13th June 2021 | Alps Tour Golf
Franck Medale is King of Mirabelle d’Or
Metz, 13th June 2021 – Frenchman Franck Medale started off so well on the final day of the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or, at Golf de la Grange aux Ormes, with five birdies in a row from hole n. 2 and finishing the front nine in 29 (-5), that he soon took the top spot on the leaderboard and never lost it afterwards. His final 62 (-8) and an overall -14, with one eagle, 8 birdies and two bogeys (one on the last hole), was what he needed to grab the trophy, the 5,800 euros check for the winner and the 6,525 points at stake as an Alps Tour member, which allowed him to climb 26 positions in the ranking and occupy the 7th spot.
“I certainly like the course”, says Medale, 26, who studied in the U.S. and had some wins there during college years. “I finished in 3rd position here two years ago, but this is my first win as a pro”.
“Obviously, the day went very well for me, I have followed my goals all along the game, trying to focus on making my best on every hole, and to stay in the moment. I was not thinking about what was going on around me because my partner Vitor Lopes was playing very well, too, and we had a genuinely nice fight! I chose to be aggressive on most of the game because I thought it was a good strategy, I was feeling like attacking and it actually paid back in terms of the score”.
On his side, Portuguese Vitor Londot Lopes, 24, did very well, too, starting the day T4 with Medale at -6 and chasing him very closely, to end on second spot at -13 with a partial for the day of 63 (-7). “Well, what a week it was, just short by one! I know it was not today that I gave it away, but on the first two days. Putting has not been my friend for the last weeks but I must keep practicing hard to get the first win here on the Alps Tour. Congrats to Franck for an amazing round. It was enjoyable to watch”. With a cheque of 3,940 euros and 4,432 points, Londot Lopes has improved his position in the ranking by 13 steps and has now reached the top 10.
The leader of the Order of Merit after seven tournaments is still Italian Jacopo Vecchi Fossa, who – with his third position at -11 at Open de la Mirabelle – has improved his margin on Spaniard Angel Hidalgo Portillo and Frenchman Pierre Pineau, third; Vecchi Fossa has 17,205 points, Hidalgo 14,053 and Pineau 11,514.
No time to rest for the Alps Tour players now, as next tournament is about to start in just three days at La Pinetina GC, in Italy, where 144 players will meet for the 7th edition of Memorial Giorgio Bordoni.
Click here for the Final results, or check on the Alps Tour Golf app.
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12th June 2021 | Alps Tour Golf
Vecchi Fossa and Gris joint leaders on day 2
Metz, 12th June 2021 – With another great day at the office at Golf de la Grange aux Ormes, Italian Jacopo Vecchi Fossa, 26, has climbed one step from yesterday’s position and is sharing the lead at -8 with Frenchman Jules Gris, 25, after the second round of the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or, in Eastern France. Portuguese Tomás Bessa, 24, is enjoying his third position just one stroke back at -7, while 4th spot is shared by six players at -6.
On a weatherwise complicated day, with a light morning breeze turning into a real wind in the afternoon, Vecchi Fossa (teeing off at 13:14 from hole n. 10), leader of the Order of Merit after 6 tournaments, is showing once again that he is the man to beat: adding a 67 (-3) to yesterday’s 65 (-5), he has carded one eagle, three birdies and two bogeys. “It’s been a hard, windy day, the course is tight, the rough is definitely unforgiving, deep and thick. Overall, I’m satisfied with my game especially from the tee, I’ve missed some putts but I made an eagle three on hole n. 5 which definitely helped! I have suffered a bit on the last holes, with a bogey on n. 9; those are the most difficult holes and the wind made them even more problematic. Let’s see what tomorrow brings!”.
Jules Gris, who gained his spot in the tournament thanks to his 3rd place in the French Qualifying School, which gives him the right to also play two Challenge Tour events on French soil, is obviously very happy with his result: “I have been playing well for a while now and my coach was feeling that something good was about to come, and it happened today. I’m curious to see how I’m going to face the game tomorrow, as it is the first time that I’m in such a good spot. My strategy was to keep the ball in play and play with my head, it worked well. I will try to keep the same mindset for tomorrow, always trying to have fun on the course whenever possible”.
