Salamander Golf

This website is no longer updated, to get the latest news about Salamander Golf Society, go to http://salamandergolfsociety.roundtablelive.org

On this new website you can register as a member and access all relevant info about our event, get online registration and chat with other members. We hope to see you soon as a member. 

Best regards

The SGS bureau

Salamander Golf Programme 2010

Coupe du Printemps Friday/Sunday April 16-18. :-

Portugal, near Lisbon Playing  Montado Golf Club http://www.golfdomontado.com/ on the Friday and Troia http://www.troiaresort.net/index.php on Saturday and Sunday

Two excellent courses, including the prestigious Trent Jones links course on the Troia Peninsula c caressed by the sun and bathed by the azure waters of the Atlantic, Troiaresort enjoys golden sandy beaches, framed by the Natural Reserve of Serra da Arrábida  hosting a great variety of species of fauna and flora.

Salamander Cup and Participants Match, Friday/Saturday May 28-29

Fontainebleau and/or Augerville. Accommodation at Chateau d’Augerville (http://www.chateau-augerville.com)  or Ecu de France, Malesherbes (http://www.hotelrestaurant-loiret.com)

Channel Cup . LLandudno, North Wales, Friday/Sunday Sept. 24-26

Staying at the Deganwy Castle Hotel http://www.deganwycastlehotel.com

Nearest airports Liverpool & Manchester, both around 1 hour

3 famous North Wales  links courses, playing Royal St. David’s, Harlech, on Saturday 25^th http://www.royalstdavids.co.uk/

This weekend precedes the Ryder Cup, also played 5 days later at the Celtic Manor in South Wales

Many thanks to our camarades who sportingly support our gatherings by donating prizes, Yves Carcelle, Reinhold Geiger, Bernard Montenay, Henry Engelhard, Philippe Sevin, to name only a few – added zest may come next year from Olivier de La Giraudière, with a return of bubbles for precision. Explanation to follow.

Channel_Cup_2009_Report_and_Results

In an unusual climatic feature so far this year, the 28th. edition of the Salamander Cup was played in perfect weather on our “home” course of Fontainebleau in tip top condition and in its centenary year, thanks in part to the presence of camarade Patrick Lamotte, a long time member. Another not so frequent happening was that everyone actually turned up, including the Benelux contingent steaming down the A1, M. Montenay who is thought to have arrived via Augerville having mistakenly consulted last years instructions, and first time attendee Emmanuel Peltre, remarkable for emerging from a car accident route, but unable to join un on the course, unfortunately.

The threatened thunderstorm, which curtailed our last tournament in Fontainebleau, failed to materialize, allowing us to sip the Heidsieck in the evening sunshine as the star performers received their just awards. That only six managed a score of 30 Stableford point or more testifies to the challenge that Fontainebleau continues to pose. Dean Frank Brown paid us a brief visit but had to depart before the first cork was popped – hopefully the timing of his golf swing is better. The evening concluded with a delicious dinner in Augerville washed down with an excellent rosé from the Cote des Maures.

Coupe des Promotions

Besides regular Salamander golf events, our Belgium and Portuguese friends organize every year their own National tournament, nicely open to all Salamander golf members.

The portuguese Open will take place on the 31st of october on a famous course at Penha Longa, 20 km from Lisbon, a championship course that has already hosted the European PGA portuguese open. Your contact for registration is Nuno Miguel Carvalhosa (MBA 99D).

The Belgium Salamander Cup will come sooner, on June 27 th, starting times from 13:30 onwards at Rinkven Championship course (north of Antwerp), an other superb course. Ivo Vandenbussche (MBA 75J) is the contact if you want to join.

... even after being defeated 9,5 to 0,5 in an unfortunate series of match play on the prestigious Vineuil Chantilly ? Is this a joke ? No, just game theory... since the match is organized in 2003 we have always won, had it been the case this year what would be the point of playing HEC again next year ?   

Now we know...

After a fresh return from Valencia, the second major of the year is coming very soon, our 27th Salamander Cup 2009 - friday May 24th, returning to its source in Fontainebleau. Beware of the early start this year from 10:30 to 12:30. And please try to send your Registration_form to Jacqueline as soon as possible ! Our defending champion Jean Caillau will try to keep his trophy against a herd of ferocious competitors (net scores). After a "few" beers at the club house we'll have our dinner at Chateau d'Augerville where Peter has negotiated a B&B for the reckless Anciens who will try the next saturday morning to bring back their supremacy in the match over the young not yet graduated MBAs...

