2nd October 2020 | Alps Tour Golf
Jacobo Pastor Wins First International Tournament
Salamanca, (Spain), 2nd October 2020 –Jacobo Pastor from Spain held onto his lead of yesterday to emerge victor at the Alps de las Castillas with a total score of 203 (-13). A real achievement given the weather today as he explained:
“I’m happy, especially playing a solid round under these conditions. It was crazy. I don’t know how hard the wind was blowing but some gusts of like 80 kilometres an hour. At some point we took forever because the ball was moving on the green. Overall, it was a really, really tough day to be honest.”
Today’s scores reflect the reality of the challenges posed here at the Salamanca Golf & CC – Zarapicos with only six of the 58 players coming in under par for the day, giving a score board more like a links course in Scotland.
Jacobo Pastor teed off at -13 and at the end of the first nine was at par (36) after two birdies and two bogeys. A repeat performance for the back nine saw him finishing the round at par (72) for the day. Good enough to secure him his first victory in an international tournament.
His playing partners, Ryan Lumsden from Scotland and Tomas Bessa Guimaraes from Portugal, also finished at par, meaning that the top of the leaderboard today was the same as at end of play yesterday. Lumsden, however, gave the winner a run for his money. At the end of the front nine, the Scotsman had drawn level with Pastor after two birdies. Pastor then birdied the 10th to draw ahead but bogeyed the 12th which cancelled his lead as Lumsden had straight pars. Pastor describes the last few holes:
“The turnaround time was on the 13th hole when Ryan made a double bogey and I hit a really good shot on the par three and put it in for par. Then on the 15th I made a birdie and was three up. Par on 16th and 17th and so on the 18th I thought, okay this is it, you’ve got it”.
Indeed, even though Pastor bogeyed the 18th, his closest contender, Lumsden came home with pars and a total 205 (-11) to take second place, an excellent result for the young Scottish rookie who moves thirteen places up the Order of Merit to number twelve.
In third place Tomas Bessa Guimaraes from Portugal finished at 207 (-9) after four birdies and four pars.
Jacobo Pastor’s win sees him shoot up the OofM by 31 places to position him in the top ten at eighth. As he explains, the Alps Tour invitation for him to play at the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or helped him to have a concrete plan for the future:
“I became a member of the Alps Tour after France where I got an invite. I played pretty well and finished sixth. With the Corona virus, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to stay at home in 2021 so I decided to try and get an Alps Tour card for next year. So now I can actually have a decent schedule, I can focus on preparing a real season unlike this past season where I was playing tournaments on every tour to try and get a win.” Mission accomplished!
The top six places on the OofM remain unchanged with Jordi Garcia del Moral still leader after eight tournaments. The ninth and final tournament of the Alps Tour 2020 season is the Italy Alps Open from 28th to 30th October. After an extremely intensive playing schedule in September this gives the players time to recharge their batteries before heading to the Golf Nazionale, outside Rome.
The Alps de la Castillas has enjoyed the support of Federación de Golf de Castilla-Leon, Federación de Golf de Castilla-La Mancha, Salamanca Golf & CC – Zarapicos, Consejo Superior de Deportes, EDP Solar, Kyocera, Tag Heuer, Bodegas Barbadillo (official wine), Agua En Caja Mejor sostenible, pura y natural, and Jgolf.
Results Day 3: click here
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1st October 2020 | Alps Tour Golf
Jacobo Pastor Swings Into 1st On Day 2
Salamanca, (Spain), 1st October 2020 – The Spanish player had started the day joint second but at the end of the morning, Jacobo Pastor had moved up to the top of the board at the Alps de Las Castillas at -13 (131) for the two days. He talked us through his round:
“Today was a really good day. It started really shaky because I made a good birdie on one and then on two, I don’t know why I just didn’t seem to play that hole correctly and I bogeyed it. Then I had a great up and down on three for par from about 100 yards and par on four. I wasn’t playing well but then I birdied five and bogeyed six and from there I started playing really well. I made a good birdie on eight then I hit a good drive on nine which is pretty important on that hole. Then I had a really good stretch. On ten I had birdie, and then I didn’t make birdie on eleven as I hit a bad drive. Twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen I played really well with some really good putts. Then on the 18th I had a really good shot from the fairway with a three wood and a two putt for birdie. I took some chances and luckily they worked for me so I’m happy with my round.”
Grand total 9 birdies and two bogeys, -7 (65) for the day, a great result for Pastor who had admitted to a lack of confidence off the tee yesterday, usually the strongest part of his game. Everything seemed to be working today though.
In second place the Scottish rookie, Ryan Lumsden, joint ninth as he teed off from the 1st this afternoon, had five birdies and two bogeys on the front nine. With four more birdies on the back nine, he was one stroke behind the leader on the 17th where a bogey dropped him back to finish at -11 (133).
