Isla Canela Links
Ayamonte, Spain
15^th-17^th June 2023Alps Tour Media Contact: [email protected]

Leaderboard

Pos.	Name	Score
1	Paul Margolis (FRA)	-8
2	Lars Keunen (NED)	-7
3	Romain Wattel (FRA)	-6
	Benjamin Kedochim (FRA)	-6
	Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez (ESP)	-6

Quick Links

Round 1 Leaderboard
Round 2 Tee Time

Ayamonte, June 15^th 2023- France’s Paul Margolis leads with a bogey-free 8 under-par, 64 at the conclusion of the 1^st round at the 2023 Alps de Andalucía. Netherland’s Lars Keunen finds himself in 2^nd place with a first-round score of 7 under-par, 65. French duo Romain Wattel and Benjamin Kedochim are tied alongside Spain’s Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez in 3^rdplace with a 6 under-par 66.

A beautiful day with pleasant temperatures reaching a high of 29* but with windy conditions welcomed the players at Isla Canela Links course near Ayamonte, Spain for the first round of the 2023 Alps de Andalucía. This is the 11^th edition of the event and the second time it’s being played at this golf course. Play began at 8:15 am from both the 1^st and 10^th hole.

The Field France’s twenty-four years old, Paul Margolis shot a bogey-free 8 under-par, 64 in the 1^st round of the 2023 Alps de Andalucía to lead by 1 stroke. He turned professional in 2021, represents Cannes-Mougins and is a past winner on the Alps Tour that same year. After the round, Margolis was satisfied even though, “it didn’t begin very well to be honest. I was -1 after 6 holes but wasn’t playing very well, I tried to stay patient as I was struggling off the tees but my putting today was great. I feel like the birdie on 7, 8, 9 and 10 everything happened on those 4 holes. It allowed me to be in a good mood for the back nine especially as I find those 9 holes easier and wider which helped as my tee shots were a struggle.” Looking ahead to the next two rounds, “I will try and do same exact things as I did today. I need to be patient. I know it’s a golf course you can make lots of putts as the greens are very good. I’m going to stay patient and go shot by shot and hole by hole. I don’t want to think about anything else other than myself and what I can do to put together the best round possible.” Margolis went on to add that he: “like how the golf is especially the greens are very nice. I love playing in the wind and today was kind of windy especially the wind switch midway through the round so you need to be very focused on where the wind comes from and how it might swirl. I feel like how the golf course is set up suits me very well. That’s another reason why I feel I was able to put together a good round.” He is happy with how is game is evolving “in the last few months. I feel like I need to have a little more self confidence in my game. I changed my coach at the end of last season and I feel like all the hard work we did this winter is paying off.”

Lars Keunen from Netherland concluded his first round at the 2023 Alps de Andalucía with 7 under-par, 65 and find himself in 2^nd place. He is 26 years old and represents The Dutch Golf Club. He has been consistently near the top of the leaderboards in the majority of the events this season. After his round, he happily commented: “my game was pretty good from tee to green today. The wind made it pretty tricky on some holes but overall, I played nicely, I’m happy. Tomorrow I’ll try to keep doing the same things and keep the same mindset of going one shot at a time.”

Romain Wattel from France, who represents Bussy Saint Georges, concluded his first round at the 2023 Alps de Andalucíawith a 6 under-par, 66 and is one of three players tied for 3^rd place. He is 2 strokes off the lead heading into the second round. He began his round on the 10^th hole today and made 3 birdies on his front nine and 4 birdies and 1 bogey on his back nine.

France’s Benjamin Kedochim, shot a bogey-free, 6 under-par, 66 with 4 birdies and 1 eagle and he is the second player tied for 3^rd place entering the second round. He is 28 years old and currently represents Biarritz Le Phare. His best finish so far this season is a tied for 6^th place at the 2023 Gösser Open. After his opening round, Kedochim was pleased: “Today was a great round, it’s my best round in putting, I made a lot of putts today. That was the best part of my game for sure even though usually it’s my iron play. I was able to always put the ball in play and never had to face a tough situation. My attitude was very positive and I just tried to keep doing my best.” He went on to add that he had the same mindset as when he played at the Gösser Open which was “to put the ball in play and then hit the middle of the green and make as many putts as possible.” Kedochim, went on to comment that: “I’ve been in contention lately and had a tough final round that kept me out of the top 5 but now I’m just focusing on what I can control and try to stay as close to the top as possible to hopefully capture a trophy soon.”

Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez from Spain who is 24 years old and represents Golf La Moraleja is the third player in the 3-way tie at 6 under-par and 2 strokes off the lead. He made 5 birdies on the front nine and 2 birdies and 1 bogey on the nine. After the round, he was overall satisfied, “I played really well, very solid today, the best part of my game was the attitude knowing that I am in a great place after finishing 4^th last week. I started the season poorly missing cuts but I am getting better each day. Things are going really well around me, golf, family, life and of course all of that reflects on the golf course and how I can approach each round.”

There is a 7-way tie for 6^th place at 5-under-par that includes: French amateur Antoine Bachelier, France’s Arthur Ameil-Planchin, Belgium’s Kevin Hesbois, Spanish duo Victor Garcia Broto and Mario Galiano Aguilar, England’s Jack Floydd and Spain’s Quim Vidal.

The 140 players are competing for an overall prize fund of €40.000 and 45,000 Order of Merit points. The tournament winner will earn €5,800 and 6,525 Order of Merit points.

Round 2-

The second round of the 2023 Alps de Andalucía will begin again at 8:15 am local time from the 1^st and 10^th hole. After round 2, a cut will be made to the top 40 players and ties.

The first-round leader, Paul Margolis will begin round 2 at 1:48 pm local time from the 10^th hole.

Tournament Promoter

The 2023 Alps de Andalucía is promoted and organized by JGolf.

The Alps de Andalucía can count on the support of the joint collaboration between two main sponsors, the Real Federación Española de Golf and the Real Federación Andaluza de Golf. The tournament also has the support of numerous co-sponsors: Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, Isla Canela Links, Consejo Superior de Deportes, Allianz, AON, Rentokil, Kyocera (servicios oficiales de impresión), BCD Sports, Mahou San Miguel, Solán de Cabras and Nextcaddy.

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