Swiss Eggenberger goes low in La Gomera after first day
July 11th, 2019 – La Gomera (Canary Islands, Spain) – A typical Canarian day welcomed the first round of the 2nd edition of Fred. Olsen Alps de la Gomera, on the beautiful, tiny island of La Gomera, next to Tenerife and some 250 miles from the shores of the most Southern point of Morocco. The sun shone all day, with some light breezes from North which became just a bit stronger in the afternoon, and temperatures in the 25 degrees: in other words, a perfect day for golf.
Tecina Golf – which has been a Challenge Tour venue for 8 years until 2016 and boasts present World Number 1 Brooks Koepka on its roll of honor, in 2013 – is in excellent conditions, with smooth greens and fairways, and is collecting praises for the stunning sea views from all the players. The scores reflect those favourable circumstances, with 41 players returning their card under par (38 pros and 3 ams) but the best of them all was Swiss Mathias Eggenberger, number 21 in the season ranking after playing 12 tournaments, and looking very much forward improving his position.
Eggenberger posted a 64 (-7), with seven birdies an no bogey, and has a one stroke advantage over Austrian Michael Ludwig, 25, who signed a 65 with 8 birdies and 2 bogeys on the back nine. In third position, three players are tied at -5 (66), Austrian Felix Schulz, 26, Frenchman Nicolas Platret, 23, and Spaniard Jordi Garcia del Moral, 33.
“A bogey-free round cannot be bad, right?”, says “Eggi”, who turned pro in 2017 after a good amateur career and gained his category in the Alps Tour through the Qualifying School, last December. “ I’m quite happy with my game and even though you can always do something better, I’ve played very solid, I didn’t make any real mistake; I’ve made a few good up-and-downs, holed some nice putts so I’m quite satisfied, of course. The course is really nice with some great views, it’s my first time here at La Gomera and it’s really relaxing, you come off the course, you are straight to the hotel, the sea is in front of you all day long, you feel very comfortable in this nice weather, you have the pool for a refreshing swim, it’s really pretty nice to be here. Hopefully I will keep going on like today, and we’ll see, tomorrow is a new day, hopefully with the same score again!”.
Tomorrow the first tee time will start at 8:20 and the last at 13:58, with all the players starting from tee 1 like today; please note that La Gomera time zone is one hour back compared to Central Europe (GMT+1).
Tecina Golf is located on the hill of Lomada de Tecina, with the course overlooking the blue ocean waters. In the words of its designer, leading British architect and writer Donald Steel, it is “the most exciting and challenging project I have ever designed and built. It is unusual because you have to climb up to the first teeing ground, and then it is downhill all the way. The views are amazing”.
The 18 holes measure a total of 6,343 metres from the white tees, and it is a par 71 golf course. Fairways and greens are surrounded by a profusion of native Canary Islands vegetation, such as Canary Island spurge cactus and tabaiba shrubs, and trees bearing such fruits as banana, avocado and mango, each giving off its characteristic aroma.
Promoted by JGolf18.0, the 2nd edition of Fred. Olsen Alps de la Gomera can count on Fred. Olsen SA as title sponsor and on other sponsors like Promotur Turismo de Canarias, Cabildo Insular de La Gomera, Real Federación Española de Golf, Federación Canaria de Golf and with the support of Consejo Superior de Deportes and Kyocera.
First round results: click here
Tournament website : click here
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