June 24th 2022 Today I am writing this in my third hour of this flight being delayed. I’m writing this because if at any point this flight lands in the UK I will want to be asleep very shortly afterwards. We played one final round today. 18 holes at the O’Connor course at Amendoeira. Again, I have no idea how I lost. Well, I do. It was kind of karma, really. I told Sam that he couldn’t “have” a “gimme” on the 12th, and then when he said I couldn’t “have” a “gimme”, I missed it because of nerves. It … Continue reading Oconnor

June 23rd 2022 Today I’ve played my best golf of the trip and still somehow not won the match. I don’t mean to sound bitter, but I’ve literally only hit two bad shots today and I’ve lost by two points. I guess this is just how the handicap system works. I give Jake nine shots over the round and he’s made the most of them to be fair. He has also played well so I can’t be too annoyed on the day, but in the context of the whole week, something doesn’t seem right considering I’ve shot the lowest combined … Continue reading Quinta

June 22nd 2022 Today we’ve played at San Lorenzo golf club, which is the most expensive, most iconic course we’ll visit this trip. It’s also the course I’ve been my most injured, which is annoying. I’ve somehow sprained my wrist playing my golf two days ago, and today it’s in a bandage. A nice man behind reception gave me a bandage I. Keeee or makes sense r Until tomorrow, it hurts Jacn Continue reading Lorenzo

June 21st 2022 Today was our “day off” of golf, but we still managed to play nine holes. We started the day by going to a water park called Splash and Slide. Or slide and splash. Slip and splash? Something like that. Something like this: It was good fun, but would’ve been more fun if it were not surprisingly cold in Portugal today. A combination of clouds, wind, and getting in and out of water meant that we were shivering for most of it, which isn’t ideal. It was still fun, but not as fun as it could’ve been. Afterwards, … Continue reading Floodlit

June 20th 2022 Today we played the Vilamoura Old course. It’s one of the most iconic, signature courses here in the Algarve and it’s my new personal favourite out of all the courses we’ve played on these trips. As ever, that list is dictated by how well I play on the day, and today I played well, in general. I just couldn’t putt. If I hit five fewer putts today I would’ve won comfortably. As it was, I lost. We were doing singles match play, and if I had Ross’s putting today it would have been a different story. I … Continue reading Vilamoura

June 19th 2022 Today I won a game! Ross arrived in the Algarve this morning so there are now 5 of us. We picked him up from Faro airport, and then arrived at Vale de Lobo Royal Course 4 hours before our tee off was booked. We got plenty of practice in. Because there was five of us we split up into a three and a two. I was in the two with a one versus one with Daryl. By the ninth hole I was four up and laughing. Three holes later I was one up and my knees were … Continue reading Gail

June 18th 2022 Today was our first proper round of golf on this trip. The golf trip part three. We played at Gramacho, on the Pestana resort, and I played quite well. Though not well enough. The problem with the handicap system is that I parred four holes on the front nine and lost three of them. It doesn’t seem right that because he has so many shots on us, Jake won six of the first 12 holes, but then again he also blobbed basically all of the rest. Competition aside, I played better than I did yesterday, which is … Continue reading Gramacho

June 17th 2022 Today was a weird first day to our golf holiday in the Algarve. It was running really really smoothly until the point we left the airport. Then it all got a bit frantic. We tried to get on a bus but couldn’t because we didn’t have cash. We eventually got to our hire car. We eventually got to our Airbnb. Then none of the keys would work so we had to call our someone to give us some new ones, except in that time we figured out how to use the keys. Then we couldn’t open any … Continue reading Pine

June 16th 2022 Today I have had like three days in a row where I am in a good mood. I’m unsure what to make of it. I’m quite suspicious of it, though. It’s not exactly accidental, and is hopefully the product of a change in mindset. I’m off on holiday tomorrow too, so that’ll hopefully extend my good feeling. You know how previously I’ve written about how getting a haircut fills me with anxiety and dread? Well it didn’t today. I just strolled in. I think I have a regular barbers now. I don’t know what it’s called. i … Continue reading Mindset

June 15th 2022 Today I spent most of my day either trying to find a burrito to eat or telling that I really wanted to eat a burrito. I walked down every street in Gloucester town centre and there was not a single place to buy a burrito. There was not a single place to buy any decent lunch, but specifically I wanted a burrito. There’s a burrito place in Cheltenham called papparittos, and mostly I really wanted one of those. Large burrito. Pulled chicken. White rice. Peppers. Refried beans. Guacamole. Sour cream. Chillis. Cheese. Hot sauce. Having not been … Continue reading Burrito