Matthieu Pavon secured maiden win

Bordeaux’s Matthieu Pavon (c) Agathe Séron

France’s Matthieu Pavon, 21 year old, captured his maiden win in Open International de Rebetz with -7 total. Two of his compatriots completed the 100% French podium, Baptiste Chapellan from Bordeaux as well and Thomas Elissalde from Biarritz.

The last round was the scene of ups and downs from everywhere on the course. Sun finally shined during last round but temperatures were still fresh and wind strong. Overnight leader, England’s Matt Wallace took a great start and led by four shots after four holes. He holed birdie second and fourth green and he had one hand on the trophy. But maiden win is always tough to grab and the young Englishman will have bad memories of this last round.

The fate was on Pavon’ side today. The 21 year old player from Bordeaux managed to deal with the pressure and hole after hole build his leadership. Pavon has competition in his blood. His mother, former France’s Amateur Vice Champion is a teaching golf pro and Michel, his father, had a great career as football midfielder in Girondins team in the 90’s and as coach assistant thereafter.

“I really would like to thank my parents” Pavon said during price giving, “They are an important part of my golfer life.” “I would like to thank Julien Quesne, Grégory Havret and Edouard Dubois as well, I practice a lot with them in Bordeaux and I had great rounds of golf with them.”

Pavon admitted he was a bit nervous and played quite in a rush hole number 17 were he dropped one shot because after he three putted.

“I lost a ball in the water on the 16^th and I tried to stay very focused on the chip and the putt. Then I hit the green long of the flag on the 17^th and I almost holed the putt for birdie but I eventually dropped another shot.”

Matthieu Pavon had one stroke advantage teeing of the 18^th. Ahead, Thomas Elissalde was -6 total and needed a birdie to get into a play off. He nearly found the water on his second shot and could only signed for par.

Pavon knew that in the last group, his friend Baptiste Chapellan was -6 as well. Chapellan missed the birdie as Elissade did and Pavon holed for par and to secure his win.

“Last night, I had a dream of a play off against Baptiste but I did not see the end. I am very happy with this win. I will be able to better plan my season, I am very happy to be part of this circuit and I am really looking forward to seeing what happens next.”

From Domaine de Rebetz
Agathe Séron

Wallace hold firm in France

Matt Wallace from England (c) Agathe Séron

England’s Matt Wallace confirmed his good form and posted a 69 three under par card to keep the lead in Open International de Rebetz. France’s Baptiste Chapellan is one shot behind.

Let’s settle the scenery of the day : the play took place in a beautiful place near a small manor and buildings full of history. Although this is a charming area, it was the venue of a great battle of nerves for the actors. Alps Tour players were given a rough time all day long due to strong wind. Not Dantesque conditions but a persistent 30 km per hour wind that could drive crazy even the quietest character.

Matt Wallace admitted he had a tough round but he managed to deal with gusts and complicated pin positions to sign for 69 for -8 total.

“It tough out there today, much harder than yesterday, the pin positions, bit more windy and the greens softer but I played more consistent today than yesterday. My putting has been great all week but tee to green was much more consistent. I hit a lot more greens today. But the flags were quite tough so I just aim the greens, I did not attack them. Tomorrow, hopefully I will be out there and and play in the final group. I am really looking forward to it.”

France’s Baptiste Chapellan from Bordeaux was very satisfied with his round despite he double bogeyed his last hole the ninth.

“I trained well this winter at the new academy in Golf du Médoc. We are quite a few playing pros there and it is a good emulation to practice together. Today I played solid, I turned first nine 5 under and I struggled a little on my back nine. Unfortunately I dropped two shots on the par 3 ninth. I hit a bad tee shot in the trees, then I chipped and it rolled in the water. I had two putts and made double bogey. But overall, it was a great round reference to the weather conditions.”

The cut eventually felt at level par and the average score went from 73.09 yesterday to 74.09 today. French amateur Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon made the cut as well as Austria’s amateur Robin Goger.

