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The knight and the donkey - Letter from the Algarve by Frances Ruddick
• 13 Dec 2007 •
 It’s more usual to associate knights with magnificent steeds but in the case of Sir Henry Cotton - designer of the Algarve’s Penina Championship Golf Course - his mascot was a donkey. He famously trained a donkey, Pacífico, to act as a caddy to carry his clubs.
Twenty years ago this month Sir Henry died and until recently the Penina still kept a donkey at their stables. Pacífico III provided a rather different service - as a photographic model. He accompanied tournament players to the first tee where they had their picture taken before commencing the game.
Arguably no one did more than Henry to transform the Algarve into a golfers’ paradise. Together with the Penina he was instrumental in turning this little known backwater into a golfing hotspot.
Whilst he was the golf ‘pro’ at Temple Golf Club in Maidenhead – already with several major trophies to his name – he was approached to visit the Algarve. The Penina Hotel was under construction and the architect suggested he should design a golf course.
It was the 1960’s and the Algarve was in the middle of nowhere with not even an airport in the vicinity. Nevertheless, he and Toots - the nickname he gave his wife - came and immediately fell in love with the place. The couple adored each other and were equally unequivocal in their resolve to move here.
Given the inferior treatment that they sometimes received in England their decision was hardly surprising.Golf professionals in those days were not held in high esteem and the many trophies on Henry’s mantelpiece were of little value when it came to status. Amateur golfers, most of whom were toffee-nosed and wealthy, looked down on working ‘pros’. They snobbishly regarded anyone who played golf for a living as ‘below-stairs.’ With prize money at around £100 per match, most ‘pros’ relied upon their clubhouse wages to pay the bills.
The equivalent today would be Tiger Woods making his living by coaching players on how to improve their swing! Fifty years ago Tiger might also have been expected to repair clubs and serve customers in the clubhouse golfing shop. Henry however was in a unique position as his Argentinean wife was a millionairess. He didn’t need to play golf for a living; he did it because he chose to. Despite his evident wealth, in England he was not permitted to enter certain clubhouses on the grounds that he was a ‘pro.’It may sound ludicrous today but that’s exactly what happened.On one famous occasion, when he and Toots were excluded from a clubhouse dinner, they ostentatiously parked their Bentley outside the window and proceeded to eat a picnic!
How refreshing the fledgling golf scene must have been in the Algarve compared to England. It’s hardly any wonder Henry and Toots were enthralled with their new lifestyle.
They took a suite of rooms at the Penina, which became their happy home. Henry tutored his donkey in matters of golfing etiquette and Paçífico served him as a valued caddie, whilst at the same giving the Penina an entertaining gimmick. Although donkeys were still commonly used as a means of transport in the Algarve, Pacífico had landed himself a top job.
In 1974 Portugal’s revolution resulted in a politically unstable situation. Henry and Toots reluctantly moved to Sotogrande in Spain. It was no match for the Algarve and once the country had settled down, they returned to their beloved Penina.
Eight years elapsed but then their dream was over when Toots died. It was Christmas 1986. Henry buried her at the nearby cemetery in Mexilhoeira Grande. Shortly afterwards he received his knighthood before following Toots to the grave. It was a year since she’d died, almost to the day.
The orphaned donkey was permitted to remain at the Penina living in the style to which he had become accustomed! |  Return to Top
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