the turn I checked the leader board, I was -1 thru 9 and I was 1 shot ahead. 

I knew with the conditions I just had to stay positive but in control and I almost played the perfect back 9. Making solid pars but giving myself good looks for birdie that were not dropping but on the short par 4 15th I holed an 18ft putt for birdie. 

I was calm but feeling the pressure of being back in the tournament situation and this slightly intensified as I approach the 245-yard par 3 16th over the cliff! An amazing hole but it requires a high-level golf shot to hit the green. Unfortunately, I made the worst swing of the week and pulled it out of bounds. However, I managed to control my emotions to hit the green with my 2nd ball and make a double bogey. Approaching the 17th tee I quickly found out that I was tied for the lead, so I had to make at least 1 birdie to win outright. 

The 17th is a tricky hole that narrows at 260 so I hit 2i and pushed it right and was semi blocked out by some trees. I had 155yards out the rough and went with a hard 9iron as I had to elevate over some trees. I managed to get this to the front of the green and got up and down for par. 

The 18th was a short par 4 but again quite tight all the way down. I pulled my drive into the left fairway bunker, leaving myself 90-yard bunker shot to the pin. I couldn't have hit a much better bunker shot off a hanging lie to 15ft to give myself a chance to make birdie. I said to myself over the putt just get the speed and let it go, I did the let it go part, but I left the putt right in the jaws of the hole! I thought I hadn't done enough to get the win but after a little wait in the clubhouse, I managed to win on countback which was a good feeling to start the year! 

Scores Summary

-8, +3, -3 & E

Keep an eye out for the next event and thank you for following my journey.

Ryan