R1 suspended with a 2 way-tie provisional lead at Golf Nazionale

Italy, March 21, 2022 – It was a very cold start today for the second leg of our Italian Winter Series starting today at Golf Nazionale.

Early this morning the course was a little bit hard due to the low temperatures of the last night and some breeze swirling around has complicated the day.

The game was suspended at 18:21 due to darkness and will resume tomorrow morning at 7:20.

In the provisional standing for round one, two players are sharing the lead: Swissman Mathias Eggenberger, representing Bad Ragaz Golf Club, and French amateur Julien Sale, presently 3rd in the Season ranking, both at -5 (67 strokes).

Eggenberger had a strong start on the front nine and even if he dropped a shot on 4^th hole, he went through 5 birdies in a row which allowed him to play the first nine holes 4 under par. Then, he had a solid streak on his back nine where he carded 8 pars and 1 birdie on 14^th. “It was really cold this morning and the course didn’t play like it usually does. Unfortunately I’ve dropped one shot on 4^th because a hit a fairway bunker and I didn’t manage to make par. In spite of this I played a solid round of golf and I hope I’ll can replicate it tomorrow”.

Julien Sale, instead, went through some up and downs during the day. He dropped 2 shots due to 2 bogeys on 2^nd and 4^th hole but managed to finish the front nine 1 under thanks to 3 birdies. Then, he made 3 birdies, 1 eagle and 1 bogey to finish tied on top of the leaderboard. “I’ve been playing very well from tee to green all day long and my short game, specially my putts, was very solid. I hope to keep playing like this even tomorrow”.

Irishman Gary Hurley, representing Saadiyat Beach GC, number 15th in the provisional Order of Merit thanks to a T4 at 2022 New Giza Open and a T7 at 2022 Ein Bay Open, is tied at the second place at -4 with Dutchman Davey Porsius.

Hurley proved once again he knows how to play a great round of golf. He had a slow start carding 2 bogeys and just 1 birdie on the front nine but then he came out with 4 birdies in a row from 13^th to 16^th and then holed a birdie putt on 18^th. “Fortunately, it was again a good day. This morning I played nicely even if the course was a bit tricky due to the wind. This course has a lot of holes that should not be underestimated but I’ve been able to manage my feelings very well during the day and that is very important when you play a tournament of this kind”.

5^th place for Dutchman Koen Kouwenaar who had a solid round with 13 pars, 4 birdies and 1 bogey.

Ten players are sharing the 6th position at -2 (70), and among them three more French amateurs beside Julien Sale: they are Nicolas Muller and Tom Vaillant, both 20 from Cannes Mougins; and Martin Couvra, 19 from Golf de Terre Blanche.

Tomorrow the game will resume at 7:20 and R2 tee times remain unaffected.

R1 provisional result: click here or check on the Alps Tour Golf app.

Stay tuned! www.alpstourgolf.com and the app « Alps Tour Golf » (on App Store for iOS devices and Play Store for Android) will keep you updated on every news about Alps Tour.

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A birthday present for rookie Adrien Pendaries, first-time winner at Terre dei Consoli

Italy, March 18, 2022 – Frenchman Adrien Pendaries, son of European Tour player Marc , made himself a really nice birthday present by winning with a 4-strokes margin the Winter Series Terre dei Consoli, with a total score of -16 (200 strokes, 67-69-64) and an impressive final round on 8 under par.

Pendaries, 23 today, representing St. Nom La Breteche Golf Club, is a first time-winner and entered the tournament thanks to an invitation by the Alps Tour, as he had no playing category. With this win, though, he earns an exemption for 12 months for all the tournaments hosted by the Alps Tour until March 2023.

Adrien had a consistent game during the week and he has been hitting the ball in the right spots. After the first round he was T3 with other 5 players at -5 and after R2 he was T4 at -8.

The third round was completely game-changing for the young pro. Pendaries started with 2 birdies in a row on 1^st and 2^nd and ended the front nine holes with an eagle on 8^th. Then, he completed the round with a birdie on 12^th ,  another eagle on 15^th and a final birdie on 18^th for a total of 64 strokes, the lowest score of the whole tournament.

“I’ve been chipping and putting very well. During the week I’ve been also able to manage my game and optimize it to the course which was very firm. The only thing I would change of this tournament is my drive off the tee but, anyway, I’m very happy. This victory means a lot to me and it is a good stepping stone for me. Now I just need to get back to work and keep progressing”.

His compatriot Julien Sale, 24, from St. Cloud, confirmed he is in great shape and carded a daily -5 which took him to T2, four strokes back of the winner and with a total of -12. The young amateur finished in the same position just two weeks ago at 2022 New Giza Open and here in Italy he proved once again to be one of the most promising player of the field. “It was really nice being on the hunt for first place during the back nines. I was just one shot behind and I could take the lead on each hole. I’m just a little disappointed I didn’t manage to catch the title but anyway I’m playing better and better every week so I’m very happy”.

