Vale do Lobo

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Vale do Lobo
ValedoLoboLogo.png


Praia de Vale do Lobo - Portugal (3842521718).jpg
Praia de Vale do Lobo
Club information
Portugal location map.svg
Icona golf.svg
Location in Portugal
Coordinates 37°03′18″N8°03′50″W / 37.055°N 8.064°W / 37.055; -8.064
Location Algarve, Portugal
Established1968; 56 years ago
TypePrivate
Total holes36
Events hosted Portuguese Open (200203)
Website www.valedolobo.com
Royal Course
Designed by Rocky Roquemore
Par 72
Length6,059 metres
Ocean Course
Designed by Sir Henry Cotton
Par 73
Length6,137 metres

Vale do Lobo is a golf resort in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. Vale do Lobo comprises one of the three corners of the Golden Triangle of the Algarve's most affluent and expensive communities.

Contents

The community hosted the Portuguese Open, part of the PGA European Tour, in 2002 and 2003.

History

Vale do Lobo was among the first tourist resorts to be built in Portugal, having been catalysed by the Estado Novo's decision in 1962 to build Faro Airport [1] following the success in the 1950s of luxury Spanish resorts such as Torremolinos. In 1962, Trust House Forte acquired the land, which became Vale do Lobo, with the intention of turning it into a luxury resort. At the time, the region was a stone pine forest with a sand beach. Townhouses and villas were built for tourists and permanent foreign residents. An 18-hole golf course designed by Henry Cotton was built, and Vale do Lobo quickly became a popular destination with the British market. In 1968, Trust House Forte and Costain Group opened the first five-star hotel in the Algarve, the Dona Filipa, named after Philippa of Lancaster, whose marriage to John I of Portugal confirmed the 700-year-old Anglo-Portuguese Alliance.

In 1977, the Venlo-born Dutch entrepreneur Sander van Gelder acquired the resort out of receivership after it had struggled financially following the 1974 Carnation Revolution. He had originally intended to acquire just a small plot of land in the area but ended up taking the opportunity to acquire the whole resort. [2] The resort was run under van Gelder's ownership for the next thirty years, adding another eighteen-hole golf course and many facilities, including bars, restaurants and shops. The resort hosted the Portuguese Open in 2002 and 2003.

In 2006, a combination of Portuguese and international investors, together with the Portuguese state-owned bank Caixa Geral de Depósitos, acquired the development from van Gelder, installing Diogo Gaspar Ferreira as CEO. Over the next four years, the consortium took out twelve loans to further develop the resort for a total new debt of 249 million euros. [3] By the summer of 2015, all of these loans were in arrearage. Because five of these loans were from Caixa, at a time when Armando Vara was the bank's administrator, they were investigated as part of Operation Marquis , [3] [4] and figured in the charges against José Sócrates and other Operation Marquis defendants. [5]

Golf Courses

Royal Course

Vale do Lobo Royal Course (meters)
Tee Rating/Slope 123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Pro72.7 / 133394287383313463395156388148292732649433135236030322436632230786005
Reg70.7 / 129360261370288450375126365133272831547329934132728219034629528685596
Ladies71.6 / 129317264309230371336101296102232626240825931131225113328426024804806
Par544454343364544443443672
SI 151331171175916212461810814


Vale do Lobo Royal Course (yards)
Tee Rating/Slope 123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Pro72.7 / 133431314419342506432171424162320135754036238539433124540035233666567
Reg70.7 / 129394285405315492410138399145298334451732737335830820837832331366120
Ladies71.6 / 129347289338252406367110324112254428744628334034127414531128427125256
Par544454343364544443443672
SI 151331171175916212461810814

Ocean Course

Vale do Lobo Ocean Course (meters)
Tee Rating/Slope 123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Pro74.1 / 140429349497381192416171385347316743641337814434619548314441629556122
Reg71.5 / 135399279457339163410166374326291342538628313534417842913536726825595
Ladies73.7 / 134359251409257140358149305304253241335526510133213740412634024735005
Par445435354375443435353673
SI 513171791511310261881241614


Vale do Lobo Ocean Course (yards)
Tee Rating/Slope 123456789Out101112131415161718InTotal
Pro74.1 / 140469382544417210455187421379346347745241315737821352815745532326695
Reg71.5 / 135436305500371178448182409357318646542230914837619546914840129336119
Ladies73.7 / 134393274447281153392163334332276945238829011036315044213837227055474
Par445435354375443435353673
SI 513171791511310261881241614

See also

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References

  1. "Sérgio Palma Brito: O Algarve às Sextas (2012.04.06)Penina e Vale do Lobo – Inovar em 1963".
  2. Webster, Jack (1985). "The Making of the Algarve". Glagow Herald.
  3. 1 2 Oliveira, Mariana (21 November 2015). "Empreendimento de Vale de Lobo deve cerca de 300 milhões de euros à Caixa". Público (in Portuguese). Comunicação Social, S.A. Archived from the original on 14 January 2017.
  4. Martins, Nuno André (8 June 2015). "Empreendimento em Vale do Lobo investigado no Caso Sócrates". Observador (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 9 June 2015.
  5. Oliveira, Mariana (9 February 2017). "Comissões de 200 mil recebidas por gestores envolvidos no caso Sócrates". Público (in Portuguese). Comunicação Social, S.A. Archived from the original on 9 February 2017.