FORE Tour Masters 2005

Desert Springs in the Almanzora region of south east Spain provided a very fitting venue for the FORE Tour Masters 2005. The top 20 in the Order of Merit after the last event of the season are invited to play in the Masters which includes four nights accommodation and four rounds of competition golf on the unique Indiana course, Europe's only desert golf course.

Almanzora is renowned as having Europe's sunniest, warmest and driest climate and, sure enough, the sun shone on the FORE Tour for all four days.  The first round was considered a practice round and it was a huge advantage for those competitors whose flight timings allowed for this additional practice round.  The Indiana course is a spectacular oasis of green amid a plateau of barren scrubland surrounded by mountain ranges. The immaculate condition of the course belies the fact that it was only opened in 2001and although not overly long at 6300 yards, designer Peter McEvoy has created a test that can be enjoyed by golfers at all levels.  Concentration is required on every shot and the course rewards strategic accuracy rather than brute force.  The speed and undulations of the greens call for the deftest touch which doesn't say much for 11 handicap Steve Sandford's putting as he 5-putted from 20 feet on the very first green.    

Desert Spring's commitment is to "exceed it's customers' hopes and dreams" and certainly the service and attention we were afforded throughout the entire resort was exemplary.  Each morning we were welcomed onto the range with our own personal pile of practice balls and the facilities even managed to entice devout "non-practicer" Alan Cane. Whilst the golf was serious business on the course the African lodge style Crocodile Club provided a very relaxing watering hole for the evenings.   

The climax of the FORE Tour Masters couldn't have been more exciting.  Eleven handicap Nick Arney from Surrey had led from round one and with only five holes to go he was 4 Stableford points ahead with two shots still to come.  Unfortunately Nick's confidence deserted him in his hour of need and he failed to score any points on the last few holes.  Nick's demise allowed one handicap Chris Hardaker and 7 handicap Philip Dobson, who were playing alongside Nick to creep in with a final total of 97 points and a tie.  

The final outcome was to be settled by a play-off over the first three holes which included two par fives and the par three second.  Chris, from Hertfordshire, who had finished third in the 2005 Order of Merit was the eventual winner finishing his opponent off with a tremendous 3 wood second shot to the par 5 third which carried all of 240 yards to finish within three feet of the hole.  Runner-up Philip, from Cheshire, a previous winner of the Order of Merit was a little out of sorts with his game all week but managed to cope with the slick greens better than most.  Graham Purnell (5) from Hertfordshire who played steadily all week finished in third place alongside a disappointed Nick Arney and last year's FORE Tour Masters Champion Russ Forrester who made a good fist of defending his title coming from behind on the last day.

It was a great achievement to finish in the top 20 in the Order of Merit by all the competitors who qualified for the FORE Tour Masters and there was a unanimous acknowledgement that they were all winners getting through to Desert Springs.

On behalf of all the competitors on the FORE Tour in 2005, we would like to thank all the staff at Desert Springs for making us so welcome and we look forward to returning in November 2006.