Tied on 2^nd place Pierre Pineau, 22, with 67-69-68 (-12). This is his second top-3 for this year. In fact, during the first tournament of the Alps Tour schedule, the Ein Bay Open, he carded an impressive -11 which took him to the third place.

Portuguese Tomas Guimaraes Bessa, representing Cigala and winner of the last tournament held in Egypt, finished T6. However, the young golfer will leave with an awesome memory of this course. In fact, he nailed an incredible 8 iron from the tee box on hole n. 3 for a brilliant hole in one.

Six different nationalities are represented among the top 10. In addition to those already mentioned, Spaniard Jorge Maicas finished T4 with Dutchman Lars Keunen at -11; tied on 6th position at -9, as well as Guimaraes Bessa, are Italian amateur Gianmarco Manfredi and his compatriots Stefano Mazzoli and Giacomo Fortini, who was co-leading after R1, and French amateur Tom Vaillant; while Irishman Conor Purcell finished T11 with Vince Van Veen (Ned), and Martin Couvra (Fra) at -8.

Stefano Mazzoli keeps the lead of the Order of Merit after four tournaments with 10,591.50 points.

Now the Alps Tour Season will move to Golf Nazionale, Rome, which will host the Winter Series Golf Nazionale from March 21^st to 23^rd.

All the previous winners will be attending this tournament except for French amateur Oihan Guillamoundeguy.

 Final results: click here or check on the Alps Tour Golf app.

Stay tuned! www.alpstourgolf.com and the app « Alps Tour Golf » (on App Store for iOS devices and Play Store for Android) will keep you updated on every news about Alps Tour.

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The Alps Tour Season is moving to Italy for the Winter Series

Italy, March 14, 2022 – It’s been three weeks of great golf in the desert but now the Alps Tour Season is moving to Italy, Viterbo, where Terre dei Consoli Golf Club will host the Winter Series Terre dei Consoli, the fourth stop of the Tour this year, from Wednesday 16^th to Friday 18^th .

Over the last two years, this Golf Club has hosted the final stage of the Qualifying School in November, while the last tournament valid for the ranking was the 2019 Alps Tour Grand Final, won by Italian Federico Maccario who is now playing the Challenge Tour.

Designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr, Terre dei Consoli is one of the most recent golf courses in Italy. The 18-hole Championship Course – Par 72 and 6,885 mt long – intertwines with the surrounding natural landscapes. The course is perfectly integrated amongst the green valleys which seems to embrace and welcome it. Made-to-fit obstacles raise its technical spectacular characteristics, fascinating all golfers.

Among the 132 players (19 amateurs and 113 pros) from all over the world teeing off on Wednesday there will be also the 3 winners of the previous tournaments held in Egypt, Italian Stefano Mazzoli, who grabbed his 3^rd title on the Alps Tour at Ein Bay Open, French amateur Oihan Guillamoundeguy, who is one of the youngest winner after his victory at Sokhna GC, and Portuguese Tomas Bessa Guimaraes, a first time winner just 2 weeks ago, and they will all be striving to capture their second title this year.

At 2022 New Giza Open, even if the weather conditions were so hard that the Committee decided to cancel the last round, Bessa Guimaraes confirmed his great shape and that he is able to compete at an impressive high level. The same applies for Guillamondeguy who has scored the lowest card until now (65-64-63) during 2022 Red Sea Little Venice Open.

Almost half of the field will be Italian. In fact, the National Field will be well represented here by 51 players (11 amateur and 40 pros). Among the amateurs, Flavio Michetti, who turned 18 just few weeks ago, has been playing a solid golf since the start of the season and now he is used to the pressure on the greens. He claimed a 21^st place at the Ein Bay Open 2022 and a 14^th place at the Red Sea Little Venice Open 2022. Furthermore, Massimiliano Campigli , 21 from Torino La Mandria GC., and Alessandro Nardini, 18 years old from La Pinetina GC., who played several tournaments last year and made quite a bit of experience out of it, are on the launch pad and might be the outsiders.

The French contingent is the second most conspicuous (25 golfers) including Pierre Pineau, 22, who enrolled a consistent game during the previous tournaments (T3-T14-T13), amateur Julien Sale, 24, who finished T2 at 2022 New Giza Open and Franck Daux who has been playing very solid over the first 3 weeks and ended T4 at New Giza.

At Terre dei Consoli there will be also be a good number of Spanish (22) and Irish (8) players. It will be a first of the year for the Colombian Alvaro Arizabaleta, the Cameroonian Issa Nlareb A Amang and Austrian Florian Thuller.

Players will compete here for a prize money of 35,000 euros with a first-prize cheque of 5,075 euros.

