From "The Emirates Evening Post"
Algarve, Portugal
Having written a couple of weeks ago about the problems with water shortages being faced by the operators of golf clubs in South Africa I found the same situation last week in the Algarve in Portugal. Here there has been little rain for three months (normally a rainy season) and restrictions on water usage means that the fairways are uniformly brown - and at some courses the greens are suffering as well. The talk in the clubhouses is of climate change – and it does seem that the golf industry is going to have to rethink its plans. There are, of course, rather more urgent social and economic consequences of drought than the effect it has on golf resorts for the rich. But if golf course development proceeds without properly sustainable environmental planning then it seems that around the world the game will have a seriously negative effect on the quality of life.
In the Algarve there are now around 30 golf courses, mostly resorts with hotels, apartments and villas dotted around the holes. The courses are generally excellent (water shortages notwithstanding) and if you visit off-peak the green fees are not exorbitant. We played the famous Quinta do Lago courses where the Portuguese Open is regularly played and our round cost 60 Euros ($80) – not unreasonable for a championship course of this quality. The Algarve region, especially along the coastal strip, is something of a golfers’ paradise and there are many permanent residents for whom golf is their life. What surprised me was how many of these are English! In the clubhouse of two clubs that we visited, “Pinheiros Altos” and the “Old Course” at Vilamoura, the sphere was so English that you could have been in Tunbridge Wells. I am tempted to burst into verse about this expatriate enclave as I am sure that there is plenty of material for a poem or two along the lines of my “Jumeira Jane” book (still available in all good book stores in Dubai!).
Property prices in the Algarve have gone through the roof in recent years. A small (two-bedroomed) terrace house on a golfing estate will set you back around half a million Euros ($650,000) and if you want a larger family home you would pay twice that amount. Whenever the word “golf” is attached to anything the price increases, but there is no shortage of willing buyers it seems. Golf, unlike any other sport or pastime, has become not just a game but a lifestyle. For the well-heeled retired (or semi-retired) person a life in a pleasant climate, with a house on a golf course and membership of a club whose members are kindred spirits, is quite an attractive proposition. This, of course, is also the offer in the Middle East – especially in Dubai and soon also in the Oman. But the Algarve has the advantage of genuine all the year round golf (unlike Dubai where only the eccentric will play in the blisteringly hot summer months).
Golf is really the only sport that you can play well into your sunset years. Indeed retirement communities around the world (mostly on the Florida model) are often built around a golf lifestyle. In the Algarve, if you are well heeled, you can live in true golfing splendour. But even those with more limited budgets can enjoy a golfing retirement in the region. If you are prepared top live away from the golf estates then property is available to buy and rent at much more modest costs and membership and green fees at the less fashionable clubs is also more affordable. Another option, if you already own a home elsewhere and only want holiday visits, is to buy a quarter-share in a property. Whilst this is not quite the same as owning your own home outright it is an attractive idea for those retirees who do not want completely to relocate.
My own golfing limitations are such that I am unlikely personally to try and create a “live to golf” way of life – I would be a candidate for psychotherapy very soon if this is what I chose to do. But it is enjoyable to play golf in different countries and to encounter new golfing experiences. In the Algarve there is one golf hole that is worth the visit on its own. The ninth at “Pine Cliffs” is played across a cliff (see photo) and I am only telling you about it because, yes, your correspondent did drive the green!
Having written a couple of weeks ago about the problems with water shortages being faced by the operators of golf clubs in South Africa I found the same situation last week in the Algarve in Portugal. Here there has been little rain for three months (normally a rainy season) and restrictions on water usage means that the fairways are uniformly brown - and at some courses the greens are suffering as well. The talk in the clubhouses is of climate change – and it does seem that the golf industry is going to have to rethink its plans. There are, of course, rather more urgent social and economic consequences of drought than the effect it has on golf resorts for the rich. But if golf course development proceeds without properly sustainable environmental planning then it seems that around the world the game will have a seriously negative effect on the quality of life.
In the Algarve there are now around 30 golf courses, mostly resorts with hotels, apartments and villas dotted around the holes. The courses are generally excellent (water shortages notwithstanding) and if you visit off-peak the green fees are not exorbitant. We played the famous Quinta do Lago courses where the Portuguese Open is regularly played and our round cost 60 Euros ($80) – not unreasonable for a championship course of this quality. The Algarve region, especially along the coastal strip, is something of a golfers’ paradise and there are many permanent residents for whom golf is their life. What surprised me was how many of these are English! In the clubhouse of two clubs that we visited, “Pinheiros Altos” and the “Old Course” at Vilamoura, the sphere was so English that you could have been in Tunbridge Wells. I am tempted to burst into verse about this expatriate enclave as I am sure that there is plenty of material for a poem or two along the lines of my “Jumeira Jane” book (still available in all good book stores in Dubai!).
Property prices in the Algarve have gone through the roof in recent years. A small (two-bedroomed) terrace house on a golfing estate will set you back around half a million Euros ($650,000) and if you want a larger family home you would pay twice that amount. Whenever the word “golf” is attached to anything the price increases, but there is no shortage of willing buyers it seems. Golf, unlike any other sport or pastime, has become not just a game but a lifestyle. For the well-heeled retired (or semi-retired) person a life in a pleasant climate, with a house on a golf course and membership of a club whose members are kindred spirits, is quite an attractive proposition. This, of course, is also the offer in the Middle East – especially in Dubai and soon also in the Oman. But the Algarve has the advantage of genuine all the year round golf (unlike Dubai where only the eccentric will play in the blisteringly hot summer months).
Golf is really the only sport that you can play well into your sunset years. Indeed retirement communities around the world (mostly on the Florida model) are often built around a golf lifestyle. In the Algarve, if you are well heeled, you can live in true golfing splendour. But even those with more limited budgets can enjoy a golfing retirement in the region. If you are prepared top live away from the golf estates then property is available to buy and rent at much more modest costs and membership and green fees at the less fashionable clubs is also more affordable. Another option, if you already own a home elsewhere and only want holiday visits, is to buy a quarter-share in a property. Whilst this is not quite the same as owning your own home outright it is an attractive idea for those retirees who do not want completely to relocate.
My own golfing limitations are such that I am unlikely personally to try and create a “live to golf” way of life – I would be a candidate for psychotherapy very soon if this is what I chose to do. But it is enjoyable to play golf in different countries and to encounter new golfing experiences. In the Algarve there is one golf hole that is worth the visit on its own. The ninth at “Pine Cliffs” is played across a cliff (see photo) and I am only telling you about it because, yes, your correspondent did drive the green!