The best card of the day was signed by Italian Gianluca Proietti, who shot a 63 (-7), ten shots better than first round, with one eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys, and is sitting on T15 at -4.
Once again, the work of the fore-caddies was really precious helping to find balls in the rough and speed up the game; 59 players (44 pros and 15 amateurs) made the cut at level par, and will play tomorrow to share the 45,000 points for the Alps Tour members (and the 40,000 Euros for the pros). The second round statistics record also 51 players under par and a total of one double eagle (made by Frenchman Sam Dumez, a 2 on hole n. 4, a par 5 of 460 metres!), 25 eagles and 460 birdies for the day.
Click here for the 2nd round results or check on the Alps Tour Golf app.
11th June 2021 | Alps Tour Golf
Swiss Ameil-Planchin is solo leader after 1st round
Metz, 11th June 2021 – As the turn of the 2021 Alps Tour season approaches, the 18th edition of the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or has started at Golf de la Grange aux Ormes, in Eastern France, producing some great show, as expected. After the first round, in fact, Swiss Arthur Ameil-Planchin, 27, is leading on 64 (-6) on the par 70, Philippe Gourdon designed course, with one eagle, five birdies and just one bogey for the day.
Italian Jacopo Vecchi Fossa, 26, leader of the Order of Merit after 6 tournaments, is pushing on the accelerator with a 65 (-5, with six birdies and one bogey) and shares the second position with four other players – compatriot Andrea Saracino, and Frenchmen Frank Medale, Romain Vallaeys and Dimitri Darnaud, who lost his leadership with a double bogey on the last hole. Vecchi Fossa will try to increase the gap with his pursuers in the ranking – he has now an advantage of 767 points on the second, Spaniard Angel Hidalgo Portillo, currently T38th at -1 (69) as well as Frenchman Pierre Pineau, third in the Order of Merit with 3,520 points less than the leader.
Ameil-Planchin started his round from hole n. 10 with fireworks: “I holed a nice putt for an eagle 3 at the first, followed by two birdies on 11th and 12th, then at the 13th I hit probably the only bad shot of the day, a 3-wood that ended in the deep rough but I reacted with a nice wedge and saved par. I’ve putted well overall, I managed to stick with the strategy I had worked out and everything went smoothly. My caddie Guillaume certainly helped to stay calm and focussed. The course is more challenging than last year in September, the rough is really high and thick, you really need to keep the ball in play”.
In spite of the high temperatures – a bright sun shone all day, with virtually no wind – and a punishing rough that made the fore-caddies work hard on many holes and the players hit many provisional balls whenever they would miss the fairway, the first round statistics record 54 players under par and a total of 21 eagles and 484 birdies overall.
Tomorrow the second round will start at 7:30, and at the end of the day the top 40 and ties plus amateurs within the cut line will proceed to play the final round and share the 45,000 points (and the 40,000 Euros for the pros).
Click here for the results.
9th June 2021 | Alps Tour Golf
The show goes on in France for the 18th edition of Open de la Mirabelle d’Or
The 18th edition of the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or gets back to its traditional June date, and looks to have what it takes for offering a great show by the talented Alps Tour players gathering at Golf de la Grange aux Ormes, in Eastern France. The stage will open from June 11th to 13th with 144 players from 15 nations competing for a €40,000 prize money and 45,000 points, anticipated on Thursday 10th by the first Pro-am of the year in the Alps Tour schedule.
Most of the top ten players on the Order of Merit count present including the top three, as well as five winners of the 2021 season tournaments so far: from Italy, Jacopo Vecchi Fossa (Abruzzo Open), Stefano Mazzoli (Antognolla Alps Open) and, fresh from his Egyptian win two weeks ago, Luca Cianchetti (Red Sea Little Venice Open); from France, amateur Paul Margolis, Mira Live the Soul Open champion; from Spain, Angel Hidalgo Portillo, victor at the Ein Bay Open.
With 70 French players confirmed there will be a strong home turf contingent vying for grabbing the coveted trophy, won last September by Spaniard Alejandro Del Rey, now active on the European Tour. Among them, previous tournament winners Maxime Radureau who won in 2017 and Xavier Poncelet who triumphed in 2012. Also, Pierre Pineau, number 3 on the Order of Merit, will be looking to add his first victory to his season after the two 2nd spots in the Ein Bay Open and Abruzzo Open.
