You could win a dream golfing trip to Portugal in this year's Gazette Matchplay Golf
A chippy tea? Two pints if you are lucky? Or how about a dream three-night golfing holiday on the Algarve?That trip to Portugal is again the prize for our final four in the annual Gazette Matchplay tournament, which launches today, again with the generous sponsorship of Blackpool taxi firm Blacktax.This year three new Portuguese courses will host the semi-finals and final at the end of September but, as they say, you have got to be in it to win it.Lytham’s Elliot Lavin won last year, when semi-finalists Glen Elvidge dubbed it “the best £10 I’ve ever spent”.Blacktax managing director Ian Wharmby says the chance to be whisked away to Portugal and play at the Silves, Gramacho and Vale de Pinta courses isn’t the only benefit for those who enter. Competitors can also sample other Fylde courses for free if they are drawn away.The first of five rounds is set to tee-off between April 26-May 12, with the last eight contesting the quarter-finals at Lancaster Golf Club on Monday, September 3.Keen golfer Wharmby told The Gazette: “If you are drawn away you get the chance to play at another course on the Fylde. Courses waive their green fees, so it is a free game of golf.“If you like matchplay it is a great game, and when it gets down to the last 16 it becomes more tense.“The quarter-finals are played at a neutral venue, which is Lancaster this year. That is a nice day out with a meal thrown in, and if you win there you get the prize to Portugal. This year we are staying at the seaside resort of Alvor and playing three new courses.”And this year we’ve launched a dedicated website where players can register. See the link below