Have you noticed that the bark of one of the olive trees at the entrance to the Silves is different as you go up the tree. This is not due to the age difference of the trunk and its branches but is a good demonstration of the husbandry of Olive trees.
The olives you eat in your home or restaurants are the result of years of mankind controlling nature. Although cultivation of olives goes back thousands of years man has used the same system for propagation and has improved the quality and varieties of the simple olive. Generations of farming families and religious groups, mainly Christian monks, developed techniques based on simple observation and records which were either oral or written and have resulted in the enormous range of olives we have today.
Congratulations to our 3 divisional winners, Geoff Cox, John Penn and Maddy van Kleff who all qualify for the Foundation Cup.
Split=14.5
Next week's Stableford is at Gramacho
Seattle Shambles Saturday 30th January results:
| 94 | Chris Nickels | Geoff Cox | Jimmy Goodfellow | John Penn |
| 107 2nd | Mick Girling | Bob Coe | Pete Hatherley | Judi Murphy |
| 103 | Richard Whiteley | Tony Seal | John Symon | Per Lars Tonstad |
| 83 | Mick MacFarlane | Hermione MacFarlane | Susan Bradshaw | Jamie Campbell (g) |
| 106 3rd | Des Briggs | Ray Groves | Peter Chapman | Warren Tennant |
| 103 | Barbara Briggs | Eileen Groves | Marja Chapman | Pippa Tennant |
| 109 1st | Ken Shelton (b) | Steve Morgan | Jim Rose (b) | Stuart Deans |
| 102 | Hilke Glienke | Ulla Bischoff | Karen Huxtable | Mel Huxtable |
| 89 | Keith Rhodes | Malcolm Cooke | Tony Roxburgh | Chris Thommassen |
| 98 | Gerry Davis | Judy Davis | Wim Hofmann | Marieke Hofmann |
| 105 4th | Ginny Barrow | Maddy van Kleef | Ed Swart (g) | Dave Tweed |
Thanks to Malcolm Ealand, the brother in law of Stu McGill and regular player with SdM when in Portugal, who has not only arranged for the production of Serra de Monchique Golf Club car stickers but has also generously donated them to benefit the Captain’s Charity.
They look great and are available to members for a minimum donation to the Captain's Charity of €2 per sticker. Contact the Captain if you want some.
The fourth round of the 2015/16 Fermon Trophy was played at Silves on 18th January. Following the expansion of this competition from 4 to 5 clubs this event for the first time was jointly hosted by SdM and Silves International GC. The weather was excellent and the course in fantastic condition and this was reflected in some great scoring by some of the participants.
Except for one team the scores were incredibly close with 2 points separating four of the teams. The lowest scorers on the day were Carvoeiro and Silves International with 190, closely followed by SdM and Vila Sol on 192. Alto however put on a great team display and scored a magnificent 205. There last three pairings came in with 43, 46 and 47 points!!
It was a cloudy but dry day at Silves for our annual Captain's Drive In. This sees the outgoing Captain (Ray Groves) putt out on the 18th green,and the new Captain for 2016 (Peter Chapman) drive off from the first.
It was then followed by a 2 ball Seattle Shambles competition, the results can be found at the end of the article. An amazing 80 players participating!
There was a side wager on the 18th between the Captains, should Ray not manage to putt out in 2 a donation would be made to the present Captain's Charity. Sadly he didn't meet the challenge, eventually 4 putting! There were mitigating circumstances however - the ball used did have a large slice missing.
Peter and George have decided to offer all members an opportunity to challenge them to a game of golf. The game will be a Fourball-Betterball matchplay with players receiving 75% of the difference in playing handicap between themselves and the lowest handicapped player. Teams can be men, ladies or mixed and it will cost €10 per couple to make the challenge with all of the monies going to the Captain’s Charity. If the challenging pair wins, along with bragging rights they will qualify for an end of season competition which will be sponsored by the Captain and President. If Peter and George win then you will just have to try again.
Just send an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you want to give it a go.