Also, Issa Nlareb is in the field for the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or. The 30-year-old player from Cameroun, who was struck by bacterial meningitis in February 2018 and suffered complications which led to a partial amputation of his legs and fingers, hit the headlines last month when he made the cut in the Ein Bay Open in Egypt, with three birdies in the last four holes. He will be hoping to repeat the exploit, but his participation itself is a proof once again that an iron will can overcome any disabilities.
The Golf de la Grange aux Ormes always ensures a great welcome for the players and guests. The Philippe Gourdon designed course just outside Metz in the Lorraine region of France offers a par 71, 6664 yard/6094 metre parkland terrain lined with century old trees. The fairways are broad, overall, but with dense rough running the length to grab any wayward drives.
For the list of entries, click here.
13th September 2020 | Alps Tour Golf
A Golden Win for Alejandro Del Rey at the Mirabelle d’Or
Metz, 13th September 2020 – The battle went right down to the line today between the two Spanish players, Alejandro Del Rey and Lucas Vacarisas here at the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or at the Golf de la Grange des Ormes. But the final putt on the 18th secured victory for Del Rey by just one shot, his first victory since turning professional earlier this year.
Teeing off together at 11:15am, Vacarisas held the advantage after nine holes with three birdies and a -3 (32):
“I started by playing very good golf and although I didn’t hole all my putts, I just tried to stay focussed on my game.”
Del Rey on the other hand did not fare so well going out with just one birdie and two bogeys:
“It was pretty tough. I didn’t play great the first nine holes. I couldn’t hole anything with the putter. I struggled a bit and shot 36 (+1) on the front and wasn’t too happy about it.”
So, on the tenth, the scores stood at -17 for Vacarisas and -13 for Del Rey. Over the next four holes, Vacarisas missed a couple of birdie putts and then bogeyed the 13th. Meanwhile, Del Rey was making his comeback with three birdies and a par to leave them level at -16 teeing up on on the 14th.
Par for both and then Del Rey bogeyed the 15th to go to -15, but Vacarisas followed with an unfortunate double-bogey to fall back to -14 and give Del Rey a one stroke lead. Three holes to go and the two players stayed extremely focussed with three pars for each of them, enough to secure victory for Del Rey with 198 (-15).
“I played really good, way better than the front so I managed to get a 34 on the back, just barely enough to beat Lucas. I’m happy now but it’s been a stressful day so I tried to stay really focussed and I was still in it when I finished so I didn’t celebrate too much at the end of the 18th but now I’m happy, I’m realising it more.”
Lucas Vacarisas, despite his disappointment showed his sportsmanship and his fighting spirit:
“Congrats to Alejandro for making the putt on the 18th to beat me and we’ll see at the next event.”
Alejandro Del Rey savoured his victory particularly in view of some recent tough times:
“It was a really nice week to get back to being on the top. I’ve been struggling the past couple of months and this is my first cut as a pro, so not a bad way to start the season.”
In joint third place at 202 (-11) it is good to see two rookies: Jeong Weon Ko from France and Matias Calderon from Chile alongside Jonathan Yates from Ireland. Ko, from the Golf de Bussy-Guermantes in the greater Paris region, makes this his third, and best so far, top ten finish of the season. For Calderon, this is his first tournament of the season and marks a good debut. Yates, in his second Alps Tour season, cards up top-ten-finish number two this year and seventh overall.
For the next tournament, the Alps Tour players return to Italy and the beauty of the Tuscany countryside for the Toscana Alps Open from 17th to 20th September at the Golf Club Toscana in Grosseto. The Pro-Am takes place on Wednesday the 16th.
Final Results: click here
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12th September 2020 | Alps Tour Golf
Vacarisas and Del Rey Joint Leaders Day 2 Open de la Mirabelle d’Or
Metz, 12th September 2020 – An exiting climax to the second day here at the Golf de la Grange aux Ormes with two Spanish players co-leaders at 128 (-14).
Lucas Vacarisas was first into the club house having teed off in the morning from the tee one. Yesterday’s leader had another good first few holes with three birdies and three pars up to the 6th.
