17th December 2016 | Alps Tour Golf
French Duo won the Q school in La Cala
A duo from France won the Alps Tour Q School. Antoine Rozner, rookie and former Challenge Tour player Baptiste Chapellan finished -7 total after last round in La Cala. Fellow countryman Jean-Baptiste Gonnet, former player on the European Tour (7 full seasons), completed the podium one shot further.
It was a tough windy and wet day. Huge amount of water felt during the night and the course was really at its limit. The area of Malaga had suffered last week with heavy rain and the fairways were very wet and obviously, greens were very receptive.
The winners admitted they did not play very well and they were not in the mood of a match play in the group.
« The conditions were difficult because it was windy when we started, we had to pay attention of making, cleaning and placing the ball and to be honest, we did not play that well. » said Chapellan.
« It was not easy to find a good rhythm during that round. It is kind of slow when there is mud on the fairways and you have to study study where to place the ball. But it was ok and I am happy with this result » explained Rozner.
The category 6, full right to play next season is for those players who finished +5 and better. They are 38 :
France : 11
England : 9
Austria : 5
Italie : 4
Nederlands, Scotland, Spain : 2
New-Zeland, Irland, Finland : 1
16th December 2016 | Alps Tour Golf
Antoine Rozner surged in La Cala
Antoine Rozner of France (picture copyright Agathe Séron) leads the way after day 2 in Final Stage in La Cala. The 23 year old player from Paris signed for 67, -5 on Asia course thanks to six birdies and only one dropped shot. He is -9 total, one shot better than fellow countryman, former Challenge Tour player, Baptiste Chapellan.
Only 12 players are under par after 2 rounds. Spain’s Ivan Cantero Gutierrez and Dutch Lars Van Meijel complete the podium with -5 total. The cut felt at +6 for 67 players.
Rozner, graduate from University of Missouri last June, was happy with his way to handle the event.
« I did not have any goals, what matters is to do the best you can on each shot and each hole. I know that when I play well, I can do what I want with the ball. I know that I can win a tournament any time so I do my best to stay very focus during the round and see how much I shot at the end. »
« Before the round I work on a strategy. My routine is very precise and I stick to it one every shot to stay in the same pace. Today and yesterday, I kept on doing this and it worked really well. I didn’t miss lots of shots and it is very important here. »
Chapellan, 29, got graduated from the Alps Tour in 2009. After 5 full seasons on Challenge Tour, he lost his rights. He admitted that between his multiple hand injuries and a lack of results, he needed a break. But the player from Bordeaux is now fully motivated to come back on circuit.
« The goal is to get the best category possible here to be able to play as many tournaments as possible. I have been training a lot for the past year, I did not play many tournaments, that was ok but in 2017, I will play a lot. »
From La Cala Resort
Agathe Séron
15th December 2016 | Alps Tour Golf
Collins leads the way in La Cala
England’s Miles Collins took the lead after day one in Final Stage in La Cala. The 27 year old player shot 66, -6 on Asia course to take a short advantage over France’s Baptiste Chapellan, -5 on same golf course.
« I played very solid, I like this course, Asia, but I have to say I like the other one as well. Honestly, both courses are really good.
The key to play Asia well is to keep the ball in play so to be very good from the tees. I played well last year as well but I did not manage to sign for a decent score. I am very happy of my day.
I will try to play the same tomorrow on Europa course. I will study the pins position carefully to adapt my strategy.”
The best score on Europa course, the more demanding one was signed by another Frenchman, Antoine Rozner. The latter, 23, got graduated from the University of Missoury last June. He played for Europe in the Palmer Cup at Formby, and represented France in the World Amateur Team Championship.
A cut will be made after 36 holes for 65th and ties. The leading 35 players after 54 holes will get a category 6 and the rest of the field a category 8. A new category, 9, has been created for those who missed the cut, they will still have a few playing opportunity in 2017.
The weather forecast is quite poor for the night, rain is expected but it should stay dry for the second round.
From La Cala
Agathe Séron
12th December 2016 | Alps Tour Golf
Sam Testelin, Nikolaus Wimmer and Phillip Kelly won first stage
France’s Sam Testelin won the first Stage of Q school played on Europea course in La Cala resort. A duo won on Asia course, overnight leader England’s Phillip Kelly and Austria’s Nikolaus Wimmer. They all won with -7 total and a five shot margin.
On Asia course, only one player broke 70, Nikolaus Wimmer. He shot 68, -4 to finish -7 total. He turned first nine one over but heading to the club house he holed 5 birdies and signed for the best score of the week on this course. Phillip Kelly had a great day during first round, 69 but did not manage to keep the pace. He finished tie for the lead though with one over par card.
On Europa course, Testelin had seven birdies and only dropped one shot for final round of 65, -6, total -7. He won with a five shot margin over England’s Thomas Coulson, 67 today. His fellow countryman, Thomas Muchmore, is one shot further thaks to a 68 final card.
Cut line to get qualified on Europa course +11, 37 players, on Asia course, +12, 43 players.
Time for the players to have a little break before Final Stage starts next Thursday.
11th December 2016 | Alps Tour Golf
Englishmen Roberts and Kelly took the lead in La Cala
England took a strong advantage after day one in Stage 1 Q School in La Cala. Oliver Roberts (pict) shot -3, 68, on Europa golf course to lead by one over a group of 4 players, France’s amateurs Grégoire Luck and Raphaël Ginouves, England’s Marcus Mohr and Scot Clark Lutton.
On Asia course, another Englishman, Phillip Kelly fired astonishing -8, 64, to take a five stroke lead over a group of 3 players from Austria, Nikolaus Wimmer, Clemens Gaster and Bernard Neumayer
Stage 1 is to be played on two rounds. There are 43 sports to fetch on Asia Course and 37 on Europa course. The more demanding course is the Europa one and Roberts managed to signed for flawless score with 3 birdies.
On Asia course, there are more opportunities but clearly, Phillip Kelly succeeded in holing way more putts than his opponents. As the other leader, he had no dropped shot during his round and hold 8 birdies.
On both golfs courses, the projected line to play final Stage after one round is +6.
8th December 2016 | Alps Tour Golf
