Italian Gregory Molteni wins the Acaya Open Dailies Total 1 to claim his first Alps Tour career victory

June 15th 2019 – In a closely fought final round, Italian Gregory Molteni was at the top of an international podium for the first time in his 16 years career as a pro with a final score of -11 for the three days to take home the €5,800 prize money.

He started the day one stroke ahead at -7 of his playing partner, Austrian Timon Baltl at -6. Both Molteni and Baltl played a steady first 6 holes, each birdying the first and then serial pars until the 7th where Molteni’s one stroke advantage disappeared when Baltl birdied the hole.

Neck and neck coming into the 8th the pressure increased as Molteni made par but Baltl carded another birdie to draw one stroke ahead.

Unfortunately, Baltl’s hooked his tee shot on the par 5 ninth into the high rough on the left of the fairway. The ball was declared lost but Baltl still managed bogey with his second ball. However, Molteni carded a birdie to take back the lead as they started the back nine.

Par on the 10th for both players then Molteni faltered on the 11th with a double bogey for Baltl’s par which saw his lead evaporate and put Baltl in the lead again by one stroke.

Molteni response was immediate with a birdie on the par four 12th to put the players all square again. The Italian sun seemed to be shining on him as he birdied the par three 13th versus Baltl’s bogey. Molteni was back in command with a two-stroke lead heading into the final five holes.

Molteni preserved his two-stroke lead as both players parred the 14th and 15th. With just three holes to go,Timon Baltl had not had his last word as he continued to fight back hard and birdied the 16th whilst Molteni made par. The two-stroke lead was now down to one with just two holes to go.

Both players demonstrated nerves of steel at the 17th with a birdie for each. The final hole was now the decisive one.

Hole 18, par four, just one stroke difference and everything to play for. Could Timon force a play-off? Here he talks us through the final hole:

Timon:” “I hit a great tee shot on 18 which is very, very difficult and Gregory missed his one into the water. I made a bad second shot, missed the green, maybe I was little bit too aggressive going for the flag. Quite a good chip then just missed from 1.5 metres to force a play-off. Of course, at the moment I’m very disappointed but anyway happy with the game this week.”

So, Gregory Molteni came through victorious to raise his first professional trophy in an international tournament. Molteni: “I’ve been close many times but never won…I want to dedicate this win to my father Pietro, today it’s his birthday. I have wanted to dedicate something to him for a long time and now I have this opportunity”.

Besides playing on the Alps Tour, Molteni has also played on both the European Tour and Challenge Tours with some good rounds, but no victories. However, he has not been a regular tournament player in recent months having turned his focus to teaching. Molteni: “Maybe my change of focus to teaching has allowed me to put less pressure on myself, to be less obsessed about performance and perfection”.

He did not neglect to pay tribute to his playing partner, Timon Baltl: “Timon was a hard contender. He never gave up during the whole round. On the 18th, I thought we would go to play-off”. Indeed, Baltl’s result today moves him up to fourth on the Order of Merit in this, his second year on the Alps Tour.

Third place went to the Argentinian Maximiliano Godoy (-8). Englishman James Sharp shared joint fourth (-7) with Italian Edoardo Lipparelli. Lipparelli’s result now raises him to the top of the Order of Merit.

Acaya Open Dailies Total 1 was promoted by Italianprotour, branch of the Italian Golf Federation, with the support of Dailies Total 1 as title sponsor and Puglia Outlet as official sponsor, while Italianprotour can count on Banca Generali Private as title sponsor, BMW as main sponsor, Kappa and Leaseplan as official suppliers, and Infront as official advisor. 

A stellar performance puts Molteni in the lead at the end of Round 2 of Acaya Open

June 14th 2019 – The 37 year-old Italian, Gregory Molteni, is at -9 having carded a -7 (64) to move 9 places to the top of the leader board on day 2 of the Acaya Open.

Climatic conditions continued to challenge the players with strong winds and high temperatures, but neither they nor the difficulty of the course got in the way of Molteni. His score card showed par after par interrupted only by 2 eagles and 3 birdies for him to storm into the lead.

Molteni was absolutely delighted about his performance: “I can say it is one of the best rounds of my career, actually probably the best, considering these windy conditions on such a difficult course. I was happy yesterday with my 2 under, but today was really special, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction, from the North, which is considered more difficult. My best shot of the day? I think the second one on the 18th, it was particularly difficult, a 5 iron with lots of wind from left to right, and I hit it 1.5 metres from the hole and then I made the putt. I had other nice shots, but I will remember this one for a long time”.

Molteni started his professional career on the Alps Tour in 2006 collecting 7 top-threes (never a win, though) and is no longer a full-time tour player, having played in only two other Alps Tour tournament this season, Abruzzo Open in April and Memorial Giorgio Bordoni in May, but the motivation is still there as he explains: « I still enjoy playing tournaments from time to time and being in the mix. Of course, I’m getting older and the new generation is very strong, but I can still be in contention”.

He also gave some insight into his course management at the Acaya Golf Club: “This is not a course where you can be very aggressive, you need to stay patient, the course is hard and even more so with the wind. So maybe this could be my advantage against young players! ».

Maybe, but hot on his heels in second place is Austrian Timon Baltl, 24, winner of the 2019 Gosser Open in May, who carded a -6 (65) to take him to -8 overall. Whilst in third place, Englishman James Sharp’s consistent play of -3 (68) which added to his first round of -4 (67) leaves him very much in contention at -7.

