JOE gets wined, dined and plays a little golf in the Western Algarve

When JOE's Conor Heneghan was offered the opportunity of heading to Portugal for a five-star, three-day golfing trip in the middle of February, needless to say, he jumped at the chance.

With the ridiculously bad weather forcing virtually everyone in Ireland to stay cooped up indoors for the best part of 2014 so far, a three-day trip to the Algarve in the middle of February sounded like the bees’ knees as far as your humble author was concerned. A chance to soak up the sun and lay the base for the farmer’s tan that would inevitably follow in the summer, an opportunity to kick back and relax on the beach and with a cocktail by the pool and to play some nice, leisurely golf on one of the finest golf courses the region had to offer; I thought that would do nicely, thank you very much. Unfortunately, it turned out that, much like in Ireland, the weather Gods weren’t playing ball in Portugal either. Storms had resulted in a warning on the news for people to stay indoors unless it was absolutely necessary and so strong were the winds that the biggest football match in Portugal, the meeting between Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, was postponed. A match postponed because of the weather in Portugal? It certainly took us by surprise and was something that our very friendly and generous hosts at the Martinhal Resort assured us never happens. Ever. Thankfully, however, the weather was the only thing that disappointed on what was a thoroughly enjoyable trip. From the minute our party arrived at the Martinhal Resort, we were made to feel very welcome by the warm and courteous owners and by the friendly and professional staff, who catered to our every need. Located within walking distance of the historic town of Sagres, at the south-westerly tip of Europe, the Martinhal Resort is the first five star property in the region and sits right on the beachfront with the Atlantic Ocean on one side and a protected natural park on the other. Having had time to get acquainted with our hotel room upon our arrival on a Saturday afternoon – all 37 rooms in the hotel have private balconies or terraces with views of the beach and the ocean nearby, while there are also luxury villas, ocean view houses and garden view houses available to guests – we were immediately treated to lunch at the resort’s As Dunas restaurant on the beachfront, although to merely call It lunch would be doing it an injustice. Three courses later, including some local delicacies, fresh seafood sourced locally and a glass or two of wine, we were fit to do little apart from watch the Irish rugby team trash Wales in the M Bar, a lovely surf-themed bar complete with a 1970s VW camper van and a special kids area with iPads and enough games to keep them entertained for hours. Oh, and it had a hammock too. That’s right, a hammock. It turns out those mid-afternoon three-course lunches were the rule rather than the exception over the three-day trip, as was evening dinner at O Terraço restaurant, our venue for a buffet breakfast each morning and dinner each evening and the place where I sampled wild boar for the first time. Like the rest of the food on offer, it was delicious. Sunday morning had been set aside for golf, but the weather had put paid to that idea, so instead, some of us in need of a competitive fix played table tennis, pool and air hockey in the games area above the M bar, which also includes a cinema, Sony Playstations, Nintendo Wiis and any amount of fun activities to satisfy the kids and us adults who did a bad job of pretending that we were too mature to have any interest. The games room is just one of a number of indoor facilities to keep the kids entertained on the rare occasions that the weather is a little off or even when it is too hot to be outdoors. Children can also try some arts and crafts, face-painting and t-shirt printing, while there's an indoor pool as well as a fully-equipped gym if you fancy a workout during your stay. When the weather's perfect for outdoor activities, there's any amount of stuff to do, from windsurfing and kayaking at the Water Sports Centre on the beach nearby to tennis courts, PADEL courts and a multi-purpose sports field suitable for football and other team events. Later, after a tour of Cape St. Vincent and the famous lighthouse, I got to enjoy some pampering with a massage in the resort’s Finisterra Spa, included as part of the trip, an experience so relaxing that I had to be physically awoken from the slumber I had fallen into halfway through. On Monday, our final day, the weather had let up enough for us to play golf and try out the brand new Taylor Made clubs that had been kindly provided for us on arrival at Faro Airport by Clubs to Hire, an incredibly convenient service for anyone playing golf abroad. As a very occasional golfer used to playing with a set of clubs that are rustier than an old gate in need of some WD40, I was a little unnerved when I stepped up on to the first tee at the very challenging Espiche Golf Course, located about a half hour’s drive from Martinhal. Thankfully, I put any fears to rest when I stepped up and drove it 300 yards down the fairway, or at least that’s what I had envisaged in my head before catching the ground and then the ball and watching on as my ball trickled into the rough about 20 yards away. Despite the numbers of balls lost running into double figures, I did manage to restore some pride by recording a birdie on the second toughest hole on the course, where the clubhouse is very close to completion and which will prove very popular with tourists when the weather is a little better than it was during our trip. After enough food over lunch and dinner in Martinhal to fill one’s stomach for a week, it was an early start on Tuesday morning to head back home after three days that seemed to pass by in a whirl but that provided plenty of memories all the same. For a first trip to Portugal and to the Algarve, despite the weather, it was pretty special and I couldn’t recommend the Martinhal resort highly enough. As if my own country was somewhat angered by the possibility that I had even endured even more miserable weather in Portugal than I had at home, it was snowing in Dublin Airport when I stepped off the plane. Way to remind me I'm back home Ireland, way to remind me I'm back home. The press trip was hosted by the very kind Dermot Synnott on behalf of Destination Golf. For more information on the Martinhal resort, you can visit the website here, while you should also check out Liss Ard Estate in Cork, which is owned by the same people that are in charge of the Martinhal Resort. Clubs to Hire provide golf clubs for golfers of all skill levels in a number of airports throughout Europe and for more information on the services they provide, you can check out the website here. Aer Lingus flies twice daily from Dublin to Faro, five times a week from Cork to Faro and twice weekly from Shannon. Aer Lingus also operates a daily service from Belfast for the summer, April through to October. For more information on fares and schedules visit aerlingus.com.