ST25 - Cascais, Lisbon

ST25 Summary

The Squires made their first venture overseas on their 12th annual trip - to Cascais, Lisbon. Accomodation was the stunning 4 man lodges at the Onyriya Resort, Quinta da Marinha. With a fine fine host in Carlo, things ran like clockwork with Riccardo and his superb taxi shuttle service. Courses this year were Penha Longha, Oitavos Dunes and Quinta da Marinha.  

The Rosapenna 9 were in attendance at ST25  but with the welcome addition and return of Baz, Big Al' and Bazza.  This made it a perfect 12 and  even more perfect 6 aside Ryder split.

The Wednesday weazels arrived and Carlo had a treat in store - first night was his local restaurant O Farol where a banquet was laid out by Sandra & Lucio for the lads; fresh sea bass cooked on the spot and a feast of the finest vino - a great start to the weekend.

Day 1 and Penha Longa, a stunning parkland with a multitude of dog legs and crazy elevation changes, not to mention a fair bit of water to contend with. Gordie's superb 35pt haul was good enough for a 3 point win and 7th major, setting new Squires standards altogether. In 2nd place Boothy came in on 32pts, his best major finish to date with a better back 9 from Squire.

Downtown Cascais for dinner and a super Asian fusion restaurant Yam at the marina.

Oitavos Dunes on Friday was a very different prospect, a true links with wind providing a real challenge.  Following on from a solid first day, man-on-form Boothy shot a solid 30pts to secure a 3 point win from Bazza and more importantly bags his first Squires Major!  Special mention to Big Al' who bagged a stunning eagle 2 on the 11th, holing a rollercoaster 30 yard putt to join the illustrious club. 

Back to Cascais and this time K Bueno on the roof and an utter feast was had; great times.

The third say saw the Squires test their games around Carlo's home track Quinta da Marinha. It was the yellow tees this time after the lads had taken a bruising off the whites the previous 2 days. This didn't make things any easier, with the trees providing the protection for this very trick layout. Multiple drives through chutes, quirky doglegs and punishing par 3s resulted in modest scoring. 

A fabulous battle ensued for the day's major with Big Al' hot out the blocks and cruising along in control after a solid front 9. He had to endure a back 9 blitz from Gordie who was hunting him down with birdies. It all came down to 18 where Allan had a 2 shot lead on tee and needed to beat Gordie by a point knowing he would lose to a weaker back 9. Nerves took their hold as big Al' chopped up the last and still not on the green after 4 swipes. He executed a fabulous pitch shot to 4 feet from off the left side of the green and waited as Gordie lined up his birdie putt to win the major. Gordie's birdie putt slipped just past and big Al' made no mistake in holing out to secure his first major win!

Final evening dinner was at the Hotel and prizegiving thereafter, a great finish to the weekend. The Hotel's Margarita bar was final stop for the Squires to round up another cracking trip.