“Today, I started playing very well like yesterday. I’m very calm and I’m playing my golf. I enjoyed the day. The course is good for my game because it requires good tee shots and my drives have been good”.
One bogey on the front nine saw him with a -2 (33). Everything went swimmingly on the back nine with three more birdies and five pars and just one bogey on the 18th for another -2 (34) and a daily total of -4 (67).
Alejandro Del Rey who started the day two shots behind his countryman, teed off in the afternoon from the tenth. As he admitted, it took him time to get into gear:
“Today was a bit different from yesterday. I had to grind around a little bit more. I started really slow and made a couple of mistakes. I didn’t hit the shots close enough so I made just one birdie and one bogey. My short game worked which is what kept me in the round I guess.”
However, things really started looking up on the back nine and right until the 18th he looked poised to take the lead:
“I started the back nine and played really, really, well. I took advantage of the good opportunities on the short holes, made four birdies in a row and an eagle and finished with a pretty good round so I’m happy about it.”
That gave him a superb -6 (29) coming in and -6 (65) for the day and joint first position.
In third place at 133 (-9) is the Italian player Michele Cea, winner of the Ein Bay Open in 2018, he started the day with a bogey-free front nine and a -4 (31) with four birdies. He started the back nine with a bogey on the par five but recovered with two birdies afterwards. Another bogey and a birdie saw him finish at -1 (35) for a daily total of -5 (66), a shot better than yesterday’s round.
“My day was really solid. Yesterday I had a solid long game. I didn’t make too many putts. Today I made more putts and was not as good on the long shots but still on the fairway and playable every time, so I had some fun.”
In joint fourth place we have a pool of five players at 134 (-8) among them another Spanish player, Jordi Garcia del Moral, last week’s winner of the Cervino Open. He opened in style with birdie, eagle, birdie and finished with a -5 (66) for the day. Lukas Nemecz, from Austria and Matias Calderon from Chile, in third position yesterday, kept in contention with today’s scores of -1 (70). The Irish player, Jonathan Yates and the Frenchman, Franck Medale, with scores of -3 (68) remain in the top ten as they were the day before.
The groups behind see six players at 135 (-7) and five players at 136 (-6) so we should see some movement on the leader board for the final round.
The cut came at 140 (-2) which sees 57 players teeing off tomorrow, 50 professionals and 7 amateurs.
The first flight of three goes out at 7:41am and the last one at 11:41. More blue skies and sunshine forecast for the last day of this year’s Open de la Mirabelle d’Or.
Results Day 2: click here
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11th September 2020 | Alps Tour Golf
Vacarisas Victorious on Day 1
Metz, 11th September 2020 – The Spanish player Lucas Vacarisas came in at -10 (61) at the end of the first round of the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or here at the Golf de la Grange aux Ormes.
Teeing off this afternoon from the 10th, he started with a birdie on the par 5:
“I started playing very good golf from the first hole. The course is very difficult as you have to hit a good tee shot and also putt well as the greens are tricky. Happily, all my clubs worked for me today”.
An excellent start for the player who has been on the Alps Tour since 2016 and has yet to savour a win, he declared it a “perfect day”.
Two shots behind him at -8 (63) is his compatriot Alejandro Del Rey. The Madrid native recently turned professional after four years at Arizona State University where he finished with an impressive collegiate record. He teed off in the morning flights and entered the clubhouse at the top of the leader board.
“I started a little slowly as it was tough in the morning with the ball not flying too much. I just stayed patient and birdied a bunch of holes in the middle stretch with a final one on the 15th. It was definitely a good round today.”
With an eagle, six birdies and not a bogey in sight, as the afternoon session unfolded, he watched various players climb up the board, but he kept his lead. That is until Lucas Vacarisas moved into overdrive. He had started the tenth at -5 (31) and played par until hole thirteen where three birdies in a row put him joint leader. A par followed but his final flourish of two more birdies secured him the top place on the leader board.
In joint third position at -7 (64) is Lukas Nemecz, from Austria this year’s winner of the Gösser Open and the Chilean player, Matias Calderon. It was eight birdies and a bogey for Nemecz and seven birdies and pars for Calderon who was more than pleased with his play:
“A really good day. I’ve been struggling over the past couple of years with my mental side of the game so to have a good solid round on this first day makes me feel pretty good. So, yes, very happy about it.”
