31st August 2018 | Alps Tour Golf
Italian amateur Fortini wins Cervino Open
Italian amateur Giacomo Fortini won today after a nerve-wrecking finish the Cervino Open with a total score of -9 at the Cervino Golf Club in northern Italy.
This is Fortini’s first victory as an amateur in a professional tournament.
Fortini entered the final round as sole leader and led throughout most of the day. But the Italian amateur bogeyed hole 15 and double-bogeyed hole 16 giving a path to victory to Timon Baltl (AUT) who had already finished his round. Fortini was able to react and made 2 birdies in the last 2 holes to win the tournament.
Timon Baltl finished in 2nd place at -8 total while a group of 4 players tied for 3rd place at -7 total: Louis Cohen Boyer (FRA), Michele Cea (ITA), Xavier Poncelet (FRA) and Benjamin Wheeler (ENG).
« I’m feeling very emotional, I’m very happy because I won my first pro tournament as an amateur. I’m on cloud 9 really » 22-year-old Giacomo Fortini said. « It was a hard final because I played well all day but I did not hole many putts. When I got to hole 15, which is a quite difficult hole, I made a bogey. The following hole, I double bogeyed. I was a bit destabilized by all this but then I told myself there are still 2 more holes and I can still make birdies. And this is what happened and I won by one shot » the native of Ferrara explained. « Generally, I have a difficult time forgetting my mistakes. But today was different and I could leave those mistakes behind me and get my confidence back. I hit a beautiful driver on hole 17, I made a very nice approach shot and above all, I holed a 2-meter putt which gave me the victory » he added.
« This is by far the most important tournament I’ve won, I never won a championship before, this is the most beautiful win of my career » Fortini concluded.
Fortini made 4 birdies, 2 bogeys and a double bogey in the final round.
« I had a great day today » Timon Baltl said. « I made a bogey on hole 15 and I thought to myself, ‘alright, it’s not going to happen, not even close’. But then I made a very good second shot on hole 16 and on hole 17, I did an absolutely perfect drive, I was lucky with the bounce, it bounced to 3 feet and I made this one for eagle. And then I thought, ‘oh maybe, if I make another birdie, who knows what happens?’. And on hole 18, I pitched it to 2 meters, holed the putt to make birdie, it was great, it was really cool » he explained.
« I’m satisfied, 2nd place is very good, if you’ve come so close from winning you’re a bit disappointed but I want to congratulate Giacomo for his great finish and for his victory » the Austrian concluded.
Baltl made an eagle, 4 birdies and 2 bogeys.
Xavier Poncelet (FRA) turned in the best card of the day today (-7). « I wanted to have a great day today. It did not start well as I made a double bogey on the first hole. But then I reacted well » Poncelet said. In total, the Frenchman out of the Golf du Médoc near Bordeaux made a double bogey and 9 birdies today. « I’m happy with the attitude, I’m getting closer to where I want to be » he added.
With his 3rd place finish today, Poncelet moves up to 5th place in the Order of Merit, the Alps Tour official season ranking. At the end of season, the top 5 of the Order gets a card to play on the Challenge Tour.
Santiago Tarrio (ESP) still leads the Order of Merit. He is followed by Louis Cohen Boyer (FRA), Alexandre Daydou (FRA), Marcus Mohr (ENG) and Xavier Poncelet (FRA).
Today’s final round was interrupted for 1h32 due to foggy conditions.
Rising golf stars will next travel to Miglianico (Italy) for the Open Abruzzo September 20th through September 22nd.
30th August 2018 | Alps Tour Golf
Fortini enters final as sole leader
Italian amateur Giacomo Fortini will enter the final round of the Cervino Open tomorrow as sole leader with a total score of -9. Fortini turned in the best card of the day (-8).
Fortini is followed by Sebastian Petersen (SWE) who is at two strokes behind (-7 total) and by a group of 5 players at -6 total: Anthony Renard (FRA), Jacopo Albertoni (ITA, Am), Alexandre Daydou (FRA), Stefano Pitoni (ITA) and Benjamin Wheeler (ENG).
« I played very solid golf today, I’m very happy » said Fortini. « Tomorrow, I will continue to play my game and we will see what happens at the end of the day » he continued. « The course is quite short, you have to take an iron from the tee on many holes. Because the greens are very small, you have to be very precise from 80 to 100 meters to the green. You need to hit the greens otherwise you’re in trouble » Fortini explained. « My putting was very good today, it was much better than yesterday. Yesterday, I did not hole many putts while today they went in, the putting was my strength today » the 22-year-old native of Ferrara in northwestern Italy continued.
« I’m feeling great despite the fact that my golf has not been good this year. Today, I recovered my game and I’m very happy about this. I will try to keep this feeling for tomorrow » he concluded.
« I hit the ball well. I started with a bogey on hole 10, I missed a birdie on hole 11 by not much and then I had a good sequence with an eagle on hole 13 and a birdie on hole 14. I was then able to benefit from good shots I made, putting the ball not far from the holes and therefore, I was able to make easy birdies. I did not make many mistakes and in all, I made an eagle, seven birdies and a bogey » Anthony Renard (FRA) said.
52 players including 9 amateurs made the cut set at +1 and will play tomorrow’s final round at the Cervino Golf Club .
Final round tees off at 8h local time.
29th August 2018 | Alps Tour Golf
Round 1 of Cervino Open ends on 3-way tie
Stefano Pitoni (ITA), Timon Baltl (AUT) and Andrea Saracino (ITA) turned in the best cards of the day today at the Cervino Open to finish round 1 on a 3-way tie with a total score of -7.
Alexandre Daydou (FRA), Ben Wheeler (ENG) and Jacopo Albertoni (ITA, Am) are on their heels one stroke behind at -6 total. .
« I’m really satisfied, -7 is a really good score » Timon Baltl said. « I got off to a perfect start, I made 6 birdies in the first 7 holes, I made 8 3s in a row, so it was obviously a perfect start » he explained. « I must admit I thought a little about shooting a 59 (the course is a par 68) because it’s the magic number in golf but I did not hit the fairways on the back 9. Anyway, I’m very delighted with this first round » he continued. « The course is different from any other courses, some holes are crazy, some holes are very good holes, but I really like it here, it’s so beautiful with the mountains, I enjoyed it » he concluded.
« My day was really great.I played really good golf, I hit a lot of good shots and I putt also really well because on this course, you need to putt well » Stefano Pitoni said. « I started really good. I birdied on hole 2 after holing my chip shot. I also birdied on hole 3 and this gave me a lot of energy and I continued to play good throughout the round. So I’m happy with my round » he added.
« I started with a bogey at hole 10 and then I made 8 birdies and 0 bogeys » Andrea Saracino, recent winner of the Des Iles Borromées Open at the end of July, said.
« The course is very tricky, the greens are very small and the putt is important here » he concluded.
Thunderstorms disrupted the afternoon session as play had to be suspended for a bit less than an hour and a half. Temperatures were in the mid-10s.
Round 2 will tee off tomorrow at 7h30 at the Cervino Golf Club .
27th August 2018 | Alps Tour Golf