The Portuguese player, Tomas Bessa Guimaraes, joint second yesterday, played a solid round with five birdies but two bogeys coming in held him back, but he remains well in contention at -9 (135).
The French rookie, Jeong Weon Ko, had a good, consistent round to sit in fourth place at -8 (136) after 36 holes. He carded a -4 (68) for the day, exactly the same score as yesterday. No eagles today but five birdies and a bogey did the job nicely.
A trio of players sit at -6 (138) including Carlos del Moral from Spain. He had a +2 (74) yesterday but played a different game today. He opened with the full array of golf scores; birdie, eagle, bogey, par. Three more birdies on the front nine gave him a -5 (31). Four more birdies and a bogey saw him card the best score of the day with a -8 (64). He is joined by his compatriot Angel Hidalgo Portillo who had a bogey-free round and four birdies. Yesterday’s joint second place, Mathias Eggenberger from Switzerland slipped back a little with his par 72 for the day after his four birdies were cancelled out by four bogeys.
Yesterday’s leader, Thomas Elissalde, from France, had a mare of a round today with +9 (81), finishing with +1 (145) for thirty-six holes but he managed to make the cut which came at +3 (148). Tomorrow will see 58 players competing, 51 professionals and 7 amateurs.
Today’s weather conditions at the Salamanca Golf & CC – Zarapicos had complicated play with strong wind gusts requiring the players to constantly adjust their shots and making the sloping greens very tricky. Tomorrow’s forecast could add yet another dimension. The temperature takes a big drop, the clouds roll in, it will be very windy with gale force gusts, showers and even the possibility of a thunderstorm. Players are going to have to factor in all these elements for the final round.
The Alps de la Castillas enjoys the support of Federación de Golf de Castilla-Leon, Federación de Golf de Castilla-La Mancha, Salamanca Golf & CC – Zarapicos, Consejo Superior de Deportes, EDP Solar, Kyocera, Tag Heuer, Bodegas Barbadillo (official wine), Agua En Caja Mejor sostenible, pura y natural, and Jgolf.
Results Day 2: click here
Stay tuned! www.wp-alpstour.ocs-sport.com and the app « Alps Tour Golf » (on App Store for iOS devices and Play Store for Android) will keep you updated on every news about Alps Tour.
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28th September 2020 | Alps Tour Golf
Alps Tour in Spain: Next Stop Salamanca
Salamanca, (Spain), 28th September 2020 – After Andalusia, the Alps Tour players head north to the autonomous community of Castile and León and the western province of Salamanca for the Alps Tour de Las Castillas.
This eighth edition is being held for the first time at the Salamanca Golf & CC – Zarapicos. Situated in the Monte de Zarapicos, around 30 kilometres outside the historic town of Salamanca, the club boasts two magnificent 18-hole courses.
And yet again, it is a full field signed up for the tournament. Of the 120 players we have 105 professionals and 15 amateurs. The large Spanish contingent of 61 players will be hoping for a repeat of last week’s result where all three top spots went to home grown players. Lucas Vacarisas, winner of the Alps de Andalucia, a victory that rocketed him to second place on the Order of Merit, and the tournament runner up, Jordi Garcia Del Moral, currently top of the OofM and winner of the Cervino Open will continue fighting to maintain one of the top three places to gain a card on the Challenge Tour for next year. Their compatriot, Angel Hidalgo Portillo, in sixth place will definitely give them a run for their money though.
But stiff competition will come from Italy with Stefano Mazzoli, winner of this year’s Red Sea Little Venice Open and the other Egypt series victor, Lars Keunen from the Netherlands with his Ein Bay Open win.
Whilst from France, Thomas Elissalde would like nothing more than a repeat of his 2018 victory at the Alps de la Castillas and follow on from last year’s win by fellow countryman Frédéric Lacroix who now plays on the Challenge Tour. There was another notable French winner in 2016, when Victor Perez took the title, the current top French player, 54th in the OWGR.
The tournament will be played on the Zarapicos course, designed by the former European Tour and Ryder Cup player, Manuel Piñero. Although located in a scenic hilly setting, the course is relatively flat with an abundance of holm oak trees. The main challenge comes from the numerous strategically placed bunkers both on the fairways and around the greens. An impressive artificial lake comes into play on four of the holes of the Par 72, 6860 yard/6273 metre course.
The weather conditions for the Pro-Am tomorrow and the first day of play on Wednesday promise to be warm and sunny.
The Alps de la Castillas enjoys the support of Federación de Golf de Castilla-Leon, Federación de Golf de Castilla-La Mancha, Salamanca Golf & CC – Zarapicos, Consejo Superior de Deportes, EDP Solar, Kyocera, Tag Heuer, Bodegas Barbadillo (official wine), Agua En Caja Mejor sostenible, pura y natural, and Jgolf.
Entries: click here
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