Right behind them at -6 (65) is the Italian player, Guglielmo Bravetti. This veteran Alps Tour player had a bogey-free round and three birdies on each nine.
Rounding out the top ten at -5 (66) are five players including local professional Jules Coupade who previously held the course record of -9 (62) until today and his compatriot Franck Medale who was third here last year. Bradley Bawden from England, winner of the Alps Tour 2019 Q School is also there with his fellow Englishman, Marcus Thomas Mohr, victor at the 2018 Open de Saint-François Région Guadeloupe . The Irish player, Jonathan Yates, completes the group.
Making the count for the top twenty at -4 (67) are nine players. Among them the promising Spanish amateur, Joel Moscatel, WAGR 87th and Julien Quesne, two-time European Tour winner who admitted to problems with his driving:
“I’m pretty happy with my score as my tee-offs were not so good so I missed quite a few fairways which made it difficult to do better than -4. I just want to make the most of my time at the moment, to play in tournaments and play under pressure. I want to play, I need to play, so I’m very happy to be here.”
The weather conditions today were practically perfect. Despite a nippy early morning start, the day turned gloriously sunny and warm. The forecast is for more of the same tomorrow. Play starts at 7:45 am from tees one and ten.
Results Day 1: click here
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8th September 2020 | Alps Tour Golf
The Alps Tour Forges on to France
Metz (France), 8th September 2020 – The busy month of September continues for the Alps Tour players at the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or in Metz. Less than a week after the final of the Cervino Open in Italy, the French stage sees the 17th edition of the competition here at the Golf de la Grange aux Ormes.
And once again, we have a full field of players eager to hit the fairways. Nine of the top ten players on the Order of Merit count present including the four winners of the 2020 season tournaments so far: from Spain, Jordi Garcia del Moral fresh from his Italian win last weekend; from Austria, Lukas Nemecz, Gösser Open champion; from Italy, Stefano Mazzoli, victor at the Red Sea Little Venice Open and from the Netherlands, Lars Keunen, winner of the Ein Bay Open.
Last year’s Open de Mirabelle d’Or champion, the Dutch player, Lars Van Meijel, is absent but there are two other former Mirabelle winners here, both French. Hubert Tisserand won the competition in 2016 as an amateur and returns this year after turning professional in 2019. He is joined by Xavier Poncelet, an Alps Tour veteran who raised the trophy in 2012 and had a recent win in August at the Arcachon Open in France.
They will be facing some stiff competition within the French contingent with the likes of Julien Quesne. In 2007 he topped the Alps Tour OofM and went on to have two victories on the European Tour at the Andalucia Open in 2012 and the Italian Open in 2013. His compatriots, Victor Riu, second in the Alps Tour OofM in 2008 and Franck Daux currently compete on the Challenge Tour.
And amongst the amateurs, it is good to see the up and coming Spanish player, Joel Moscatel, currently 87th in the World Amateur Rankings and recent winner of the Catalunya Absoluto Championship this summer.
Out on the course the players face a par 71, 6664 yard/6094 metre parkland terrain lined with century old trees. The fairways are broad, on the whole, but with dense rough running the length to grab any wayward drives. However, the par four 11th hole has a very tight fairway which slopes down to the river that runs alongside it with an elevated green at the end surrounded by out of bounds. All of the greens are well-defended by bunkers and quite a few doglegs add to the interest. The 18th provides a whole array of challenges, from the fairway bunker on the left just before the dogleg, a second shot demanding precision to carry the water hazard in front of the green and also avoid the greenside bunker. It will be interesting to see how the players tackle this one.
One bonus will be the weather. After the very cold conditions at Cervino the players will be able to enjoy their practice rounds and tournament in a warmer climate. It also bodes well for the Pro-Am on Thursday 10th as the forecast for Metz is warm and sunny with temperatures reaching a high of 27°C/81°F on Sunday.
Entries: click here
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23rd June 2019 | Alps Tour Golf
Gold for Victorious Van Meijel at the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or
Metz (France), June 23rd, 2019 – Top of the board over the three days, Lars Van Meijel maintained a steady hand to win the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or 2019 by 4 strokes.
