Venue: Pinheiros Altos & San Lorenzo
Winner: Kev Ulla
Moose: Graham Copley
Final Leaderboard
| Ps. | Name | Handicap | Points |
| 1 | Kevin Ulla | 13 | 66 |
| 2 | Adam Davison | 19 | 64 |
| 3 | Jimmy Curley | 21 | 62 |
| 4 | Andrew Yates | 15 | 61 |
| 5 | Simon Woolridge | 8 | 61 |
| 6 | Paul Rich | 20 | 59 |
| 7 | Andy Fearnsides | 11 | 59 |
| 8 | Paul Sykes | 17 | 59 |
| 9 | Phil Lister | 15 | 58 |
| 10 | Robbe Fleming | 5 | 57 |
| 11 | Mark Wallis (S) | 19 | 56 |
| 12 | Steve Tattersfield | 10 | 56 |
| 13 | Chris Ramm | 19 | 55 |
| 14 | Jeff Wind | 20 | 55 |
| 15 | Ben Moyle | 18 | 53 |
| 16 | Gavin Whitworth | 12 | 53 |
| 17 | Steve Hardwick | 15 | 52 |
| 18 | Andy Kaye | 18 | 51 |
| 19 | Craig Lightowler | 17 | 51 |
| 20 | Damien Thorngate | 12 | 50 |
| 21 | Pete Burke | 6 | 50 |
| 22 | Jim Holliday | 15 | 49 |
| 23 | Craig Whelan | 18 | 48 |
| 24 | Alan Doig | 15 | 48 |
| 25 | Mick Baldwin | 12 | 47 |
| 26 | Peter Forster | 9 | 46 |
| 27 | David Bell | 28 | 46 |
| 28 | Paul Ephremsen | 14 | 45 |
| 29 | Phil Cawtheray | 23 | 45 |
| 30 | Garry Burrows | 19 | 45 |
| 31 | Stephen Callaghan | 28 | 44 |
| 32 | Keith Loughran | 26 | 42 |
| 33 | Mark Wallis (N) | 23 | 41 |
| 34 | John Clements | 20 | 41 |
| 35 | Paul Cawtheray | 23 | 39 |
| 36 | Graham Copley | 26 | 35 |
Story Of 2018
Despite locating a few miles from the centre of the action in Vilamoura another fantastic Calco Cup was had by all and again 36 players lined up at Pinheiros Alto on day 1. This course was a little gem and had many scratching their heads on how difficult it was, especially given its length. A difficult tee shot to start on the opening hole made scoring just a point hard to come by. The course didn’t really relent and not surprisingly only 5 players broke the 30 point barrier. Good rounds from ‘Yella’ Yates (30) and on debut Paul Sykes (31) and the classy Damian Thorngate (31) set the tone and it quickly became apparent that these were good scores which were only topped by Andy Fearnsides (32) and our leader Kevin Ulla, who had come into the event in great form, scored a very decent 34 points to lead in the clubhouse by 2 shots. A total of 9 players shot 29 points and realistically these were the only ones who still could dream of Calco glory. Mark Wallis (s), Andy Kaye & Garry Burrows were amongst those on 29 points which was pleasing but rather than dream of winning the Cup, they probably slept easier, as it would take a complete disaster for them to moose. Those in trouble and guaranteed a sleepless night included all four of the Loughran’s (18), SAS ‘s Steve Callaghan (18) and amazingly the well backed Paul Ephremsen (18) with annual struggler Mark Wallis (N) (19) set to make the moose group. Plenty were just a point or two in front of them and they were sure to be nervous as they made up the Moosette group. John ‘Elvis’ Clements’ (20) Jimmy Holiday (21) Graham Copley (21) and Paul Cawtheray (21) only needed a second bad round and they were bang in trouble. Some other surprise failures included Peter ‘Fozzy‘ Forster (22) and reigning champion Micky Baldwin (23) though thoughts of these two mooseing seemed inconceivable.
Apologies for not reciting all the funny stories on tour as I’m getting way too old and struggle to remember yesterday, let alone this time last year. I do remember having a smirk on my face in the bar afterwards as the moose title, that so many had wished would bestow me, looked unlikely to say the least. Worse still for most, I was still within striking range of Calco Glory! Many players looked tired after the days golf as well as over indulging on Calco Eve and were glad to retreat back at the hotel, another sign of plenty of us getting older. Of course there was no stopping the likes of little Al, Craig and a few of the other usual culprits sloping out for a big night, fair play to them!
There was a real buzz on day 2 at the famous San Lorenzo and our crafty cockney and leader Mr Ulla was full of confidence and didn’t we know it. There was no way he was going throw this away with a poor score and it would take a sterling effort from someone else to take the title from him. To be honest a stunning front nine where he easily secured 19 points pulled him well clear of his rivals in the Golden Goose group. Barring some extraordinary performance from anyone in the groups behind, the title was within touching distance. Incredibly that nearly happened as the majestic Adam ‘Davo’ Davison produced some stunning golf from the middle of the pack and scored a day’s best 37 points which ultimately moved him to second place overall. Other good scores coming in like Paul Rich (34), Jimmy Curley (33), Simon Woolridge (32), & ‘Yella’ Yates (31) saw them all move way up the leaderboard but the truth of the matter was that standing on the last tee Kevin Ulla could not be caught. Of course he didn’t know this, and 99 % of the players think this scenario has to change!, but 1 point on the last difficult hole cemented a famous 2 shot victory for the 2019 Ryder Cup Captain which no one could say he didn’t deserve, well done!
Before Kevin Ulla took the title the incredible Moose battle was done & dusted. Again after the first 9 holes all the moose group going out first had scored reasonable points and no doubt the group ahead, bar Jimmy Holiday (28), were beginning to feel the pressure including John Elvis Clements, Graham Copley & Paul Cawtheray and at the half way point there wasn’t more than 3 shots between 7 or 8 players. A little earlier a couple of players still had a nervous hour or so, a shocking 16 points from Mr Burrows had him thanking he’d just scored enough points on Day 1 while Phil Cawtheray (20) took a while before he could breathe easy. With the moose group coming back with reasonable scores Ephremsen (27) Callaghan (26), Mark Wallis (n) & Keith Loughran (24) it meant Graham Copley’s miserable 14 points had dropped him down the field to pick up the accolade of 2018 Moose and didn’t Mr Callaghan give it to him! A very poor 18 points from Paul Cawtheray saw him drop to 35th and the relatively new Moosette title.
San Lorenzo was a touch disappointing and maybe our digs were a bit too far away from Vilamoura but overall it was still another superb Calco Cup and the pleasure we all get from the tour is incredible! So a big thank you to SAS.
Read the build up to the 2018 event.
Odds for the 2018 event.