Check the Alps Tour Golf app for the full schedule or click here.

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Tomas Bessa wins weather-shortened 2022 New Giza Open

Egypt, March 6, 2022 – Due to the extreme weather conditions, the 3^rd round of the 2022 New Giza Open has been cancelled.

After the final round started, the wind got stronger, more than expected. The ball couldn’t stay at rest on the greens and the game became unfair. Therefore, the Committee decided to cancel the final round and the results after the second round stood for the whole tournament.

Therefore, the winner of 2022 New Giza Open is Portuguese Tomas Bessa, who scored a total of 131 strokes (-13) in 2 days (66-65).

Bessa, 25 years old, is a first-time winner on the Tour since he started as a professional player back in 2019. He played consistently during the whole tournament and came out after a great second round thanks to 9 birdies and just 2 bogeys. “It’s awesome to see all the hard work paying off. I’ve been training myself a lot to play here on the Alps Tour and I’m very proud about my game and about the feelings I had on the course. It is very hard to win on the Alps Tour because there is plenty of great players and I’m really happy with this first title”.

Two players are tied on the second place, just one stroke back: Spaniard Joel Moscatel and French amateur Julien Sale.

Moscatel, who was leading after R1, played a bogey-free round during the first day but on R2 he lost 3 shots due to a bogey and a double bogey. “Of course I wanted to play and try to catch my first victory but it was almost impossible out there. I didn’t start very well on my first 5 holes today and it’s a pity that we managed to play only 2 days but I’m happy with my game during the first 2 rounds. I think the committee made the right decision to suspend the tournament”.

Sale, 24, during R2 managed to gain one position up on the leaderboard. He had been playing lots of good iron shots all week long and he had lot of chances to go under par. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the opportunity to chase the first position due to the inclement weather conditions. “It’s very frustrating we didn’t had the chance to play today but the wind was literally too strong to play. I wanted so bad to try to win but despite all, I’m pretty happy also with my second place which is great”.

Two players are tied on the 4^th place: Irishman Gary Hurley, who finished his tournament in 133 strokes (68-65) and Frenchman Franck Daux (68-65).

Nice results also for French amateur Nicolas Muller, just 20 years old, who finished his tournament T7th with compatriot Benjamin Kedochim and Englishman Jack Floydd, with a total score of 135 strokes (66-69).

Here at New Giza Golf Club, among the top 10 there are 6 different nationalities: Portuguese, Spanish, French, Irish, English and Italian. The only player of the national field, Issa Abou El Ela, 27 years old, ended his tournament on 38^th position with 141 strokes (70-71).

Now the Alps Tour will return to Europe (Italy) in the next few weeks to host the Winter Series Terre dei Consoli at Terre dei Consoli Golf Club close to Viterbo. The tournament will start on March 16^th and will end on March 18^th and will have a prize fund of 35.000 euro.

Final Results: click here or check on the Alps Tour Golf app.

Stay tuned! www.alpstourgolf.com and the app « Alps Tour Golf » (on App Store for iOS devices and Play Store for Android) will keep you updated on every news about Alps Tour.

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Tomas Bessa Guimaraes takes the lead of 2022 New Giza Open after R2

Egypt, March 5, 2022 – There is a new leader after R2 at 2022 New Giza Open.

Tomas Bessa Guimaraes, from Portugal, took the lead of the tournament held in New Giza Golf Club thanks to an excellent daily score of 65 (-7) for a total score of -13.

Bessa, 25 years old, started early this morning and went through a tough front nine where he scored 3 birdies and 1 bogey. After 10^th, he finally found his rhythm and his pace on the course and finished the back nine with 5 birdies in a row from 14^th to 18^th.

“During my first nine holes I managed to get away with some pars even if I didn’t play as I would have liked. Then, on the back nine, my game suddenly changed and I managed to play a more solid round with 5 birdies in a row. Today we needed much more confidence and much more focus because the wind was very strong and for this I’m very proud of my day. I hope a can continue to play like this not just tomorrow but also during the next weeks”.

Two players are tied at the second place with a total of -12: Spaniard Joel Moscatel and French amateur Julien Sale.

Moscatel, 23, who was leading the tournament after R1, today went through some up and downs due to the inclement weather conditions but he managed to end R2 with a solid -3. After the first nine holes he was -1 with 2 birdies and 1 bogey. Then, on the back nine, he enrolled 2 birdies, 1 double bogey and 1 eagle.

“Today was a bit tougher playing into the wind but I’ve hit the ball the way I wanted. I Also made two great up and downs on 10th and 11th. Then, on 13^th I didn’t understand the wind direction properly and, with a bad swing, I lost 2 strokes. I really loved playing with Tomas these two days, let’s hope for tomorrow”.

