McGinley's chance to shine

The European Tour makes one of its more pleasant stops this week when the Madeira Island Open takes place at the Santo da Serra course.

Professionals are, notoriously, only obsessed with results but for the enthusiastic amateur, such as yours truly who had the good fortune to play there recently, there is much to savour in Madeira.

Santo da Serra, designed by Robert Trent Jones, boasts some delightful holes. There are three nines at the complex - yellow, red and blue and the Open will be played over the blue and red stretches.

The par five 550 yards second on the blue nine is a beautiful - and demanding - hole. From a raised tee there are spectacular views over the Atlantic (the course is 1,800 feet above sea level) and the drive is down through a funnel of trees to a fairway guarded by a lake on the left and more trees on the right.

Should you manage to find the fairway mere mortals will be faced with a difficult lay-up to a narrow neck some 100 yards short of the green. Even for the pros it will take two exceptional shots to hit the green. The downhill dog leg par four fourth and the monster uphill par five seventh are other holes to test the best, while on the red nine the greens at the par five third and par three fourth offer more stunning views. Madeira has another championship course at Palheiro, about 25 minutes drive from the capital Funchal (Santo da Serra is a 45 minutes drive). Owned by the famous Blandy family, synonymous with the island's wine industry, Palheiro's fairways are lined with some of the island's remarkable range of trees and flowers.

The par five 14th, charming par three 15th and tree-lined dog leg par four 16th represent a memorable stretch of golfing territory.

Both Madeira courses are hilly, Palheiro more so, and a buggy might prove a worthwhile investment for the less athletic visitor.

Green fees at Santo da Serra are about £40 and at Palheiro about £46. Strangely enough, this time of year (late winter to early spring) is actually the island's busiest but the weather is pleasant (i.e. not too hot) all-year round and you might be able to get cheaper fees in summer. As for this week's tournament, Paul McGinley's desire to make the Britain and Ireland team for next month's inaugural Seve Ballesteros Trophy match against the continent of Europe has led him to revise his schedule.

Currently trailing Welshman Phil Price by St£20,176 in the quest for the sole automatic place off this year's Order of Merit, the in-form Irishman - who has finished tied-third/tied-second/tied-seventh in his last three tournaments - will now play in Madeira, courtesy of a late sponsor's invite. There are seven Irish players in the field, which is one of the weakest on the circuit: McGinley is joined by Ronan Rafferty, who has yet to make a cut since returning from injury, Des Smyth, Gary Murphy, David Higgins, Peter Lawrie and Francis Howley.

Panorama Holidays (01 670 7666) offer flights out of Dublin direct to Funchal every Wednesday.