From Domaine de Rebetz
Agathe Séron

Rozner, Wallace and Heisele on top

England’s Matt Wallace (c) Agathe Séron

Germany’s Sebastian Heisele, France’s Olivier Rozner and England’s Matt Wallace share lead in Open International de Rebetz after first round in humid and windy atmosphere. They all scored a 67 five-under-par card to overpass by one stroke Aaron Zemmer and Thomas Elissalde.

Sebastian Heisele just won the Open Dar Es Salam (36 holes) on Pro Golf Tour ten days ago. The 25 year old German confirmed his confidence is high and his golf is in good shape.

“My game is sharp, I tried not to push anything and to be patient. On this golf course, the pars 5 are quite short so you have to take your chance and there are few other opportunities. I got lucky to play early. The greens are quite soft with the rain and they will be more bumpy in the afternoon.”

Heisele decided to play Alps Tour and Pro Golf Tour until May then he will have to choose.

“I come and play Alps Tour because the circuit offers 5 spot to play Challenge Tour instead of 4 for the Pro Golf Tour. Both schedules matched well so far. I will make a choice end of May but I missed a lot of Pro Golf Tour events so…”

Wallace, one of the three co-leader, admitted his victory last week in England gave him confidence as well. He played with Warren Harmston the Pairs Betterballs Open on the Players Tour and they won with a score of 60.

“I played really well today and I have been playing well recently. We won a Pairs Event with Warren Harmston and I have been in confidence. I made only one bogey today and I had a few par save putts. I made a really good one on the 18^th and that kind of kept me going.”

France’s Rozner, third player to signed for 67, felt satisfied with his round.

“Everything went well together, I holed two good 7 meter putts on the 11^th and the 12^th for a birdie and an eagle so despite my bogey on my first hole, the tenth, I went back in the round. On the 17^th, I holed one meter and half and on the 5^th, it was a gimme. I have been playing well for the couple past weeks and I am happy I managed to continue this momentum.”

From Domaine de Rebetz
Agathe Séron

Strong Field in Rebetz

Jeff Lucquin, European Tour winner, is part of the strong field in Open International de Rebetz this week. (c) Getty Images Stuart Franklin

France is hosting the first event in continental Europe for the Alps Tour this week. Domaine de Rebetz, 60 km north east of Paris, is the venue of second edition of Open International de Rebetz.

Players were looking forward to starting the season and the battle announced on immaculate Rebetz greens is going to offer great show. The field this week is one of the strongest Alps Tour ever offered. There are two European Tour winners, Frenchmen Marc Farry and Jean-François Lucquin, one Challenge Tour winner, Dominique Nouailhac and no less than 29 Alps Tour winners including four of them three time winner : Austria’s Uli Weindhanl, Englishmen Steven Brown and Andrew Cooley and France’s Dominique Nouailhac.

Beside these talented players, five amateurs won an invitation to play with pros. They finished in top 5 of Grand Prix de Rebetz a fortnight ago. The winner was Mathieu Decottignies-Lafon, 4^th French amateur, ahead of Romain Vallayes, Edouard Hourdin, Thibault Santigny et Baptiste Mory.

Agathe Séron

Etchart masters wind for Rebetz win

Spain’s Borja Etchart hailed the mental side of his game in gusting winds as he shot a final-round four-under-par 69 to win the Open International de Rebetz by two strokes on Friday.

Etchart exchanged the lead with Ireland’s Stephen Grant (71) during the front nine, but as the wind picked up on the back nine he streaked clear of the eventual runner-up with five birdies in seven holes for a 54-hole total of 14-under to clinch his first Alps Tour title.

Overnight leader Jesus Legarrea (78) began his day with a nightmare double-bogey on the par-five first after his drive found the trees and rolled into a hole, however there was little the field could do to keep up with the relentless Etchart, who began the back nine with three straight birdies and hit the shot of the day at the par-three 16th for a tap-in two.

“It’s been a special week because for two years my results haven’t been great and I was thinking about leaving the game,” said Etchart, who added that changing his tournament mentality was the key to victory.

