La Gomera, July 13^th 2023- Ireland’s Ronan Mullarney, winner of the 2023 Gösser Open, leads the field after a bogey-free 9 under-par 62 at the conclusion of the 1^st round at the 2023 Fred.Olsen Alps De La Gomera. Belgium’s Kevin Hesbois, Netherland’s Bob Geurts and Italy’s Davide Buchi are in a three-way tie for 2^nd place at 7 under-par. Italy’s Davide Buchi made an unbelievable albatross on the 500 meters par 5, 3^rd hole. Just one shot back, at 6 under-par: France’s Oihan Guillamoundeguy, Ireland’s Michael Young and Spanish amateur Jose Antonio Sintes Navarro.

On the beautiful Island De La Gomera, in the Canary Islands, the first round of the 2023 Fred.Olsen Alps De La Gomeraplayed at the beautiful Tecina Golf began at 8:20 am. This is the 4^th edition of the 2023 Fred.Olsen Alps De La Gomera after its previous three editions which were hosted in 2018, 2019 and 2022. The players were able to compete under perfect weather conditions which favored good scoring opportunities as they began the tournament with sunny skies and minimal light winds.

Round 1 Player Quotes 

Ireland’s Ronan Mullarney, 27 years old leads by 2 strokes after his great 1^st round at the 2023 Fred.Olsen Alps de La Gomera. He shot a bogey-free, 9 under-par opening round. He currently sits in 2^nd place in the Order of Merit Rank and captured his 1^st full-field professional win at the 2023 Gösser Open which took place in May. He previously had played in some events in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic began but this is his 1^st full year on the Alps Tour. Mullarney turned professional in 2019 and competed in the 2022 Open Championship. After his performance, he commented: “I’m very pleased, I played nice and putted quite well. Today I was able to birdie a lot of the par 5s and one eagle which definitely helped. The course is nice, the practice putting green is different than the course so it took a little while to get used to while I got out there.” He added that he’s “usually fairly aggressive off the tees hitting a lot of drivers, and I plan to keep doing that the next two rounds and hopefully I keep putting well.”

Kevin Hesbois from Belgium, 32 years old who currently represents Ternesse Golf & Country Club, concluded his 1^st round with a 7 under-par, 64 and is one of the three players tied for 2^nd place only 2 strokes back. He made 1 eagle, 6 birdies and 1 bogey during his opening round. After his round, Hesbois commented on how well he played, “Today was fun and I obviously played well all day. On the front nine, I hit it close a couple times which helped create the momentum for the round. I was able to finish strong as well which is always nice when you have it going low.” Hesbois went on to add that: “course is really good. Conditions are good and promote low scoring. Wind was a small factor. The warmth was harder to manage. I have no real expectations this week. Just going to keep focusing on the right things. Only goal is to give myself as many birdie chances as possible and stay as patient as possible. Scores will take care of themselves.”

Netherland’s Bob Geurts, 24 years old is the second player tied for 2^nd place with a first-round score of 7 under-par. He turned professional towards the end of last year and prior to this week, his best finishes were a tie for 11^th place at the 2023 Gösser Open and at the 2023 Croara Alps Open. During today’s round, he made 1 eagle, 4 birdies and 1 bogey on the front nine and 1 bogey and 3 birdies on the back nine for a 64. After his round, Geurts was happy that he “hit the ball great and put myself in good spots to make birdies. It was a really solid day of golf. I tried to keep it simple and put a good round together.” He also commented that Tecina Golf “is great, it’s a relaxing and nice course. I love the layout and the fact that there wasn’t a lot of wind today was very fortunate.” 

Twenty-six years old, Davide Buchi from Italy is the third player tied for 2^nd place after his opening bogey- free 7 under-par, 64. He currently represents Golf Club Varese and has gathered a couple of top 20 finishes so far this season. Buchi began his round with 2 birdies and an unbelievable albatross on the par 5, 3^rd hole in his first four holes. After his bogey-free round, Buchi happily commented that “I hit a great iron shot but I’d never thought that it would go in. It’s my first albatross of my career. It for sure gave me good momentum for the remaining of the round. I want to keep thinking about my own game and keep playing well like today. The course is in excellent conditions and the rough isn’t too high, therefor we will be able to go low.”

In the 3-way tie for 5^th place at 6 under-par: France’s Oihan Guillamoundeguy, Ireland’s Michael Young and Spanish amateur Jose Antonio Sintes Navarro.

The highlight of the day belongs to Italy’s Davide Buchi who made an incredible albatross on the 500 meters par 5, 3^rd hole.

Round 2

The second round of the 2023 Fred.Olsen Alps de La Gomera will begin again at 8:20 am local time from the 1^st and 10^thhole. After round 2, a cut will be made to the top 40 players and ties.

The players are contending a prize fund of €40.000 and 45,000 Order of Merit points. The winner will earn €5,800 and 6,525 Order of Merit points

The first-round leader, Ronan Mullarney will begin round 2 at 12:00pm local time from the 1^st hole.

Sustainability 

Tecina Golf and Hotel Jardín Tecina, host hotel of the tournament, are committed to sustainability and environmental preservation, which implies a harmonious integration between the golf course, the hotel and the surrounding plant and animal life.

In terms of waste management, the use of plastic has been eliminated as much as possible and digital processes have been adopted to reduce paper consumption. In addition, Tecina Golf has a wastewater treatment plant to ensure adequate and respectful treatment of the water used on the golf course. Hotel Jardín Tecina and Tecina Golf have managed to combine luxury and quality with a solid and respectful approach to the ecosystem, with minimal impact on the environment and local culture.

Tournament Promoter and Sponsors

The 2023 Fred.Olsen Alps De La Gomera is promoted and organized by JGolf.

The 2023 Fred.Olsen Alps De La Gomera can count on the support of the Fred.Olsen S.A., the Federación Canaria de Golf, the Real Federación Española de Golf, the Gobierno de Canarias, Promotur Turismo de Canarias, the Cabildo Insular de la Gomera, Kyocera and Nextcaddy.

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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