Julien Sale, 24, gained one position from yesterday and now he is just one stroke behind the leader. “I’ve been hitting my irons very close to the flags all day long today. That helped me a lot with the score and gave a lot of chances to hole some birdies. The course is really fair, if you hit the ball in the right way, it gives you the opportunity to play a nice round of golf”.

A lot of players are just few strokes behind: Irishman Gary Hurley is on 4^th place and finished his 2^nd round with a daily -7 for a total of -11 strokes; Frenchman Franck Daux, tied with Hurley at -11, ended up like his competitor with a daily -7; Edgar Catherine, 23, is on 6^th place with -10 and is trying to keep up with the leaders; Nicolas Muller (amateur), Benjamin Kedochim, Jack Floydd are tied on 7^th place at -9.

The only player of the national field who made the cut (at -3), is Issa Abou El Ela, 27 years old. Tomorrow the Egyptian golfer, who is on 38^th position, will start his 3^rd round at 8:10 on 10th.

Because of the cut, only 47 golfers, 6 amateur and 41 pros, will have the opportunity to gain as many points as they can for the ranking. 13 are French, 7 are Italians, 7 are Spanish, 5 comes from Netherlands, 4 are English, 3 are from Ireland, 2 are Austrians, 1 is Portoguese, 1 comes from South Africa, 1 from Egypt, 1 from Switzerland, 1 from Chile and 1 from Estonia.

Results R2: click here or check on the Alps Tour Golf app.

Stay tuned! www.alpstourgolf.com and the app « Alps Tour Golf » (on App Store for iOS devices and Play Store for Android) will keep you updated on every news about Alps Tour.

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Joel Moscatel leads the 2022 New Giza Open after R1

Egypt, March 4, 2022 – The first round of the 2022 New Giza Open hosted at New Giza Golf Club ended this afternoon, whith 118 golfers competing for the last tournament of the Alps Tour Egypt Swing.

On top of the leader board at -9 with a total score of 63, is Spaniard Joel Moscatel, 23 years old. During these first 18 holes, the young golfer dind’t loose a single shot and scored a significant number of birdies (5) and eagles (2).  “I’ve approached very well the tournament mentally. I was very calm today and this was the key factor for my game. I’ve been driving my ball off the tee as I was supposed to do and I holed a lot of putters on the greens. I didn’t miss a lot of greens so also my wedges were very consistent and precise. This course suits better my game than the previous ones because it is longer and gives me some advantages”. 

With 64 strokes, just one shot behind the leader, there is Clement Poletti from France. Poletti, just 20 years old, like his direct competitor, dind’t loose a single shot on the course and scored a series of birdies (6) and one eagle.

“I’ve started my round very confident and after I made a couple of birdies on 2^nd and 3^rd I gained a lot of extra confidence. Then I approached my back nine with a calm mindset and trusting my own game. I quickly scored 1 birdie and 1 eagle in a row and that helped me to stay positive and in the floe. I finished the first day without any bogey which is always great. Today I think the course was much easier than it usually is because there was no wind. These are my first tournaments as a pro on the Alps Tour after I’ve gained a full category thanks to the Qualifying School and I hope this is the start of a long journey ahead”.

The 3rd place with 65 strokes (-7) is shared by two Frenchmen. Edgar Catherine, 23, is playing the tournament here at New Giza Golf Club for the second time and last year in September he was the winner of the Alps of Andalucia.  “It was a really good day. My game was very solid in every aspect. I’ve just missed few putts but I’ve been playing shots from 100 meters very well. I really love playing here, the course is in great shape and the greens are just as good as I thought”.

The same great score came from the French amateur Julien Sale, 24 years old, who has been playing very well since the first stage of the Alps Tour at Sokhna Golf Club. Today the youngman scored a bogey free round with 7 birdies.

“I really love the layout of this course. There are big greens with a lot of slopes, and it can be very tricky to understand the right line, but it is very challenging so I love it. This is my first season on the Alps Tour, I’ve been playing very good during the last two weeks, I just hadn’t the right result to put my name on the top of the leaderboard. Today I’ve hit some very nice and precise shots and I’ve holed a couple of putts, let’s see what tomorrow will bring to me.”

New Giza Golf Club, voted #1 in Egypt and #11 in MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region, is hosting the New Giza Open for the second time. The first tournament here was held in 2019 when Italian Lorenzo Scalise won with a total score of -12 (204 strokes) and this brought him good luck, as he is now a regular on the Challenge and DW World Tour.

Tomorrow the players will have to face more testing weather conditions, as a bit more wind is expected during the day.

First round results: click here or check on the Alps Tour Golf app.

Stay tuned! www.alpstourgolf.com and the app « Alps Tour Golf » (on App Store for iOS devices and Play Store for Android) will keep you updated on every news about Alps Tour.

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