Aravell, June 29^th 2023- France’s Mathieu Prost is the current clubhouse leader with a 9 under-par, 62 as round 1 was suspended at 5.47 pm local time due to persistent inclement weather at the 2023 Aravell Golf Open by Creand. In 2^nd place, France’s Oihan Guillamoundeguy with a 1^st round score of 6 under-par, 65. Tied for 3^rd place, Andorra’s Kevin Esteve who concluded his first round with a 5 under-par, 66 and Spain’s Mario Galiano Aguilar that has still to conclude his 1^st round. There is a 9-way tie for 5^th place that includes the winner of the 2023 Croara Alps Open, Italy’s Luca Cianchetti.

The first round of the 2023 Aravell Golf Open by Creand, being played at Aravell Golf & Country Club in Aravell, Lleida, Spain began with a 1-hour delay in the morning wave tee times due to inclement weather in the area.  Round 1 officially began at 8:45 am and the rain ended shortly after that. Due to the morning delay, the afternoon wave tee times were also affected and encountered a 45 minutes delay. At 5.47 pm, play was again suspended due to thunderstorms in the area and will resume at 8 am tomorrow morning.

From when play began this morning until it was suspended at 5.47pm, players were able to compete with overcast and very windy conditions.

Round 1 Player Quotes

France’s Mathieu Prost, 23 years old, shot a 9 under-par, 62 opening round at the 2023 Aravell Golf Open by Creand and is the clubhouse leader as round 1 play was suspended due to inclement weather. He made 2 bogeys and 11 birdies during his 1^st round. At the conclusion of his opening round, Prost was very satisfied with how today went: “It was a fantastic day. I enjoyed the round, my playing partners were very nice and my golf was really good so it was a great day today!”  He went on to add that he “likes the greens a lot, and the golf course where I practice “Golf du Rochat” has a very similar altitude so I’m used to the difference in yardage. I definitely feel like everything fell into place today. I made a lot of good putts and my approach shots to the green were very solid.” Prost believes that “the greens were a little bit softer due to the rain we had this morning but I didn’t feel much of a difference with our practice rounds. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”

Oihan Guillamoundeguy from France, 18 years old and currently 10^th in the Order of Merit standings concluded his 1^stround at the 2023 Aravell Golf Open by Creand with a 6 under-par, 65 and finds himself in 2^nd place in the current leaderboard. He made 5 birdies in a row to begin his round and 2 bogeys and 3 birdies on the back nine. He is a past winner on the Alps Tour having won the 2022 Red Sea Little Venice Open as an amateur, however, he turned professional in December 2022 and is now competing in his first season as a professional player. After his 1^st round, Guillamoundeguycommented: “Today was a really good round, definitely my good start helped me a lot. I managed to get some good momentum for the rest of the day after the 5 birdies in a row. Midround I wasn’t feeling great but then towards the end of the round, I managed to egt myself back together and finish well with 2 birdies in a round. I think all parts of my game worked well together today. My driving was great at the beginning but I managed to find a key midround and the last 5 holes it definitely improved. If I were to say, my putting was exceptional today.” 

The 144 players are competing for an overall prize fund of €40.000 and 45,000 Order of Merit points. The winner of the 2023 Aravell Golf Open by Creand will capture €5,800 and 6,525 Order of Merit points.

Round 2 Round 1 will resume at 8 am tomorrow morning while, the second round of the 2023 Aravell Golf Open by Creand will begin at 9:15 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.

Tournament Promoter

The 2023 Aravell Golf Open by Creand is promoted by former DP World Tour winner, Spain’s José Manuel Lara. He captured 2 wins during his professional playing career in 2006 in Hong Kong and in 2010 at the Austrian Golf Open.

The economic promoter of the tournament is Aravell Golf & Country Club and the title sponsorship of this week’s event belongs to Creand, which was named Crèdit Andorrà during the last edition of the tournament before the launching of its new brand Creand took place.

Follow along on www.alpstourgolf.com or the official “Alps Tour Golf” app to keep up on all the latest news (available on App Store for iOS devices and Play Store for Android).

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