Maiden win for Dodd

English Lawrence Dodd won his maiden victory with a 3 strokes advantage. He shot 67 for a total of -17 on the beautiful course of Golf de Mogador at Essaouira, Morocco. Gavin Dead finished second at -14.

Dear and Dodd were in the last group. Dodd holed two birdies on the first two holes. At that moment, it seemed that Dodd was on an easy road to win but Dear were still closed and took advantage after 5th hole. Dodd had to wait until the 9th hole to be “square” again.

On the 12th  hole, as both players were -14, Dear missed a short put to take the lead. On par 3 13th, they both missed the green. Dodd did a beautiful bunker shot, as well as Dear made a great chip and run. They saved par and total scores did not change but Dodd’s mind took a another direction.

“At the beginning of the last round, I was nervous. I did not feel very confident until my bunker shot of the 13th. Then I holed two birdies in a raw and I started to relax.”

Dear was still playing very solid, but needed some birdy. He drove the 15th hole perfectly over the forest, but can not do better than par. On 16th, a short par 5, easy birdy for everybody. Dodd were leading by two strokes with two holes to play.

Gavin Dead, who had only dropped one shot in 52  holes pushed his drive on the 17th and landed in the woods. As usual, Dodd found the fairway – he only missed two tee shots in 3 rounds-. Dear hit his recovery shot but the ball touched the top of a tree and stayed short of the green in a bunker. He finally dropped two shots after a three put.

“As I felt a bit sick this morning I did not eat for lunch. I think I miss energy on the 17th tee shot. That is not an excuse but it can explain… “.

Dodd had 4 shots to win and made par to sign for a 67. A huge smile lighted up his face and Alps Tour discovered a very kind new winner as it first tournament ended.

At Essaouira
Agathe Séron