Alps Tour Golf | Hugues Jr Joannes

20th October 2018 | Alps Tour Golf

Borda retakes the lead before decisive final round

David Borda (ESP) regained the lead today of the Alps Tour Grand Final with a total of -14.

Borda finished round 3 with a score of 67 (-4), with 5 birdies and a bogey.

The Spaniard is followed by the overnight leader Hugues Jr Joannes (BEL, -12 total) and by Conor O’Rourke (IRL) who also thanks to an eagle on hole 17 finished the day at -11 total.

Alexandre Daydou (FRA), Leo Lespinasse (FRA) and Gato Bertinotti (ARG) turned in the best cards of the day (65, -6) at the Golf Club Des Iles Borromées

« I played pretty solid today on the front 9, everything came together. I hit good tee shots, good second shots and I putted well. Things were kind of under control but this is golf and I missed a few shots on holes 12 and 13. I finally made a good birdie on hole 17 so I’m pretty happy, I’m looking forward to tomorrow » Borda said. « Everybody is feeling the pressure this week. Tomorrow is going to be the day. I’ll just go out there and try to play my best and we will see what happens » he concluded.

« My day did not go as well as yesterday obviously. I did not hit the ball as well, I imagine I felt a bit of pressure at the start of the round » Joannes said. « But I made some good pars at the beginning, I made a good birdie on hole 6, that’s the only one I made today. I did not make any mistakes and I’m rather satisfied with my day knowing I did not hit the ball as well as yesterday » he explained. « I still have a chance tomorrow, I’m 2 shots behind the leader and there is still something to be done » he added.

Tomorrow’s much anticipated final round will crown the winner of the last tournament of the 2018 season. But it will also determine the top 5 of the Order of Merit, the Alps Tour official season ranking, that will obtain a full category to play on the Challenge Tour next year. 70 000 points are due to be distributed tomorrow to give the opportunity to players not in the top positions of the Order of Merit to move up in the ranking. The winner of the Grand Final will get 11,000 points while the runner up will grab 7,000 points.

Today’s weather conditions were overcast in the morning before the sun came out with pretty warm temperatures and some wind gusts throughout the day.

Tomorrow’s final round will tee off at 09h20 local time.

19th October 2018 | Alps Tour Golf

Joannes takes control of Grand Final

Belgium’s Hugues Jr Joannes took the lead of the Alps Tour Grand Final today with a total of -11. Joannes made 8 birdies turning in the best card of the day (63, -8).

The overnight leader David Borda (ESP) is one stroke behind (-10) while another Spaniard, Ivan Cantero Gutierrez, completes the podium (-9).

« Today was just a day where everything fell into places I guess » Joannes said. « I did not start very well, I made 4 pars to start. Then, I made birdies on holes 5, 6 and 9 so I was 3 under through hole 9. And then I made birdies on holes 10, 11, 13, 14 and on 17 where I nearly made an eagle » Joannes explained. « It was actually a really good day, I’m very pleased with it. The course is very nice, it can be tricky at times but it’s a really fun course to play. You have to hit good tee shots and obviously you have to putt well which I did today so it was a lot of fun » he continued. « We’ll see what happens in the next few days, the tournament is still long, there are still 2 more rounds to play, I’ll try to keep doing what I’m doing and if I do what I did in the last 2 days, it should be good » 29-year-old Joannes concluded.

« I did not play very well the front 9 as I made 9 pars, I missed a lot of putts » Borda said. « It was a tough day, I struggled all day. I made a good birdie on hole 11 and then I got my good game back and made 2 birdies at the end. I’m pretty happy about the result today » he explained. « I think I had a good round to head into the weekend and stay in contention » the Spaniard concluded.

The top 50 players of the Order of Merit, the Alps Tour official season ranking, are competing against each other through Sunday to determine the overall winner of the season. The winner of the Grand Final will get 11,000 points while the runner up will grab 7,000 points. Following this week’s Grand Final, the top 5 of the ranking will take a full category on the Challenge Tour next year.

Weather conditions were again sunny today at the Golf Club Des Iles Borromées with warm temperatures in the afternoon and practically no wind.

Tomorrow’s round 3 tee off is at 08h30 local time.