Back to back win for Paisley

England’s Chris Paisley won his second title in a row on the Alps Tour. After grabbing the trophy in Valencia last month, he made the same joke in Barcelona. He was two strokes back of the leader, Spain’s Alvaro Valesco and proved again his level of game. He shot 64, 6 under in a brilliant way to win by one the Peugeot Tour de Catalunya with a total of -14. Spain’s Alvaro Velasco finished at second position and fellow Juan Parron signed for the best score of the day 63 to climb on the third scale of the podium.

Velasco had his day on Sant Cugat golf course but it was yesterday. He confessed that he started with making mistakes on course and even when he played better it was to late. “The greens were very fast and the pin positions were complicated. By the way, I was happy to play with my family and friends around. Chris did a great tournament and he deserves this win”.

On the opposite, England’s Chris Paisley did a very good start. He turned the first nine, 4 under without dropping an shot. Many Spanish supporters moved their interest from fellows to the young guy. Most of them were impressed by his behaviour. The 25 year old player is calm, hit the ball long and straight and most of all, already had a short game and putting to play on upper circuit.

“I had the chance to be part of a very good junior team in University in USA. I have learnt a lot with them and I am used to putt on greens with this kind of pace so I guess it was an strong help this week. But this win was much more difficult than the one in Valencia. As I was not playing in the last group, I did not know what was happening behind. I was a bit nervous. I am proud to win over great player such as Alavaro Velasco. Is is good for confidence and I am looking forward to play on Challenge Tour next week in Paris.”

At Sant Cugat
Agathe Séron

Alvaro Velasco on top before last round

European Tour player, Spain’s Alvaro Velasco, is leading the Peugeot Tour de Catalunya. The 30 year old player shot a very solid 63-seven-under-par for -10 total. Many fans including his mother supported him on course and the show was great. Fellow, Alfredo Garcia-Heredia is only 2 shots back as well as England’s Chris Paisley. Then, fourth ties at -7, France’s rookie, Thomas Linard and Spain’s Jose Lorca Alcaide.

Sant Cugat course is a kind of a practical joker. Short holes, par 4 reachable with the driver, it seams easy to break records on. But the greens are sticky and greens keepers made a wonderful job. Players must have nerves of steel to stay calm after seeing their chip or putt kept on rolling and rolling.
Alvaro Velasco did the perfect day. He did not drop any shot and the feat of the day was a 7-meter-putt holed for eagle after he hit the 5th green with his tee shot. He played the first two rounds with fellow “happy face” Pablo Larrazabal. Both men are playing on Peugeot Alps Tour to practice before the Spanish Open next week in Barcelona.

The most experimented player of the field, Txomin Hospital also enjoyed playing out of his “home” circuit, the Senior European Tour. He said that he knew so well the course that he can avoid the double bogey. “I know the slopes better than the palm of my hand. It helps me a lot.”

Last but not least, England’s Chris Paisley, is again in the race to victory. Paisley is a new Alps Tour member. He won his maiden win last month and his target is to have good results on Alps Tour and to play Challenge Tour during week off…

The cut is fixed at level par.

At Sant Cugat
Agathe Séron

Peugeot Tour de Catalunya – Alfredo Garcia Heredia 3 shots clear

Alfredo Garcia-Heredia did the best today with short Sant Cugat golf course. He signed for 62, 8 under par and took large leadership over fellow Pedro Oriol and Swiss Nicolas Sulzer. They both shot 65.

Alps Tour is back on Spain after more than one month break. The Peugeot Open de Catalunya is second event of the schedule and players are more than ready to jump into the season. Alfredo Garcia-Hereria, 29 year old, is member of the European Tour after he gained his card during the Q School Finale last December. He did not enter the field in Korea and came to work on his confidence in Barcelona.

Last month, England’s Chris Paisley stopped him before he could win in Valencia. Garcia-Heredia wants his revenge. The Englishmen did well today and is still on the Spaniard toes. He scored 66, 4 under par, as well as a big group of 9 players.

The weather was nice and temptation for all was big to try to hit as far as possible on fairways. But the best scores went to those that decided to think before hitting. France’s Xavier Poncelet, 66 today, summarized well the options : “In one hand, you can be agressive and try to be the closest to the green but if you are on the wrong side, rough is not helping for your chip and birdy is not as easy. In the other hand, you can hit an iron to find the middle of the fairway… Today, I hit 17 greens and only holed 4 putts for birdy. But for sure, someone will shoot 60 if the weather stays well”.

It is not this way Mother Nature wants to drive it. Showers and rain are expented for the next two days.

Agathe Séron

Golf lands up Barcelona

The Peugeot Open de Catalunya is the second round of the Peugeot Tour Alps Tour, which will involve a total of 138 professionals from 15 nationalities, who will fight for the second title of the season from Thursday 28 to Saturday 30 April.

This week, people can visit a urban golf of 6 holes set by the promoter Matchgolf and the Catalan Federation of Golf insite the city of San Cugat. Golf was the hero for a landmark weekend in Barcelona, ??which will continue with a great week of Peugeot Open de Catalunya, which involved some of the best Spanish golfer who then link to the Open of Spain, which takes place in Barcelona next week.

Events in Slovenia and West French Indies confirmed

The Alps Tour is glad to confirm the organization of the two following events:

Slovenian Open
Dates: 13/15 May
Venue: Ptuj GC
Prize fund: ? 40,000
Charity Pro-Am on 12^th May   

Open de Saint-Francois Guadeloupe
Dates: 26/29 May
Venue: Golf de Saint François, Guadeloupe, West French Indies
Prize fund : ? 50,000
Pro-Am on 25^th May