GLENMUIR RIGHT BEHIND THE FESTIVAL GIRLS AT HACIENDA DEL ALAMO

One of the main reasons why the inaugural Hacienda del Alamo Women's Winter Festival was such a success with the competitors was the support of Glenmuir, the Lanark-based company with the international reputation.

"It would have been very difficult to get this new enterprise off the ground without the backing of a big-name sponsor such as Glenmuir. Their generosity in donating a range of their products as prizes for both weeks' competitions lifted the Festival off the launching pad," said Colin Farquharson, the Festival Controller.

"It is true to say that without the co-operation of my friend Billy Sim, the Director of Golf at Hacienda del Alamo Golf Resort, my dream of the past 10 to 15 years or putting on a warm-weather winter programme that offered players, pros and amateurs alike, the chance to practise to their heart's content and also have the opportunity of some low-key competition, all at the same venue, would have remained a dream.

"But it is also true that without prize sponsors such as Glenmuir and Stewart Spence, the proprietor of The Marcliffe Hotel & Spa, Aberdeen, the inaugural Festival would not have been even half as big a hit with the competitors as it was.

"There will be a 2nd Hacienda del Alamo Women's Winter Festival, almost certainly in February, 2009 but Billy Sim and I will take on board suggestions by competitors as to how we might improve the package for next year and, at the same time, put our own observations into the melting pot."