Peter was born in 1956 in to Welsh parents in Corby, Northants, his father working in the steel works at that time. When he was 6 years old the family moved back “home” to Old Colwyn a village in North Wales and he attended school there until he went to The Polytechnic of Wales in South Wales. He gained technical/engineering qualifications in the Gas industry. He was mainly concerned with operational management during these early days but later he transferred to the “dark side” of commercialism and negotiations.
Peter first started to travel through work with British Gas’ international arm, his first job abroad being in Indonesia in 1990. A year’s contract which lasted three and a half years!
Peter met his second wife Marja, whilst working in Indonesia in 1991.
Next stop was Brazil, working for British Gas on the Bolivia to Brazil gas pipeline initiative working to estimate the financial viability of the project. He then worked on the teams which helped British Gas acquire some Gas Companies in the South America region. It was then, in 1998, that Peter was head hunted by a company looking to increase its holding of worldwide natural gas companies – Shell International Gas.
After a 2 year stint based in London but travelling worldwide Peter moved to Bangladesh for two years before moving to China for six years where he was part of a team endeavouring to build and develop the Shell Natural Gas interests in this rapidly developing country.
Peter and Marja moved to Holland in 2007, Shell having their head office in The Hague, where he continued to work in business development until taking redundancy in 2014, or as Peter says -“I negotiated my way out of gainful employment”
Although Peter and Marja still own a house in Surbiton they are full time residents in Portugal. They looked at several locations for retirement, including Thailand and Malaysia, before deciding on Portugal, and in particular Carvoeiro, as their preferred destination.
Peter’s golfing history started in Indonesia where he played when spare time allowed and also played in many of the countries he travelled to and worked in.
When settled in Carvoeiro they felt Pestana was an obvious choice for membership given that the package included access to a number of golf courses. Both Marja and Peter wanted to play competitive golf and also have a valid handicap so they looked around for a club to join. They both liked the Silves course and following a discussion with Geoff Cox – who impressed with his attitude – Peter and Marja joined SdM at the beginning of 2013.
I took the opportunity to interview Peter as he prepares for the start of his year as Club Captain
Q: “How did you feel when you were asked to be Captain?” When I was asked by Ray Groves to be Captain in 2016 I was honoured to be considered, but did wonder if my golfing credentials and limited experience within the club qualified me for selection to the position. After some thought and with some assurance from Ray I decided to accept. I must admit that it did focus my mind on observing the workings of the club particularly the role of Captain.
Q: “Does the Club need a Lady Captain?” I feel that we don’t need a Lady Captain, I believe one of the strengths of the Club is the fact that it is integrated, with a very strong Ladies section and two Captains could potentially cause some divisions. I also feel that the Club isn’t really big enough to justify this.
On a broader note I believe that a future Club Captain could be a Lady, the right candidate should not be influenced by gender.
Having said that my nomination for Captain 2017 is not a lady it is in fact Warren Tennant. Although relatively new to SdM I believe Warren has the credentials to do a great job for the club.
Q: “Do you think your nomination should be ratified at Management Committee level before going to the AGM?” I do not see it necessary to have a formal process; I did speak unofficially with senior Club Members about my choice of nominee and I would hope and expect that future Captains would do likewise.
Q: “What are your thoughts on how the Interleague Team is run and selections made?” Given the success of the 2015 season the intention is for George Cook to continue as Captain of the side and to liaise with myself on selection matters.
Q: “Do you think the Club Captain should always play?” Not necessarily, just because you are the Club Captain doesn’t mean you should play, the team should be chosen on merit. The league is match play and therefore doesn’t always relate to medal round performances. Experience in match play is crucial.
Q: “Are you going to have a charity bunker, and if so which charity?” The charity bunker will be on the left of the 18th green. The charity is at yet not finalised but will be announced in the near future.
Q: “How do you think that the construction of new houses will benefit SdM?” Without doubt the biggest benefit for SdM will be the development of the new clubhouse which we understand will be part of the development. The ability to host social events and visiting teams at our own venue will be a massive benefit; also having quality showers and changing facilities, especially during periods of weather we have experienced recently, will be a huge improvement.
Q: “What is your stance on member’s commitment to play when the weather is poor?” Obviously we all prefer to play in the sunshine but when members have signed up to play they have made a commitment to play, it’s not good to turn up at the first tee only to find fellow players haven’t arrived. In reality members should not cancel from their bed based on a weather forecast, often one turns up to find the course completely playable. The Club should have something in place that encourages members to turn up and play when they have signed up. We want to discourage last minute dropping out.
Q: “Could the layout of Silves golf course be improved?” Certainly the course could be improved, the number of par three’s and the quality of some those holes is questionable. There have been numerous discussions in the past how the ninth could become a par 4. The seventh could be shortened to make in reachable in 3 for ordinary mortals. These and possibly a few others would not be difficult to implement. However it may be difficult to persuade Pestana to do these changes, it has to be remembered we have limited influence, we can of course speak with them but we don’t really have any true say to what the layout should be. We should however recognise the overall improvements to the condition of the course. Alberto and his staff have done fantastic work in the last few years and there has been lots of communication between the club and him.
Q: “Would you like to see, or encourage, more drawn competitions?” It would be good for more people to play with different people and I truly would like to see not so many of the “usual” four balls particularly in the social comps. However we have to recognise there are certain constraints, members travelling together with other members and those who work so need to start early. I would like to see the current high turnout for competitions maintained and history shows that drawn competitions have less numbers playing. I do believe that senior club members and Committee members should make the effort to play with other, particularly new, members.
Q: “What legacy would you like to leave?” I don’t aspire to leaving a legacy as such. The club is in a good place and I would like to end my year with members agreeing I did a good job as Captain and that we retained the Club’s fundamentals: competitive golf in a good social environment.