Golf fans will be able to enjoy the action at this year’s Estoril Open de Portugal free of charge as part of the Portuguese Golf Federation’s (PGF) 60th birthday celebrations in 2009.
The 53rd edition of the event will be held at Oitavos Dunes, in Cascais, for the second consecutive year following Frenchman Grégory Bourdy’s play-off victory in 2008.
A field of 144 players will compete for the prize fund of €1,250,000 from April 2-5, when The European Tour returns to Portugal two weeks after the Madeira Islands Open BPI Portugal.
The tournament is one of the biggest sporting events to be held in Portugal in 2009 and is supported by the Turismo Estoril and Turismo de Portugal.
In recent years the Estoril Open de Portugal has provided plenty of emotion, with Paul Broadhurst clinching the title on the last hole in 2005, when Filipe Lima chipped in at the 72nd hole to seal third place, the best result ever of a Portuguese professional at the country’s national Open.
That year also saw Pedro Figueiredo at 13 years old become the second youngest player to play in a European Tour event.
Broadhurst successfully defended his title in 2006 before Spain’s Pablo Martin became the first amateur to win a European Tour event when he claimed the title in 2007. Compatriot Tiago Cruz set a new national record when he became the first Portuguese golfer to make the cut at both the Madeira Islands Open BPI Portugal and the Estoril Open de Portugal two years in a row.
Last year Bourdy became the first Frenchman to hold the beautiful silver trophy when he defeated t Scotland’s Alastair Forsyth and England’s David Howell in the first three-man play-off in the history of the tournament.
Figueiredo made the headlines in the Portuguese press when he became the first amateur to make the cut in two consecutive European Tour events, having done so in the Madeira Islands Open BPI Portugal two weeks previously.
Time will tell which piece of history will be written in the 2009 Estoril Open de Portugal but free admission should ensure there are record crowds at Oitavos Dunes.
Nuno Campino, Vice-President of the PGA of Portugal, said: “If the Portuguese players are up to the challenge, we shall have huge galleries in the weekend. That is what has happened in previous years when myself, Cruz, Lima and Figueiredo were in contention.”
As well as the Estoril Open de Portugal, Oitavos Dunes, has previously hosted the European Senior Tour in 2003, 2004 and 2006 and the European Challenge Tour in 2004.
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