Today it is with a heavy heart that we play our last game of golf on the tour and we end it with the most difficult course in Asia.  It was another hot glorious day and we all woke up jet lagged even though we all had a good nights sleep.

Our caddies were all waiting for us, having identified our bags and got them on the buggy already - the Olazabal's greens had been cored not that we found them to be bad like our corings.  The greens are generally really slow here in China which is hard to get used to after playing the courses in France.

Todays comp was Multiplier skins, so we don't know who our partner is until the end, the mission of the game is not to get a wipe as anything time 0 is 0!  Playing the hardest course in Asia - that is unlikely.  It was quite humid, the caddies looked after us with food and water (even a massage in my case).

The course boasts 151 bunkers And 25 on the 15th alone, yes I happened to find 2 of them and the water hazard!  The course again like yesterdays had great elevations and the fairways had huge mounds, the greens were tricky - so it was nice having a caddy to read the greens for you.

After Lewis's stellar round yesterday, her caddie was utterly disappointed with her performance today.  The putting was off and she managed 30 points.  Lee was the star of the day, plotting her way around the course very neatly and scoring 35 points which included 5 x 3 putts. Stenson was pretty unlucky with some of his bounces and was suffering from fatigue and didn't have a good day on the course today.  Whilst Garcia was striking the ball beautifully but sometime just a little too right for the tight doglegs and unforgiving rough.  Garcia had the second best score with 33 points.

This means that the Missy Missy's well and truly won the Ryder Cup CHANCE leg.  Lee having the best score got to choose her partner (blind draw) and chose Lewis.  This combination netted 11 skins, whereas the Stenson and Garcia combination had 7 skins.

This being the last game the Champion of Champions is concluded, this was won by Lewis with 112 points which rewards her consistency throughout the tour.  This prize of $50 also boosted her into the Rich List for the Tour winning $312.50.  Leaderboards below:

This ends the travel blog for this trip, til next time - please keep well, healthy, fit and take care.  We hope you enjoyed the escapades, tales of woe, excitement and general information.  We loved having you come along on our journey and thank you for all your messages.

Today is the big day, we play Albatros course at Le Golf National which is the same course that the  Ryder Cup was played on, they have also kindly left the pin placing as they were in the singles. We have decided on no goodie bags so that we can see how few points we score.  They have left the rough and course in the same condition as it was and we are the lucky few who get to experience it today.

Comp of the day is Better ball matchplay,  it is a revenge match of the battle of the spouses, and Ryder Cup is in play with a must win for the Mr Mr’s.
It is a shot gun start and we are starting on hole 9 which is one of the holes we watched the most.   We were all nervous, I think that we had seen so many difficult holes and heard so much about the course that we let ourselves get too intimidated by the “beast” as she is affectionately known.  

I was playing off 7, kaching! Jen off 13 and Neil off 30 and poor old John only got 3 extra shots.  They use the new handicapping system where they add the difference of the course rating to par onto your handicap.
Garcia bravely stood up and nailed one off the tee and continued that form throughout the day, his wedge play exceptional and if he hadn’t waiting 10 holes to get the pace of the greens he would have been on fire.  On 15th Garcia put his approach shot into the water, so plays his approach from the dropping zone and nearly holed out leaving himself a tap in 5 for 3 points.  He finished with a very very respectable 34 points.

Stenson, struggled with the driver and let me tell you if you are not hitting the ball off the tee well the. You are in the deep poo.  He persevered and righted the ship to score some points on the home stretch.  As you may or may not know, we watched the final singles matches go through the 11th green and we would have seen at least 20 putts from 3 to 10 foot past the pin.  Only one of these putts was made, well let’s make that 2!  Stenson read the green, stood up to the putt and respectfully let it dribble down to the hole and into the cup.

Lee was going really well, driving straight down the middle.  A beautiful tee shot onto 16 and a good putt notched her first birdie. Playing the 3rd, Lee had played a beautiful drive, superb second only to catch the tree and drop into the bunker.  Her bunker shot was good by normal course standards, but on Le Golf National after Ryder Cup with greens running at 12 on the stump metre it just rolled off.  She let her playing partners know that she really really wanted to par this hole, asked for the flag to be left out and proceeded to chip in.  Unfortunately she injured her shoulder which was doing so well and the day went from bad to worse for her.  Not only was the shoulder sore, the golf deteriorated as well. But being the trooper she is and not wanting to let her partners down she soldiered on to a well earned 26 points.
Lewis started off very well leaving herself a short chip in on the 9th and managed to right royally stuff it up.  She then gave herself a stern talking to and pulled it together getting 19 points on the back 9, ending up with a winning 35 points.  After a very near hole in one on 16 she left herself with a tap in birdie, and her dream hole to birdie was the 18th which she managed.  Chicken dinner for Lewis, wining wine and golf towel in the ladies Comp.

