Unseasonable weather conditions in the Lisbon area during the last three months has necessitated that the tournament be moved from Aroeira Golf Club which has proudly hosted each of the last two Portuguese Opens.
David Probyn, the Deputy Director of Tour Operations of the PGA European Tour, said: “This decision, taken with the full support of TopGolf the organisers of the Portuguese Open, and the Aroeira Golf Club was made following the unusually poor weather conditions.
“During the last 90 days the rainfall in the Lisbon area has been three times the norm at this time of the year with only 12 days totally rain-free. As a result officials at the Aroeira Golf Club feel that they cannot guarantee that the playing condition of the course will be at the same high level as experienced in 1997.
“We respect and thank the officials of Aroeira for their forthrightness especially as the European Tour is determined that all events in 1998 are played on the best possible courses in the best available location. On this occasion, and following extensive talks with the promoters, it is our belief that Penina will provide the best conditions for Tour competition.”
Antonio Carmona Santos, Managing Director of TopGolf, promoters and organisers of the Portuguese Open, for many years, said: “Aroeira is an outstanding venue for the Portuguese Open, and they have already confirmed that they would again like to host the Championship in 1999 by which time its new course will be open. However, we fully recognise the importance of providing first class playing conditions for the 1998 Championship.
“The Portuguese Open occupies a prestigious date on the European Tour schedule as it is the first Championship of the tournament season to be played in mainland Europe. Penina has long been recognised as an outstanding venue, and we can look forward to a superb Championship.”
Simon Punter, Manager of the Aroeira Golf Club, said: “We have proudly played host to the Portuguese Open for the past two years, and in 1997 we had the best field of players in the history of the Championship. Indeed the 1997 Portuguese Open was considered by the players, the public, the press and the organisers to have been one of the best held in the country. We have already confirmed our interest in hosting future Portuguese Opens on both the existing course and the new course which is to be opened in 1999.”
The new venue at Le Meridien Penina is equally well positioned to host the Portuguese Open and was designed by the late Sir Henry Cotton himself three times Open champion.
Sir Henry proved himself a golf course designer as well as a golfer of extraordinary skill when he created the Penina championship course on the Algarve coast, between Portimao and Lagos in 1966. The course is set in its own 360 acre estate and in undoubtedly one of the pioneering forces behind golf in the Algarve.
From what was originally agricultural lowlands Sir Henry produced a magnificent test of golf, with woods and water coming into play on almost every hole, and with strategically placed bunkers and thousands of trees planted in the 1960s that are now mature, all holes are well defined. The course calls for precise, nominated shots and rewards the thoughtful approach rather than the heroic.
Le Meridien Penina is part of the international Meridien chain of hotels and resorts which boasts other similarly well known and exceptional courses such as the world ranked San Lorenzo course at Le Meridien Dona Filipa, also in the Algarve.
Adrian Constant, General Manager of Le Meridien Penina is delighted that the European Tour have selected Penina to host the Open. He said: “We are immensely looking forward to the return of the Portuguese Open and to hosting the participants and visitors in the best traditions of golf in the spirit that Sir Henry Cotton would have been proud of. This will be the sixth time that Penina has held the Portuguese Open and the course has never been in better condition.”
