First pro victory for Italy’s Michele Cea in Sokhna

Italy’s Michele Cea won the Ein Bay Open at Sokhna Golf Club (Egypt) today with a total of -12, two shot ahead his compatriot Michele Ortolani.

It was Cea’s first professional win. Entering the final round as the leader at -10, Ireland’s David Carey shot a double bogey on hole 16th dampening his hopes of winning the tournament. Carey dropped down to 3rd place at -9. Italy’s Michele Ortolani finished in 2^nd place at -10.

« I still can’t believe it » Cea said after his victory. « I feel amazing, it was a very tight match with a friend of mine (Ortolani) until the last hole. I could not get a better victory than this, I could not ask for a better finish » he continued. « The last putt was tough, I had a lot of pressure, I just kept my head down and it went in » Cea explained.  « The day was quite long because I had lots of thoughts going through my mind. 18 holes are long, you don’t know what’s going to happen so I just focused on what I had to do hole by hole and it paid off. My hands were shaking when I knew I had won the tournament. I just let go all the stress of the day, it was an amazing feeling » he concluded.

« It’s a very disappointing being 12 under through the 8th hole and then dropping all the way back. But overall, there is a lot of positives from the week and I will take those positives and continue to play well again next week » Carey said.

David Carey shot the most birdies on this tournament at 17 birdies. Cea had 16 birdies.

Best card of the day was Spain’s Ivan Cantero Gutierrez who shot -6 under par, finishing in 4th position at -8.

Michele Cea is the leader of the Order of Merit, the Alps Tour official season ranking.

Weather was overcast for most of the day over Ain Sokhna. Temperatures were in the 20s degrees Celsius.

Alps Tour Players will now take a little break before tackling the second tournament of the Winter Series, the Red Sea Little Venice Open at Sokhna Golf Club starting on Monday.

Many thanks to the Sokhna Golf Club , Hassan Allam Properties, Ein Bay and Jaz Little Venice for their support in these Winter Series.