The consensus in the group was that the course was tough but fair.  The greens true, the water carries not unreasonable, overall a fitting end to our French leg of the tour.

We also were hosted in the USA pavilion, so saw their dressing rooms and relaxation areas and the facilities that they had.  I have to say that there is t. UCL that they want for.  Even the walls were decorated with past winning imagery.  Whilst we were playing they were still dismantling the stands , TV towers and villages.  The work that goes into setting that up is just incredible.

A truly spectacular day.

Lee hits third onto the 1st hole - spectacular camera work I think, just about as good as the shot itself.

Comp of the day was battle of the spouses, Lee and Garcia were 1up playing the last hole which is the par 3 8th.  Stenson won the hole to bring the battle of the sexes to a very friendly tie, all sharing the prize money.

So the Chance Ryder Cup has been won by the Missy Missy’s but we may have to think of another challenge for China.  The leaderboards are as follows

A lovely farewell dinner at our local favourite Brasserie and a twinkle from the tower.

Today we left Portugal, after an amazing 15 fun filled, warm, action packed days it is with sad hearts that we depart.  No more big watering can, we thought this was an Aussie thing, but the Algarve has its big watering can, see picture below.  John is sifting through the property mag and discovered a very enticing tax incentive to move to Portugal, Neil has networked with the locals, we have invites back and you never know - we may be back soon.

Below is a little personal piece of each of the travellers,  to only to give you a break from my writing but for you to fact check my versions.

Jenny (aka Lee)

After asking everyone she met yesterday if they wanted her autograph, here is what she had to say about the past 15 days.  I also noticed she wanted to hand wash her golf clothes from yesterday, pretending she didn’t want her white shirt in with coloureds.  I think she did it want to wash the good golf juju off!  Over to you Jen....​

Thanks Shazzy for a fantastically organised trip (every fine detail thought of) and for being such a great playing partner xx. Thanks too, to our wonderful driver, John, who managed driving on the ‘wrong side of the road’ so well.  We loved every single aspect of Portugal from experiencing  Cascais as a local, with Chris and Wilma, to playing 10 of the most magnificent golf courses (including a Jack Nicklaus and an Arnold Palmer designed course).

John (aka Stenson)

The exhaustion’s and stress of driving is now over, your gout is cleared and you can drink copious amounts of alcohol.  How has the trip been for you?

Exhausting & stressful, but, man, this is a good place, with a very chilled vibe. It’s been too hot for me, but other than that everything has been seamlessly smooth, & the courses better than I remembered, & there are still plenty that we haven’t played, so .................🤔

Neil (aka Garcia)

Barista extraordinaire, garbage disposal, breakfast chef, tea maker and networker.  After 10 games of golf, how are your feeling and having grown up with a Portuguese best friend, what was Portugal like for you?

“FODUS“ IT WAS GREAT we have all heard about going the second mile for someone. Shazzy and Thommo went the 10th mile (great team effort). Jen and I will remember this holiday,  where all we had to do was pack our bags, remember our passports and arrive. It has been one of the best holidays. Full of fun, laughter, meeting new friends and golf. It has been so full on and we only half way? Look forward to the next two weeks. Obrigardo!

Once we were checked in and met our host for the week, and then we were out to explore.  There is a Monet exhibition at a gallery called the Le Orangerie, this was a converted outbuilding of a grand palace which was then built to Monet's exact specifications for the display of his Water Lily series.  The exhibition was amazing with these curved rooms displaying enormous paintings. 

There were also lots of other impressionists - Renoir, Cézanne, Picasso, Rodin and Sisley to name a few.

We walked from the hotel, along the Seine stopping for Coffee, a beer and the gallery, then onto Notre Dame and Ile Saint Louis.  It was gorgeous strolling and we racked up some steps - for a travel day I did over 17,000 steps.  Some of the photos of Paris below (more to follow - got too tired waiting for them to upload....

