Maria Lankowitz, May 16^th 2024- After the first round of the 2024 Gösser Open, we have a very tight leaderboard. France’s Paul Margolis and Italy’s Andrea Romano are co-leading at 6 under-par. There is a 7-way tie for 3^rd place at 5 under-par.

The first round of the 32^nd edition of the Gösser Open, which is being held at its regular host, Golf Club Erzherzog Johann in Maria Lankowitz, Austria began this morning from Holes 1 and 10 at 7:30 am local time. Players had to face some tough weather conditions today as they battled under consistent rain showers, low clouds, and a temperature around 13° Celsius.The Gösser Open is the oldest and one of the most important tournaments on the Alps Tour schedule. This year we are celebrating the 32^nd edition of the tournament.

The event began in 1993 at Steiermärkischer Golf Club Murhof and in 2000 it moved to Golf Club Erzherzog Johann, which became its permanent host. Just a year later in 2001, when the Alps Tour was founded, the Gösser Open became part of the Alps Tour schedule, and has been a regular event since.

Round 1 Player Quotes

Paul Margolis, 24, from France, who has won on the Alps Tour as an amateur in 2021, co-leads after the 1^st round of the 2024 Gösser Open with a bogey-free round of 6 under-par, 66. He turned professional at the end of 2021 and has earned various top-10 finishes since. Margolis began his day on the hole 10 where he went on to make a birdie, he then made another birdie on the 12^th, 13^th and 16^th hole before making the turn and adding another birdie on the 1^st and 7^th hole to conclude the round. After his round, Margolis commented on how, “I played really good golf today. I was really good off the tee, I think I hit every fairway so that made it a lot easier. My putting was also very good. The greens are in perfect condition.” The weather forecast wasn’t promising for today’s round and Margolis added that he found, “the conditions to be good, I was expecting harder weather conditions than what we had. The course is holding it nice. When I woke this morning and saw the rain, I was expecting we were only going to play 9 holes, but it was actually fine.” Looking ahead to the remaining two rounds, he plans on, “I’m going to rest now, hit a few putts and some shots, but most importantly, rest. I know it’s going to be a long day tomorrow; they are forecasting some heavy rain tonight, so we might have a delay tomorrow, but we will see. I think rest will be crucial to find myself in position on Saturday.” 

Italy’s Andrea Romano, 23, finds himself in the lead alongside Margolis after round 1 of the 2024 Gösser Open. During today’s opening round, he shot a bogey-free round of 6 under-par, 66 with 1 birdie on the front nine and 5 birdies on the back nine. He has earned numerous top-10 finishes since he began playing on the Alps Tour but is now looking to break through and earn his first win. After his round, Romano was extremely satisfied with the day, “6 under-par with no bogey makes me very happy. My game is very solid, and today, my putting was very strong. I started on the front nine where I made a lot of pars and only 1 birdie. However, on the back nine, I made 4 birdies in a row, and then on the 16^th hole I made an important putt to get to -6. Then, on the 17th and 18th hole, I made some nice recovery shots for par that makes me pleased. This score puts me in a good position for the rest of the tournament.” 

Italian amateur, Marco Florioli, 19, is in a 7-way tie for 3^rd place at the conclusion of the 1^st round of the 2024 Gösser Open alongside: Maximilian Steinlechner, Enrico Di Nitto, Davide Buchi, Xavier Poncelet, Lukas Nemecz and Augustin Holé. He shot a 5 under-par, 67 round today making 3 birdies on the front nine holes and then made 1 bogey and 3 birdies on the back nine. His best finish so far this season was a tie for 18^th place at the 2024 Red Sea Little Venice Open. Once his completed his day, Florioli explained how today, “my game was very sharp today, I could have holed a few more putts than what I did but I found the greens to be quite tough as there is a lot of grain on them. I will try to make a few more putts during tomorrow’s round. I will use the same strategy and we will see how it goes.”

Austria’s Maximilian Steinlechner, 24, is the 2^nd place in the 7-way tie for 3^rd place with a bogey-free, 5 under-par, 67 after round 1 of the 2024 Gösser Open. In today’s opening round, he began his day with 3 birdies in a row that included a chip-in on the 2^nd hole. He went on to make 2 more birdies on the front nine before having all pars on the back nine to conclude the day. Steinlechner mainly plays on the Challenge Tour, but nonetheless, he was very excited to be able to compete this week in his home country, “it’s always important to play tournaments, it doesn’t matter where you play, but tournaments are tournaments, and you always want to do well in any event you play in. So far this year, I’ve played 3 Challenge Tour events, 2 Pro Golf Tours, and this week here on the Alps Tour.” After his opening round, he commented on how: “It was for sure a good start to the tournament here. I played really well on the front nine, but I must say I had a little bit of luck. I chipped in on the 2^nd hole, and then I hit the pin on 10. It was a mix of solid play and some luck on my side that’s for sure, but I’m very happy.” When asked about playing in his home country, he added, “it’s always nice playing at home, I’ve played this event twice as an amateur and you know you see familiar faces and you are familiar with the courses.”  With today’s weather conditions, he found that: “it was chillier, and the ball definitely didn’t fly as far. The course is also wet, so you must judge the reaction on the greens.” 

Alongside Florioli (am) and Steinlechner, who shot a first-round score of 5 under par, 67, are Italy’s Enrico Di Nittoand Davide Buchi, France’s Xavier Poncelet and Augustin Holé, and Lukas Nemecz from Austria.

The competitors this week are battling it out for an overall prize fund of €40,000 and 45,000 points. The winner of the 32^nd edition of the Gösser Open, will earn €5,800 and 6,525 Order of Merit points. Once Round 2 is completed, a cut will be made to the top 40 players and ties.

Tournament Promoter

Murhof Gruppe promotes the sixth event of the 2024 season. The Murhof Gruppe owns more than 25 golf courses throughout Austria, including this week’s venue.

This week’s main sponsor is Gösser Beer. The main tournament partners are: Steiermark Tourismus and Region Graz. The Pro-Am Partners are: Gösser, Steiermärkische Sparkasse and Antenne Steiermark. The Federations that support the event are: Österreichischer Golfverband – ÖGV and Steirischer Golfverband (StGV) and the media partners are: Kleine Zeitung and GEPA Pictures.

For more information, visit the official Alps Tour website, www.alpstourgolf.com, and follow the official Alps Tour social media handles on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

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