Nicolas Platret Leader after Round1 at Acaya

March 24th, 2021 – Lecce, Italy. Nicolas Platret from France came into the clubhouse at -5 (66) to take the lead at the inaugural competition of the 2021 Alps Tour season here at the Acaya Golf Resort. He swung back into action after five months without any competitive play and was focussed on the result based on applying what he has been doing with his coach in France over the past few weeks rather than the score. He talks us through his round:

“I started early this morning at 7:20 so it was kind of windy and pretty cold so for the first few holes I just tried to keep the ball on the fairway and hit as many greens as possible. I got some good opportunities for birdie in the first few holes and so I was quickly two under after 5. Then I had a good up and down on 6 for par. Then 7 and 9 downhill are pretty easy par fives so I had two birdies there. Unfortunately, I had a bogey on 8 with a ball in the water. So, after the front nine I was pretty confident because it was windy and not easy to play. The back nine for me is a little tougher than the front nine, so I tried to do the same thing as on the front nine. I made some good birdies on 12, 16,17. I had a bogey on the 11th but for me it’s the toughest hole on the course, so I just tried to stay patient and take the opportunities for birdie when I had them”.

This is Nicolas’s second season on the Alps Tour, and he will be hoping to keep the lead to secure his first victory with his best finish to date being second place at the 2019 Open de la Mirabelle d’Or.

One shot behind at -4 (67) is Matteo Manassero who played two under on each nine. Two birdies and a bogey-clear front nine plus three birdies and one bogey on the back nine leave him in serious contention. The Italian player sat second for the first two rounds in his previous tournament with the Alps Tour, ultimately going on to win the Toscana Alps Open last year.

Just behind him in third place are three players.  The Scot, Ryan Lumsden, winner of his first Official World Golf Ranking professional title at the Journey to Jordan #2 at Ayla Golf Club in March last year and with two top ten finishes on the Alps Tour in 2020, he carded five birdies and two bogeys for a solid -3 (68). Joinng him are the two Spanish players Alejandro Del Rey, winner of the 2020 Open de la Mirabelle d’Or and Angel Hidalgo Portillo, runner-up at the Toscana Alps Open Last year.

In sixth spot there is a group of six at -2 (69). Two French players; Romain Guillon who was joint leader when he entered the clubhouse and Paul Elissalde. The Italian players, Jacopo Vecchi Fossa along with Davide Buchi who is the highest ranked amateur today. Mathias Eggenberger from Switzerland and the Dutch player, Pierre Verlaar complete the group.

Despite the difficult windy conditions, we saw a total of eleven eagles out on the course today, all of them on the par 5’s with Edouard Espana from France scoring two of them which helped him to finish at par for the round.

The forecast for tomorrow is partly cloudy and the temperatures will continue to be below average for the time of year and the wind will also be present if less so than today.  Tee off starts at 7:00am from tee 10 and 7:05 from tee 1. The cut will take place on completion of the second round.

Results Round 1: click here

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