17th December 2016 | Alps Tour Golf
French Duo won the Q school in La Cala
A duo from France won the Alps Tour Q School. Antoine Rozner, rookie and former Challenge Tour player Baptiste Chapellan finished -7 total after last round in La Cala. Fellow countryman Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, former player on the European Tour (7 full seasons), completed the podium one shot further.
It was a tough windy and wet day. Huge amount of water felt during the night and the course was really at its limit. The area of Malaga had suffered last week with heavy rain and the fairways were very wet and obviously, greens were very receptive.
The winners admitted they did not play very well and they were not in the mood of a match play in the group.
« The conditions were difficult because it was windy when we started, we had to pay attention of making, cleaning and placing the ball and to be honest, we did not play that well. » said Chapellan.
« It was not easy to find a good rhythm during that round. It is kind of slow when there is mud on the fairways and you have to study study where to place the ball. But it was ok and I am happy with this result » explained Rozner.
The category 6, full right to play next season is for those players who finished +5 and better. They are 38 :
France : 11
England : 9
Austria : 5
Italie : 4
Nederlands, Scotland, Spain : 2
New-Zeland, Irland, Finland : 1
16th December 2016 | Alps Tour Golf
Antoine Rozner surged in La Cala
Antoine Rozner of France (picture copyright Agathe Séron) leads the way after day 2 in Final Stage in La Cala. The 23 year old player from Paris signed for 67, -5 on Asia course thanks to six birdies and only one dropped shot. He is -9 total, one shot better than fellow countryman, former Challenge Tour player, Baptiste Chapellan.
Only 12 players are under par after 2 rounds. Spain’s Ivan Cantero Gutierrez and Dutch Lars Van Meijel complete the podium with -5 total. The cut felt at +6 for 67 players.
Rozner, graduate from University of Missouri last June, was happy with his way to handle the event.
« I did not have any goals, what matters is to do the best you can on each shot and each hole. I know that when I play well, I can do what I want with the ball. I know that I can win a tournament any time so I do my best to stay very focus during the round and see how much I shot at the end. »
« Before the round I work on a strategy. My routine is very precise and I stick to it one every shot to stay in the same pace. Today and yesterday, I kept on doing this and it worked really well. I didn’t miss lots of shots and it is very important here. »
Chapellan, 29, got graduated from the Alps Tour in 2009. After 5 full seasons on Challenge Tour, he lost his rights. He admitted that between his multiple hand injuries and a lack of results, he needed a break. But the player from Bordeaux is now fully motivated to come back on circuit.
« The goal is to get the best category possible here to be able to play as many tournaments as possible. I have been training a lot for the past year, I did not play many tournaments, that was ok but in 2017, I will play a lot. »
From La Cala Resort
Agathe Séron
15th December 2016 | Alps Tour Golf
Collins leads the way in La Cala
England’s Miles Collins took the lead after day one in Final Stage in La Cala. The 27 year old player shot 66, -6 on Asia course to take a short advantage over France’s Baptiste Chapellan, -5 on same golf course.
« I played very solid, I like this course, Asia, but I have to say I like the other one as well. Honestly, both courses are really good.
The key to play Asia well is to keep the ball in play so to be very good from the tees. I played well last year as well but I did not manage to sign for a decent score. I am very happy of my day.
I will try to play the same tomorrow on Europa course. I will study the pins position carefully to adapt my strategy.”
The best score on Europa course, the more demanding one was signed by another Frenchman, Antoine Rozner. The latter, 23, got graduated from the University of Missoury last June. He played for Europe in the Palmer Cup at Formby, and represented France in the World Amateur Team Championship.
A cut will be made after 36 holes for 65th and ties. The leading 35 players after 54 holes will get a category 6 and the rest of the field a category 8. A new category, 9, has been created for those who missed the cut, they will still have a few playing opportunity in 2017.
The weather forecast is quite poor for the night, rain is expected but it should stay dry for the second round.
From La Cala
Agathe Séron
3rd April 2015 | Alps Tour Golf
Legarrea surged thanks to 61
Spain’s Jesus Legarrea (c) Tristan Jones
Spain’s Jesus Legarrea shot the lowest score in Alps Tour history and in his life. The 27 year old player from Elso fired amazing 61, 11 under par to lead the Alps de Las Catillas 2015.
Once again, the course of Golf Valdeluz was punished by Alps Tour players and the cut after 2 rounds is -6, the lowest ever on Alps Tour and another nice chapter is about to be written as Javier Ballesteros made his first cut as pro.
Legarrea has an day like in a dream, first nine, from the 10th, 3 under and he came back to the club house in 28 shots.
“I played really well, it is my first tournament since six months as I had a shoulder injury. It is a very special round, this is the lowest round in my life. The course is not very difficult nad the greens are very nice so if you are putting well it can make the difference.
I am not making any plans, the goal is to go back at the hotel, to relax and play tomorrow. I am only thinking about the next day.”
A French trio will be on the Spanish toes just 2 shots back of the lead. Among them, Open de la Mirabelle d’or 2014, Jean-Pierre Verselin.
“My putting was really solid, I never missed under 2 meters and my driving was great as well. On this golf course on some holes, the strategy is to hit as far as possible and on some others, I preferred to have a full wedge cause the greens are not receptive so it was not easy to stop the ball. For tomorrow, I had not score goal but I assume any player could shoot 8 or 9 under so the winning score should be very low.”
Baptiste Chapellan is a former Challenge Tour member but he did not win since 2009, the year he had finished in Alps Tour top 5. He scored 63, the second best score of the day.
“I broke my hand and I had 3 months off. I started playing on the 16th of March so I have no expectation. I played pretty much the same as yesterday but I putted better. I stayed patient. I will try to play smart because on this course, no need to hit the drive every hole cause if you are on the wrong side of the green, you are dead. No plan for tomorrow and we will see.
The third Frenchman in position to challenge Legarrea is rookie Franck Daux. The 23 year old player is the only one on provisonnal podium not to have recorded a win as pro. Last big win as amateur was the “Lignel” individual score.
“Today, I drove really well and I always had a chance to go for the greens. The course is short so many second shot with wedge so a lots of putts under 5 meters. I got the pace of the greens very early in the tournament. I am putting really well and I had the chance to hole twice about 5 meters for eagle on pars 5 so it was great. And I really had a nice finish as I three putted the 16th but I holed about 7 meters on both 17th and 18th so it was nice.”
From Valedeluz
Agathe Séron