Then it was back to the hotel and unpacking, which is a challenge in itself.  Out hotel room there are no drawers, so no where to store underwear or socks.  It's a bit weird so, there has been some clever storage solutions going on. 

Garcia had read or heard that he needs to accept the imperfect golf shots, so woke up this morning with Garcia 2.0 and a new attitude.  Well it paid off, winner winner (was going to be chicken dinner) 40 points with 3 wipes and no goodie bag.  His driving is starting to be consistent and his chipping and pitching is star quality like.

Stenson started off very well being 1 over par after 6 holes, his driving and approach shots were to die for and a very steady round with 37 points and a lot of putts left around 10cm of the cup - if only we had the meter cheater in play....

Lee, still focussing on her swing.  Feeling no ill effects from her shoulder injury was hitting the ball beautifully - a few unforgivable three putts was the only boo boo on her card.  She finished in second place with a very well deserved 38 points.  The Currins boosted their earnings - which Jen promptly spent on a little pair of golf shoes.

The Ryder Cup was in play, an important match for the Cavalheiros as they had a must win game to keep the series alive, at 4 - 2 with only 3 games remaining - they had to have a win or a half. Stenson and Garcia had an aggregate of 41 points on the front nine which gave them an extensive lead of 4 points.  They maintained their nerve - even though on one hole there was a 6 point swing, this still wasn't good enough for the Senhoras to clinch the trophy.  Although they were trying to find the appropriate place for the Ryder Cup medal, sadly the Cavalheiros kept it together and won the point.

​The leaderboards are below:

The course today was in excellent condition, the staff couldn't be nicer. All courses have been in exceptional condition with our rugs at home having more imperfections in them than the fairways.  The bunkers have the finest sand and their shapes are art like.  It was the hottest day we have had, it was 33°c degrees when we came off the course.  Some photos below.

Our fruit picking results, by the way there were three times more figs, but my cart buddy apparently likes warm freshly picked figs...

Lunch and a drink, then back home for a swim (plus some handstands) and watch the end of the golf.​

Another Championship course, this one being the "jewel in the Quinta do Lago crown".  It has hosted many Portuguese Open, so we expect it to be pretty tough.  The course is very hilly - I was very grateful that we were in carts.  It has the umbrella pines, which Garcia fell a victim of and of the pine tree beating gravity. 

Stenson woke up with gout in his knee and toe and was in agony - so no golf for him.  But the tour director came up with a game that enabled us to play the Ryder Cup and the Comp of the day.  Garcia, Lee and Lewis would play shots for Stenson until they got him onto the green or close enough.  Then Stenson would putt or chip.  The comp of the day is Mystery Partner Multiplier - no sledging because anyone could be your partner.  It is be nice to everyone day!  Multiplier is a cruel game, each player scores points 2 for a par, 3 for a birdie, 4 for an eagle, 1 for a bogey and 0 for anything worse.  So if Stenson gets a 4 pointer and he picks Lewis who has a bad hole, 4 x 0 = 0.  Yep - not nice, but makes for interesting lunch time heckling!

It was an early start as we are watching the Portuguese Masters this afternoon.  The sun was rising as we drove to golf.  Lewis off to a bad start again, wiping the first hole getting stuck in the thick bermuda grass.  Not great for who ever picks her in the multiplier.  Stenson scoring the most points on the first using everyone else's shots! Lewis then starts her form of previous days and shoots 1 under (41 points).  Stenson was the champ of the day on 44 points, Garcia was a good wing man with 39 points which gives the Cavalheiros the Ryder Cup point for today.

​Stenson picks his partner (lucky dip) and picks and picks Garcia who had a lots of great holes but a 2 zero pointers on the back 9.  Both girls has zero pointers - Garcia and Stenson won by 3 shots another stellar performance by the boys.

The updated leaderboard is as follows:

Off to watch the Portuguese Masters, which is a short walk from our apartment.  It was very very enjoyable afternoon.  Jen and Neil had a free golf lesson, so lets see how that works out tomorrow.  We walked around a few holes with Garcia (the real one) and Matt Wallace, Beef, Eddie Pepperil.

I saw Oliver Fisher's (Mr 59) caddy and congratulated him, it was a very relaxed atmosphere and you can get very close to the players.  We saw some great shots and some very ordinary ones.  There was a lot of criticism from the peanut gallery - lets see how we do on the course.  It looked like everyone was having trouble reading the greens. 

Just magic, magic, magic....

Click here see a profile on all the players

A little bit of fun.