Yesterday’s leader, Pierre Verlaar of the Netherlands is now in joint fourth place with the Italian Edoardo Lipparelli, the recent winner of the Open de Saint Francois in Guadeloupe, both at -6 overall. They’re closely followed at -5 for the two days by the Argentinian Maximiliano Godoy and the Italian Federico Zucchetti.

46 players (43 professionals and 3 amateurs) made the cut at +4 (146).

We can look forward to a closely contested match for the final tomorrow with the weather continuing to be hot and windy at the Acaya Golf Club in Lecce, Italy.

Acaya Open Dailies Total 1 is promoted by Italianprotour, branch of the Italian Golf Federation, with the support of Dailies Total 1 as title sponsor and Puglia Outlet as official sponsor, while Italianprotour can count on Banca Generali Private as title sponsor, BMW as main sponsor, Kappa and Leaseplan as official suppliers, and Infront as official advisor. 

Acaya Open, Pierre Verlaar tops the board at the end of the 1st round

June 13th 2019 – At the end of a scorching day one of the Acaya Open Dailies Total 1 the Dutch rookie Pierre Verlaar is in the lead with a -6 (65), two strokes ahead on the leaderboard.

Verlaar teed off on the first for a promising start: “So 1 was a birdie there and all round the game was good. I hit lots of fairways. Only on three holes I didn’t get a birdie chance. There was lots of birdie chances there and I made quite a lot of them, I made six of them. I missed a couple of short ones as well. But it was a good game today”.

Weather conditions complicated matters as Verlaar underlined “With this wind blowing you really have to get focussed at times”. In addition, the temperatures rose to a high of 33°C during the afternoon with similar conditions expected tomorrow.

Verlaar’s performance is especially satisfying as he is coming back from being injured and as he said, has needed to “rest and then fill the battery up again and play again”. After his excellent round at the Abruzzo Open in April, today’s performance is more than encouraging.

In second place, the experienced English player, James Sharp who will be looking to repeat his 2017 Cervino Open win, had four birdies on the back nine to put him two strokes behind Verlaar -4 (67).

Filling the third slot is a group of 7 players all at -3 (68). The Italians are there in force with four players in the third-place pack including Lorenzo Scalise, the winner of the New Giza Open in March of this year and currently fourth on the Order of Merit. He’s accompanied by two other compatriots Federico Zucchetti and Stefano Pitoni along with experienced player Guglielmo Bravetti.

But Order of Merit leader and hat-trick hunting Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez is also present and finished in style with an eagle 2 on the par 4 ninth. He’s accompanied by another Spanish rookie, Angel Hidalgo Portillo. The Argentinian Maximiliano Godoy, who eagled the par 4 third, completes the tally.

The players at the Acaya Golf Club have enthused about the quality of the course, rating it among the best since the start of the 2019 season. With today’s results it should be the stage for an interesting round 2 tomorrow.

Acaya Open Dailies Total 1 is promoted by Italianprotour, branch of the Italian Golf Federation, with the support of Dailies Total 1 as title sponsor and Puglia Outlet as official sponsor, while Italianprotour can count on Banca Generali Private as title sponsor, BMW as main sponsor, Kappa and Leaseplan as official suppliers, and Infront as official advisor. 

First round results: click here

Draw second round: click here

Welcome Back To Puglia Alps Tour!

The Alps Tour is delighted to return to Lecce, the ‘Florence of the South’ and play at the Acaya Golf Club situated in a location of breath-taking natural beauty. Considered one of the most exclusive and fascinating golf courses of Southern Italy, Acaya Golf Club last hosted the Alps Tour in September 2010.

There looks to be a strong field contending for the trophy with Edoardo Lipparelli, fresh from his victory at the Open de Saint François in Guadeloupe, leading the charge. His ambitions for a home-turf win in Italy will be seriously challenged though by fellow Italian, Giulio Castagnara, runner-up in Guadeloupe and the third placed Argentinian, Leandro Marelli.

Also present will be current Order of Merit number 1, Sebastian Garcia Rodriguez. Two-time winner on the Tour this season at the Abruzzo Open Dailies Total 1 in April and Memorial Giorgio Bordoni in May, the Spanish player will be hoping that Italy will smile on him again to give him a hat-trick heading into the final tournaments of the tour.

However, he’s not the only player with ambitions for a hat-trick this season. Fréderic Lacroix, the French rookie who opened the 2019 season with a win at the Ein Bay Open and then consolidated his great form with a win at the Alps de Las Castillas will be ready to do battle. His fourth place in Guadeloupe demonstrated that he’s on form.

But the rookies can also expect that the experienced players are going to be there in force too. Xavier Poncelet who finished tied fourth in Guadeloupe will be flying the French flag whilst Englishman Benjamin Wheeler will be more than eager to savour a repeat of his win at the Red Sea Little Venice Open in February.

The tournament schedule starts with the Pro-Am Tournament on Wednesday 12^th June with a shot gun start at 11h30, then the two qualifying rounds on Thursday 13^th and Friday 14^th with the final round on Saturday 15^th June for the 40,000€ prize fund.

Acaya Open Dailies Total 1 is promoted by Italianprotour, branch of the Italian Golf Federation, with the support of Dailies Total 1 as title sponsor and Puglia Outlet as official sponsor, while Italianprotour can count on Banca Generali Private as title sponsor, BMW as main sponsor, Kappa and Leaseplan as official suppliers, and Infront as official advisor.