The opening round of the Madeira Islands Open will now take place on Friday after heavy fog throughout the day negated any play on the Club de Golf do Santo da Serra course.

European Tour officials made the announcement to abandon the day at 5pm local time and were hopeful of a restart tomorrow in what is the European Tour’s 1,500^th tournament.

While the capital Funchal was bathed in sunshine all day visibility on the golf course located some 600 meters high about the city was restricted to some 50 yards.

The fog did lift on parts of the golf course but other higher up portions were clouded in fog all day.

José Maria Zamora, Tournament Director, said: “It is a very unusual mini ecosystem here at this venue and, while many of the holes on the course further down the mountain are clear, unfortunately some are still under fog.

“The visibility at certain holes close to the clubhouse was poor and so there is a large risk of lost balls.

“We waited to get some consistent visibility but that didn’t happen.

“We had advised players that if play cannot be started by 5pm local time then play would be abandoned and Round One will begin on Friday with the original times unchanged.

“So unfortunately that has happened, and weather permitting, we can start the first round tomorrow.”

Observers commented it is the first time in a long time a European Tour first round has not started because of the weather.