| Situated near Carvoeiro
in an old olive grove, Vale da Pinta is a championship course that is,
nonetheless, adaptable to any kind of game.
Text provided by the Portuguese
Tourist Office
Designed by the North-American
Ronald Fream, currently one of the most respected architects and whose
style involves the preservation of nature in his projects, Vale da Pinta
is the twin of Quinta do Gramacho, but with a full 18 hole course.
The course runs through an
old olive grove, where some of the trees are more than 700 years old. True
to U.S. golfing concepts, Fream has created wide, deep greens protected
by a total of 59 similarly sized bunkers.
The challenges posed by the
course are adaptable to differing levels of skill. This is achieved by
the presence of five sets of tees for each of its holes.
Those players with handicaps
ranging from scratch to 12 can play off the black marks placed further
back. White marks are for those handicapped between 13 and 20. For ladies
there are red marks (from scratch to 28 handicap) and blue marks for lady
beginners.
As of September 1996 the
David Leadbetter Golf Academy, which is Europe’s fifth largest, established
a presence at this development. |
