Quinta da Marinha Oitavos has enviromentally sensitive areas

As late as Tuesday, the hosts were insisting that areas containing protected species of animals and plants should be off limits.

But they eventually relented after pressure from the European Tour.

Quinta da Marinha's marketing boss Nuno Mota said: "We were not happy because our rules were not being respected."

He claimed: "On Tuesday we had two choices - either allow the players to use the areas which have rare animals and plants or call the whole thing off.

"We wanted the tournament to go ahead and everyone to be happy, so we have made an exception to the rules."

However, Mota said next year the club would enforce its local rules regarding the restricted areas.

Because a European Tour event cannot be bound by local rules, Tour officials claim they had no option but to insist on them being waived.

Tournament director Mikael Eriksson said: "The European Tour are always very conscious of environmental issues.

"But after consultation with the club president, it was agreed that we would not play under Quinta da Marinha Oitavos local rules."