“I’ve always played badly on the first day and then missed the cut as a result. So now I try not to play against my partners, I’ve taken more of a matchplay approach or hole-by-hole.”

Etchart’s putter was hot all week, unlike former professional footballer Grant, who broke the course record in the second round but was still left frustrated with his performance on the greens.

“I made nothing today and I missed twice from one metre. I literally made one putt outside three metres all three rounds. So other than that it’s pretty good,” said Grant, who has worked with Butch Harmon’s son Claude to improve his game.

“I’ve always known I’ve got to improve my putting. Hopefully I’ll get a hot week soon,” he added.

Spaniard Legarrea began the day two shots ahead of Etchart and Grant but his lead vanished after the first hole when he found his drive in a hole not far from the tee, was forced to take a penalty drop and then missed a bogey putt of two metres.

The friend of twice Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal said the round was difficult from that point onwards, where he hoped for a free drop from the hole but was not given one by the referee.

“That hurt,” said Legarrea after finishing in a share of 11th place, ” but I played badly today anyway,” added the 26-year-old.

Germany’s Tomek Dogil fired a 69 to finish alone in third while France’s Julien Gressier (70) and Scotland’s Kris Nicol, whose 67 was the joint round of the day, tied fourth.

From Rebetz
Tom Pilcher

Golfmanager Press Agency

Legarrea celebrates birthday in style with two-shot Rebetz lead

Jesus Legarrea (c) Agathe Séron

Birthday boy Jesus Legarrea’s birdie blitz in the soft morning conditions helped him fire a seven-under-par 66 and open up a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Open International de Rebetz.

Legarrea stormed out of the blocks on a still morning to be seven-under through 12 holes, which included three straight birdies from the first hole after he started at the 10^th, and on Friday the Spaniard will have to fend off compatriot Borja Etchart (67) and Ireland’s Stephen Grant (65), whose eight-under round bettered the course record by two shots.

Legarrea, who regularly plays with twice Masters champion Jose Maria Olazabal and gets short game tips off Europe’s 2012 Ryder Cup winning captain, holed a bunker shot on the par-five sixth for eagle and was grateful for the easier conditions having started at 8:44am.

 “Today was another great round tee to green, similar to yesterday, and with last night’s rain the course became easier in my opinion. It gave me a present today,” said Legarrea after his fellow Spaniards on tour sung him ‘Happy Birthday’ following a closing par on the short ninth.

 “I’m delighted to have played good golf two days running and tomorrow I hope to carry on in the same vein and make the most of playing on this great course,” added the 26-year-old, who forgot to enter himself for the tournament and was given an invitation by the Alps Tour director.

Legarrea will face fierce competition from Etchart, who has made only two bogies in his first 36 holes and has been putting brilliantly and Grant, in confident mood after his attacking round.

“I feel comfortable on this course. There are many holes where you can be aggressive but if you mess up the first shot you can easily make bogey,” said Etchart.  

Former professional footballer Grant, who is playing his first event on the Alps Tour, could have reached 10-under for his round when birdie putts on his final two holes narrowly missed the target, though the Irishman said he was lucky to have kept out of trouble on the par-four seventh, his third last hole.

“I got a real lucky break. I hit my ball in the rough on the right hand side and it was absolutely buried. I hit nine-iron out the lie and it could have gone in the water but it got over,” said Grant, who added his increasingly calm playing demeanour has been helping his golf.

“I was a pretty aggressive soccer player. I’m trying to mellow myself, I’m too high and low you know, so I’m trying to chill out,” he said.

France’s Alan Bihan tied Grant’s course record in the afternoon with a nine-birdie effort to be joint fourth on eight-under with compatriot Fabien Marty (70), while five more players were a shot further back.

“I think my level is getting better year after year. Tomorrow I’ll try to do the same as today and hope some putts drop,” said Bihan, twice a winner on the Alps Tour.

Order of merit leader Andrew Cooley of England missed the cut at two-under after he posted a 74 to finish level.

From Rebetz
Tom Pilcher

Golmanager Press Agency