Thomas Elissalde Two Shots Ahead Day 1
Salamanca, (Spain), 30th September 2020 – A great birthday present for Thomas Elissalde as he tops the leader board after the first eighteen holes of the Alps de las Castillas here at Salamanca Golf & CC – Zarapicos. The French player, who turned 28 yesterday, entered the clubhouse as leader after his morning round at -8 (64). He previously won the tournament in 2018, albeit on a different course.
« A great day. Not a single bogey. I teed off well, putted well, made certain shots, so no complaints, an excellent day. The greens are sloping and fast which I like. You need to be on the fairway for your second shot here, so my good driving was a plus and then get to the green and sink the putt, obviously, it all helped. It’s a good start to the tournament but it’s only the first round so let’s wait and see. The wind is picking up so conditions will be different tomorrow.”
He carded a birdie on the opening holes of both the front and back nines and with three more on each, he came in with a perfectly balanced -4 (32) in and out.
A threesome are two strokes behind him at -6 (66): Tomas Bessa Guimaraes from Portugal, Jacobo Pastor from Spain, and Mathias Eggenberger from Switzerland. Bessa Guimaraes had a flawless, bogey-free front nine and four birdies. With three birdies and a bogey putting him at -6 arriving at the 18th, he parred to just miss moving into second place. Pastor started with a bogey on the 10th but recovered nicely with four birdies on the first nine. He opened the incoming nine with a magnificent eagle on the par 4 neatly avoiding the countless bunkers on the fairway and around the green. He completed the round with two birdies and just one more bogey. Eggenberger started on the 1st in style with three birdies in a row. He threw in two more for good measure but a bogey on the 9th reined him in. Three more birdies and another bogey on the back to be comfortably placed for tomorrow.
A group of five players are sitting at -5 (67) including last week’s winner of the Alps de Andalucia, the Spanish player, Lucas Vacarisas with seven birdies and two bogeys. Michele Ortalani from Italy holed five birdies on the front nine and two more on the back nine before two bogeys saw him drop back. Lars Keunen from the Netherlands, this year’s Ein Bay Open winner, had all pars and a birdie going out. Started heading home with two more birdies, wobbled with a bogey, sprang back with a birdie then an eagle, another bogey and finished with a birdie. Two rookies make up the count, Ryan Lumsden from Scotland and Alexander Kopp from Austria who have both had two top ten finishes this season and who each carded six birdies and one bogey.
Making up the top ten at -4 (68) is Jeong Weon Ko the rookie from France with three top ten places under his belt so far and an eagle, five birdies and three bogeys today.
The weather forecast is for a sunny day again tomorrow but not quite as warm as today with strong wind gusts. Play commences at 9:00 am from the 1st and 10th tees with today’s leader, Thomas Elissalde off at 2:14 pm.
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 1: click here
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