Dominic de la Pena was our friend, present at one of the first Salamander tournament in the 1980’s scoring a hole in one. . Besides his entrepreneurial skills and care for people, "making each person he would meet feel that he/she was unique", Dominic was, as we all know, an avid golf player and accomplished sportsman (rugby, …), an amateur of good food, wines, and cigars, and an extraordinary entertainer always with a big smile in his face.

James Stewart, the winner of this year Coupe de Printemps, fittingly dedicated his victory and the whole weekend to the memory of our camarade Dominic de la Pena, so do we. Even if we will treasure the many memories of this weekend, it is that of Dominic that will remain uppermost.

All our sympathies go to Christiane and to his two daughters Mélanie and Chloé.

Brilliant sunshine and blue skies greeted the participants , just as they did those sensible enough to arrive early in Valencia to witness the traditional festival of Las Fallas – and they remained present throughout the all to brief stay.

The first round, the pairs tournament in El Bosque, conveniently situated just west of the airport, came as a salutatory shock to those not having played much during the winter. The R. Trent-Jones course, perched on the flanks of what seems like a mountain when you’re walking it, is majestic, albeit made for those with 250 meter drives. Nor is there much hope of a chip and roll to reach the green, as the devilish designer has either elevated the greens or placed them in the down slope so that the ball will only come to rest in the bunker at the back, (there are 90 of them), or worse. The rows of recently developed apartments on the surrounding hills are an incentive to keep your head down while playing, in which case you can enjoy the many types of Mediterranean vegetation and are likely to be treated to the spectacle of flocks of scurrying moorhens, for, as you will have guessed, cleverly disguised water hazards lurk for the unwary. Once the sweeping 18^th with out of bounds on both sides and the green so high that it seems to be touching the sky, has been negotiated, the cerveza waiting in the modern clubhouse will be well deserved.

A hint of sea fret accompanied the start of the Coupe proper on Saturday morning on the half links half parkland El Saler course created by Javier Arana in 1968, after the Scottish style. By contrast it seemed les ferocious than the previous day but the scores testify to the fact that it is not simple to score. The rampant rough and the ground covering plants eagerly swallow up balls, and the sea breeze capable of carrying the best struck of shots off course. Again, the 18^th. hole is typical of many, a long carry for the drive, a left crooked dog’s leg to the despair of the slicers, and a well protected green. Luckily the specially prepared and awaiting paella  restored our spirits.

Golf was not the only element – apart from providing the opportunity to visit Las Fallas, Angel set the Saturday golf in the morning so as to spend much of the afternoon and evening in the Ciudad des las Sciencias y de las Artes. This complex, situated in the former river bed once the waters were diverted half a century ago to prevent flooding, provide a complete. contrast to the ancient architecture of the rest of the city. Angel chose a water theme for our visit, which included a spectacular dolphin display, an aquarium experience, a 3-D film, and a dinner, fish of course.

The winner of this year’s figurative Coupe was none other than Jamie Stewart, after many years of trying, doubtless feeling quite at home on a links.

Following two courses of such distinctive character was not easy, and approaching the recently openend Foressos in the first light of Sunday morning did impart a sense of foreboding. The course is bordered on one side by the autopista with its unbroken trail of lorries full of oranges and strawberries trundling northwards, and on the other by an ominously immense prison. To complete the picture, the railway is not far off, and a chemical complex belches away in the middle distance. Nevertheless, the course itself is a gem, designed by the young architect D. José Gancedo with luscious fairways, monster greens, and 1,500 palm trees. We were grateful for its flatness, after the exertions of the two previous days, and the lakes and ponds test for both length and precision – the scramble formula providing ample opportunity to benefit from a little help from your friends, as the Beatles put it. A delightfully renovated finca serves as the clubhouse, and it was with much regret that we had to drag ourselves away in the afternoon for the return to normality after this magical golfing interlude.

This blog is no longer updated, to get the latest news about Salamander Golf Society, go to http://salamandergolfsociety.roundtablelive.org

On this new website you can register as a member and access all relevant info about our event, get online registration and chat with other members. We hope to see you soon as a member. 

Best regards

The SGS bureau