Van Meijel admitted to having struggled to find his rhythm going out as the windy conditions today made play more challenging than yesterday. He put the bogey on hole 2 down to this rather than nerves as he had a good drive but missed the approach shot: Van Meijel “I had a short pitching wedge shot and I got the wind maybe slightly wrong so I went just over and had a tricky lie”. He rapidly mastered the weather conditions as he finished the front nine with 2 birdies and five pars for a -1 (34).
His confidence was reinforced on the back nine as he birdied the first 4 holes followed by 4 straight pars. The wind again played a role in the only glitch coming in as he finished short of the green on the par 4 hole 18 and saw his first putt just slide past the hole for bogey. But victory was in the bag along with the 6,235 € prize money.
Lars adds this 2019 trophy to the one he won at the Red Sea Little Venice Open in 2017. His win sees him move up 10 places on the Order of Merit to number 5.
In second place, 24-year-old Frenchman Nicolas Platret improved yet again on yesterday’s result with an excellent round of -6 (65) which included 7 birdies that more than compensated for the sole bogey on hole 1. His overall -14 (199) for the tournament gives him his first top ten finish of this, his rookie season.
Completing the podium at joint third were Frenchman Franck Medale and Austrian Timon Baltl at -12 (201) for the 54 holes.
Medale had started the round two points behind the leader and opened with a solid front nine to narrow the gap to one stroke between him and Van Meijel on the front nine. But two bogeys on the back nine saw his advantage eaten away and he finished with a -2 (69) for the day.
Whilst Timon Baltl, recent runner-up at the Acaya Open and winner of the 2019 Gosser Open, showed his fighting spirit again, carding a -5 (66). He started with a somewhat eclectic front nine: two bogeys, four pars, a birdie and an eagle. But settled down on the back nine to give him his third top ten finish of the season and keep him at fourth on the Order of Merit.
Next stop for the Alps Tour is the 2019 Saint-Malo Golf Mixed Open with LET Access Series in Brittany, France, from 4th-7th July 2019. This first in European professional golf will see 72 male players from the Alps Tour and 72 female players from the Ladies European Tour Access Series competing for the same trophy and the same 45,000€ prize money.
22nd June 2019 | Alps Tour Golf
Mirabelle d’Or, Van Meijel continues his solid performance to take the lead on Day 2
Metz (France), June 22nd, 2019 – With a repeat of the previous day’s -7(64) to finish at -14 for the two days, the Dutch player Lars Van Meijel takes a four-point lead going into the final day of the Open de Mirabelle d’Or in Metz, France.
There was no faltering today as Van Meijel carded 7 birdies and 11 pars for another 64 over the 18 holes. He had credited his result yesterday to his strong driving and today was a repeat performance with him missing only one fairway. Having made all the greens in regulation he demonstrated a keen eye on the greens as well. Van Meijel said “I was happy with my putting today as well. I putted well”. His impression was that from tee to green he had played even better than the day before.
Yesterday’s joint leader, French player Franck Medale had teed off in the morning and was the morning leader coming off the 18th with a -3 (68) for the day to give him a -10 overall. However, the tight pin positions today posed some problems for him: Medale “The flags were a little bit more in the corners and I made a few club choice errors approaching the green which cost me a few bogeys.” Overall, he left the course confident that his second place -10 leaves him in a good position for the final round where he aims to “be patient, play it hole by hole and wait for the birdies to fall.”
Right behind Medale was the Italian Michele Ortolani, who soared up the leader board today moving from joint 19th to third place with a great round of -7 (64) including 8 birdies to leave him at -9 for the 36 holes. An experienced Alps Tour player, Ortolani has had three top ten finishes but has yet to taste victory.
And hard on his heels are the two French rookies Pierre Pineau and Nicolas Platret both on -8 for overall joint fourth place. Pineau continued to play consistently with a -4 (67) as he did yesterday whilst Platret improved his result today by two strokes, carding a -5 (66).
The three players in joint 6th place,coming in at -7, are Frenchman Teremoana Beaucousin and Austrian Markus Habeler who both played -4 (67) today. They’re joined by Habeler’s compatriot Timon Baltl who carded an impressive -6 (65) for the day.
The cut was at -2 (140) for the 36 holes so 42 professionals and 2 amateurs will head out for what looks like being a closely contended final day of the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or.
