Vale do Lobo

Vale do Lobo is a gated community and 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.

Vale do Lobo
Gated community and Golf resort
CountryPortugal
DistrictAlgarve
Websitewww.valedolobo.com

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

History
Vale do Lobo
Club information
LocationAlgarve, Portugal
Established1968
TypePrivate
Total holes36
Tournaments hostedPortuguese Open (2002–03)
Royal Course
Designed byRocky Roquemore
Par72
Length6,059 metres
Ocean Course
Designed bySir Henry Cotton
Par73
Length6,137 metres

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 become 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, they 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]

Ocean Course

Score Card
HoleParWhites LengthYellows LengthReds Length
14429mt / 469yd399mt / 436yd359mt / 393yd
24347mt / 379yd286mt / 313yd257mt / 281yd
35497mt / 544yd457mt / 500yd409mt / 447yd
44381mt / 417yd368mt / 402yd336mt / 367yd
53198mt / 217yd165mt / 180yd142mt / 155yd
65416mt / 455yd410mt / 448yd358mt / 392yd
73171mt / 187yd166mt / 182yd149mt / 163yd
85385mt / 421yd374mt / 409yd305mt / 334yd
94347mt / 379yd326mt / 357yd304mt / 332yd
Out372732mt / 3468yd2951mt / 3227yd2619mt / 2864yd
105445mt / 487yd435mt / 476yd418mt / 457yd
114413mt / 452yd386mt / 422yd355mt / 388yd
124379mt / 414yd292mt / 319yd273mt / 299yd
133144mt / 157yd135mt / 148yd94mt / 103yd
144346mt / 378yd344mt / 376yd332mt / 363yd
153195mt / 213yd180mt / 197yd137mt / 150yd
165483mt / 528yd433mt / 474yd409mt / 447yd
173144mt / 157yd135mt / 148yd126mt / 138yd
185411mt / 449yd376mt / 411yd340mt / 372yd
In362732mt / 3237yd2716mt / 2970yd2484mt / 2717yd
Total736131mt / 6705yd5667mt / 6198yd5103mt / 5581yd

See also

References
  1. http://sergiopalmabrito.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/o-algarve-as-sextas-20120406-penina-e.html
  2. Webster, Jack (1985). "The Making of the Algarve". Glagow Herald.
  3. 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.

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