We meet Tomás Melo Gouveia, one of Portugal’s top professional golfers, and learn of his connection to the Algarve and his ambitions for the year ahead.
It has been quite a few months for Tomás Melo Gouveia. Towards the end of last year, he finished in the top 10 of the Portuguese Open and was within touching distance of qualifying for the prestigious DP World Tour, the leading men’s professional golf tour in Europe. This year, he’s started with all guns blazing by winning the Lagos-based, Palmares Open II. It’s a victory which bodes well for the year ahead.
As a teenager, Tomás honed his skills playing on the Laranjal Golf Course near Vilamoura. It’s often described as one of our region’s most picturesque golf courses. Tomás started playing golf at 13 years of age. As he told me, “Given some of the child prodigies you hear about these days, that was relatively late.” He soon fell in love with the game however, spending hours playing with his father, brother and friends.
Tomás’ parents were keen to encourage his interest in golf but also wanted him to experience different cultures and get the best possible education. With the support of his parents, he headed to Iowa to conclude his high school studies. Whilst there, he helped his high school win the Iowa state championship. Tomás then went on to gain a much-prized college scholarship in Florida. He lived in the USA for a total of four years.
On returning to Portugal, Tomás embarked upon a stellar amateur career, winning three major tournaments. He turned professional in 2017 and has recently started his fourth season on the Challenge Tour. It’s the second most important professional golf tour in Europe and is operated by the European Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA).
This year’s Challenge Tour started mid-January. It runs until November and includes tournaments in Portugal, Denmark, Spain, the UK and France, among other countries. Some of the events are even played outside of Europe, including in South Africa, India and China. For anyone competing on the tour, it’s a nomadic lifestyle, but it’s one Tomás enjoys, often travelling with fellow professional golfers who have become close friends. An important aspect of the tour is that, for the most successful players in any given year, it affords entry to the lucrative DP World Tour and the associated prize money.
With all the travel and practice that’s inherent to being a professional golfer, any leisure time Tomás gets is limited. When he does get a chance to switch off, he enjoys spending time with friends and family and playing padel tennis. He lists Tiger Woods and Rory Mcilroy as among his favourite golfers, and the Laranjal course here in the Algarve is his favourite course.
Given the nomadic nature of being a professional golfer, it can be an expensive profession to pursue, with hotel and travel costs. It helps that Tomás has recently won sponsorship from Automóvel Club De Portugal (ACP) who said, “It is with great pride that the ACP supports this talented 30-year-old Portuguese golfer, introducing him to thousands of ACP members so that, with his talent, work and ambition, he can inspire more Portuguese people to take up this unique sport.”
Tomás told me, “It’s an absolute honour to be an ambassador for ACP, and I appreciate their support. Sometimes people don’t realise how crucial these endorsements are to us professional golfers.”
It promises to be a great year for Tomás. His focus is on performing strongly in the Challenge Tour, so that, by the end of the year, he is once again competing for qualification to the DP World Tour. We wish him well and will be keeping a close eye on his progress.
The Challenge Tour reaches Portugal on 11 September, more details are available at
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