CombatCritic's TravelValue™: Cabanas

Showing posts with label Cabanas. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Cabanas (Faro), Portugal: The Golf Course Is The Last Priority At Benamor Golf

Benamor Golf

Qta. de Benamor 8800-067

Tavira, Portugal

Phone: 281 320 880

www.Benamor.com

Prices: €€€€

In my second year as a member, I liked the course and friendly staff at first, but course conditions have plummeted over the past year and management could care less.

The staff are still wonderful and many of the members friendly, but the sand traps have become unplayable with little or no sand under the ball, making bunker shots a nightmare. Bunkers are called hazards for a reason because even under the best of circumstances they are a challenge. The sand, if there is any, is routinely hard as a rock due to inaccurate sprinkler placement with water accumulating in many of them. When the grounds crew drag the bunkers, the 'sand' hardens and it is easy to blade a shot over the green. The sand is low quality and more like dirt in the first place with various size rocks embedded throughout. What a nightmare!

The course layout itself is OK, a decent layout, but the fairways receive zero maintenance (rototilling, verticutting, sanding, etc.) so what grass there is has become dense and plays like hardpan. The greens are the best part of the course with regular maintenance and are challenging, but fair.

The clubhouse and patio are old, but nice and the food is pretty good.

There is a golf club just five minutes away, Quinta da Ria, which has two fantastic courses, with wonderful sand, lush fairways, and excellent greens as well as a practice facility that is the best I have found in the Algarve. The annual membership is comparable in price to Benamor, but you can play three quality courses - Quinta da Ria, Quinta da Cima, and Quinta do Vale, another great Seve Ballesteros course - making it no comparison when I move my membership there next January.

Benamor management just does not seem to care about members or the course. They have been given ample feedback about course conditions, but ignore input from members and focus more on wasting time and money on menial and irrelevant tasks like building a croquet court, while closing the member's putting and chipping green for months, and raking dirt areas and removing grass unnecessarily. That is what happens when golf-ignorant people run a golf course!

CombatCritic Gives Benamor Golf 3 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Three Bombs Equates To:

Translation for Civilians: "Situation Normal, All Fucked Up"

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Cabanas (Tavira), Portugal: Gio, That's Some Pretty Good Pizza!

Gio & Gabi Pizzeria

Av. Ria Formosa, 88

8800-591 Tavira, Portugal

Phone: +351 962 312 456

Prices: €€€€

A teeny, tiny waterfront pizzeria in Cabanas with limited seating upstairs and heated outdoor seating on the wide sidewalk in front. Recently remodeled, the place is clean and cute and the views from upstairs are wonderful, especially around sunset.

Unfortunately, there is not room in the small kitchen for a wood-fired pizza oven or they may have gotten an extra BOMB. The pizza was very good, not great, but I am a bit of a pizza snob, having lived in Naples, Italy and married an Italian. The crust was good, the sauce tasty, toppings plentiful, and taste above average. Compared to most pizzerias in Portugal, Algarve in particular, their pizza is closer to authentic than most.

The service was excellent and friendly, and the prices very fair compared to many. I had the chance to meet Gio and Gabi and wish them the very best in this endeavor.

CombatCritic Gives Gio & Gabi 7 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Seven Bombs Equates To

Translation for Civilians: "Shits & Grins"

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Tuesday, August 9, 2022

Cabanas (Faro), Portugal: The Golf Course Is The Last Priority At Benamor Golf

Sunday, May 3, 2020

Cabanas (Tavira), Portugal: Gio, That's Some Pretty Good Pizza!

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