A large field of happy golfers had lot of fun during Captain´s Drive in Saturday 1st April. To fit everybody in, we needed to shorten the interval between the groups from nine to eight minutes. That worked well, not much waiting and no big gap between any of the groups.
The new Captain Per Lars Tonstad drove in as early as 8 am, with many players watching. He found the fairway on his second attempt!
After golfing, around 50 players stayed for barbecue and others just for a drink. The food was good, and people enjoyed sitting in the sun and chat with others. Per Lars held his speech and introduced Rita Pinto, the leader of Castelo de Sonhos. She presented the organization chosen for the Captain´s Charity this year. Castelo the Sonhos is a local organization, based in Silves. During many years the have supported underprivileged people in our neighborhoud with food, clothes, furniture and other things needed. They also have special program for children that can´t live with their parents. The need for support is huge, and the club will find different ways of raising money for the charity throughout the year. The first day we collected €675, and Rita Pinto was very happy and grateful when she received the money. Finally outgoing captain Mags Taylor showed us how to putt, she made an impressive two-putt from a difficult position on the 18th green. Another great day in Algarve, and a great day for Serra de Monchique.

Read the wonderful article in this week's edition of The Portugal News detailing past SdM Captain Euan Pyper's trip accross Europe to help those in need in Ukraine.

https://www.theportugalnews.com/news/2023-01-12/making-a-difference/73702

What a great day.
We were very lucky with the weather for the Jimmy Goodfellow Quaich competition. It was wonderful to see a full house. This demonstrated the respect for Jimmy, a true Gentleman. 80 members including their guests turned up to celebrate the day and of course Saint Andrew by meeting for a tasty lunch and entertainment by the Poor Man’s Band. We were very honored that Dawn Goodfellow, accompanied by Daisy who agreed to present the prizes. €106 was raised for the Captain’s Charity, well done SdM and the all the prize winners. A big thanks to all the Scots who continue to donate some great prizes.

What a fantastic day we had! 98 ladies mainly dressed in pink, playing golf in the 5th Pink Ladies Day at Silves.
The SDM 'PLD guys' did a superb job of looking after the registrations, cards, selling brooches and Mulligans. Not to mention setting up the course with pink tee markers and flags. They happily served us with fizz, water and wraps. Certainly made it a special day to remember.
The event has raised around 4,000€ for the Algarvean Oncology Association, fantastic! This will help fund the mobile breast screening unit and hopefully save Ladies lives.

Each lady received an AOA badge and a 10€ discount card for Miss Designer Golf.

There were 6 pairs that scored 43 points! Count back had to go to back 9 and then back 6. Thank you to Keith Scott and Chris Zismides for collating the results.

Sunday 21st of August was one of our hottest, but that didn't deter SDM members and friends from coming to the Captain's Garden Féte.

Ages ranged from 8 into the 80s, but everyone became children, playing good old fashioned games and challenges.

The garden rang with laughter, which was a good indication of people having fun. Of course, it may have been due to Tweedy's BBQ food being accompanied by drinks from Richard Emrich's "Just the Ticket" refreshment bar!

Thank you to everyone who gave up many hours in the planning, assisted on the day, baked all those fabulous cakes and biscuits and to everyone who came along.

The sun was out, the Half Way House was full of tasty goodies to eat and drink, which was supervised by 4 lovely ladies – Gloria, Shirley, Erin and Marie.
Di Lawrence-Watt controlled the video camera on the 15th hole in case anyone had a hole in one to win a car, but that was not to be.
However, Karen set the icing on Mags’s cake that day by getting her first hole in one on the 3rd hole – perfect timing, Karen, winning her £250!
Winners of the Captain’s Jug were Don and Ruth Simpson, with a fantastic score of 46 points and they were presented with the trophy at the Captain’s Dinner the following evening at Penina Hotel.
It was a superb evening, with great music provided by The Outsiders and the guests boogied the night away in true SDM fashion.
Many members and friends have to be congratulated in making the whole weekend such a success – too many to mention, but they know who they are!

Results: