Alps Tour Golf | Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez

17th June 2023 | Alps Tour Golf

Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez wins the 2023 Alps de Andalucía.

Final Round Review

Isla Canela Links
Ayamonte, Spain
15^th-17^th June 2023

Alps Tour Media Contact: [email protected]

Leaderboard

Pos.	Name	Score
1	Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez (ESP) *	-18
2	Benjamin Kedochim (FRA)	-18
3	Quim Vidal (ESP)	-16
4	Paul Margolis (FRA)	-15
	Lars Keunen (NED)	-15

Quick Links

Final Round Leaderboard

Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez wins the 2023 Alps de Andalucía.

Ayamonte, June 17^th 2023- After 2 holes of sudden-death playoff, Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez wins the 2023 Alps de Andalucía with a birdie putt. Spain’s Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez alongside France’s Benjamin Kedochim concluded their final round at Isla Canela Golf Links tied for the lead, therefore taking part in the two-way playoff thanks to their final score of 18 under-par. In 3^rd place with a three-day score of 16 under-par Spain’s Quim Vidal and tied 4^th place at 15 under-par, France’s Paul Margolis and Netherland’s Lars Keunen.

The final round of the 2023 Alps de Andalucía being played at the beautiful Isla Canela Links began at 8:00 am under sunny skies, a warm temperature and windy conditions. The players were able to compete under optimal scoring and weather conditions this week. This is the 2^nd year, this event is being played at Isla Canela Links.

The final round of the 2023 Alps de Andalucía began at 8:00 am from hole 1 and 10. The final group teed off at 9:28 am from the 1^st hole.

Final Round Player Quotes

Spain’s Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez only 24 years old representing Golf La Moraleja, captures the 2023 Alps de Andalucía title with a birdie on the 2^nd sudden-death playoff hole. He shot an impressive 8 under-par, 64 in today’s final round to conclude with a three-day total of 18 under-par. During today’s final round, he had a tough start with 2 bogeys in his first 3 holes but then went on to make 5 birdies on his front nine and 5 birdies on the back nine to finish his final round. After his win, Pardo’s first reactions were, “I can’t believe it, I’m so happy. I had a very tough start, with two bogeys that I said, ‘wow, it’s going to be great’, but then I made 3 birdies in a row (holes 4, 5 and 6) and then I started with a very good dynamic and a lot of confidence. I hit the ball really well, I holed everything. I was playing with two lifelong friends, Enrique Marín and Víctor García Broto and we had a great time, I felt very comfortable with them.” When he was about to conclude his round, he “had no feeling that I could win but with the illusion of catching Benjamin. When I went out in the play-off I knew I could win, that my game was there but I stayed super calm, zero nerves because losing was not a defeat. It was very exciting. This victory changes all my plans, from fighting to keeping my Alps Tour card to actually fight to reach the Challenge Tour next year. I’m really happy.”

France’s Benjamin Kedochim, who was tied for the lead after round 2, had a final round of 6 under-par for a three-day total of 18 under-par to take part in the two-way sudden-death playoff. He made 1 bogey and 7 birdies in his final round. His score for each round this week has been three consecutive 66s. He is 28 years old and currently represents Biarritz Le Phare. Prior to today’s playoff, his best finish was a tied for 6^th place at the 2023 Gösser Open. After he complete the playoff, Kedochim was very satisfied of himself, “Yeah I feel like I did my job the past 3 days. Definitely three rounds with the same score under par doesn’t happen every time. I don’t have anything to regret and actually I’m very pleased of myself. I will keep playing like I played this week and allowing myself to have chances and I’m sure it will be rewarded in the next events.”

Spain’s twenty-three years old, Quim Vidal, winner of the 2^nd event of the season, the 2023 Red Sea Little Venice Open was close to the top of the leaderboard all week. He shot a bogey-free 5 under-par round, 67 today with 5 birdies for a three-day total of 16 under-par. When he signed for his bogey-free round, Vidal commented: “I played pretty well, today I didn’t make as many birdie putts, I had many that I couldn’t take advantage off. I played well the par 5 except the first one but overall, I am happy. I think I had a good chance to win again because my game is solid. I’m taking from this week some great feelings in my game as I hit the ball much better and was able to earn some confidence.”

Round 1 Leader, France’s Paul Margolis, concludes the tournament tied for 4^th place with a three-day score of 15 under-par. He shot a bogey-free final round with 7 birdies for a 7 under-par, 65. He is 24 years old and represents Cannes-Mougins Golf Club. Margolis turned professional at the end of 2021 and captured his 1^st win on the Alps Tour as an amateur player at the 2021 Mira Live the Soul Open. At the end of the 2021 season, he earned one of the coveted Challenge Tour Cards which is up for grabs to the highest ranked players in the Alps Tour Order of Merit for the following season. After his final round, he commented: “Today was a great round, it was very similar to my first round where I had a bogey-free 8 under-par round. I hit my irons so well today and my putting on the back nine could’ve been better, I had a lot of chances within 5 meters I wasn’t able to capitalize on. I could’ve been a much lower than what I actually did. Overall, it’s still a great tournament and I’m really happy about where my game is at right now. I’m getting closer to capturing a win so I’m going to keep focusing on what I have been doing so hopefully I will be holding a trophy soon.”

Alongside Margolis tied in 4^th place at 15 under-par, Netherland’s Lars Keunen. In 6^th place, Spain’s Enrique Marin. Just 2 strokes back in 7^th place, Edoardo R Lipparelli from Italy.

After the 8^th event of the season, Netherland’s Kiet Van der Weele keeps the Alps Tour Order of Merit lead with Ireland’s Ronan Mullarney in 2^nd place and Spain’s Quim Vidal closes out the top three spots. This week’s winner, Spain’s Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez has moved into 6^th place.
Final Round

Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez winner of the 2023 Alps de Andalucía, earned the winning check of €5,800 and 6,525 Order of Merit points.

The next scheduled event for the Alps Tour players is set for June 19^th-21^st at Buenavista Golf in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain for a co-sanctioned event with the Pro Golf Tour, the 2023 Tenerife Pro Golf Open.

Tournament Promoter

The 2023 Alps de Andalucía is promoted and organized by JGolf.

The Alps de Andalucía can count on the support of the joint collaboration between two main sponsors, the Real Federación Española de Golf and the Real Federación Andaluza de Golf. The tournament also has the support of numerous co-sponsors: Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, Isla Canela Links, Consejo Superior de Deportes, Allianz, AON, Rentokil, Kyocera (servicios oficiales de impresión), BCD Sports, Mahou San Miguel, Solán de Cabras and Nextcaddy.

Follow along on www.alpstourgolf.com or the official “Alps Tour Golf” app to keep up on all the latest news (available on App Store for iOS devices and Play Store for Android).

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15th June 2023 | Alps Tour Golf

Paul Margolis is in the lead after Round 1 at the 2023 Alps de Andalucía.

Round 1 Notes

Isla Canela Links
Ayamonte, Spain
15^th-17^th June 2023Alps Tour Media Contact: [email protected]

Leaderboard

Pos.	Name	Score
1	Paul Margolis (FRA)	-8
2	Lars Keunen (NED)	-7
3	Romain Wattel (FRA)	-6
	Benjamin Kedochim (FRA)	-6
	Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez (ESP)	-6

Quick Links

Round 1 Leaderboard
Round 2 Tee Time

Paul Margolis lead after round 1 at the Alps de Andalucía.

Ayamonte, June 15^th 2023- France’s Paul Margolis leads with a bogey-free 8 under-par, 64 at the conclusion of the 1^st round at the 2023 Alps de Andalucía. Netherland’s Lars Keunen finds himself in 2^nd place with a first-round score of 7 under-par, 65. French duo Romain Wattel and Benjamin Kedochim are tied alongside Spain’s Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez in 3^rdplace with a 6 under-par 66.

A beautiful day with pleasant temperatures reaching a high of 29* but with windy conditions welcomed the players at Isla Canela Links course near Ayamonte, Spain for the first round of the 2023 Alps de Andalucía. This is the 11^thedition of the event and the second time it’s being played at this golf course. Play began at 8:15 am from both the 1^st and 10^th hole.

The Field France’s twenty-four years old, Paul Margolis shot a bogey-free 8 under-par, 64 in the 1^st round of the 2023 Alps de Andalucía to lead by 1 stroke. He turned professional in 2021, represents Cannes-Mougins and is a past winner on the Alps Tour that same year. After the round, Margolis was satisfied even though, “it didn’t begin very well to be honest. I was -1 after 6 holes but wasn’t playing very well, I tried to stay patient as I was struggling off the tees but my putting today was great. I feel like the birdie on 7, 8, 9 and 10 everything happened on those 4 holes. It allowed me to be in a good mood for the back nine especially as I find those 9 holes easier and wider which helped as my tee shots were a struggle.” Looking ahead to the next two rounds, “I will try and do same exact things as I did today. I need to be patient. I know it’s a golf course you can make lots of putts as the greens are very good. I’m going to stay patient and go shot by shot and hole by hole. I don’t want to think about anything else other than myself and what I can do to put together the best round possible.” Margolis went on to add that he: “like how the golf is especially the greens are very nice. I love playing in the wind and today was kind of windy especially the wind switch midway through the round so you need to be very focused on where the wind comes from and how it might swirl. I feel like how the golf course is set up suits me very well. That’s another reason why I feel I was able to put together a good round.” He is happy with how is game is evolving “in the last few months. I feel like I need to have a little more self confidence in my game. I changed my coach at the end of last season and I feel like all the hard work we did this winter is paying off.”

Lars Keunen from Netherland concluded his first round at the 2023 Alps de Andalucía with 7 under-par, 65 and find himself in 2^nd place. He is 26 years old and represents The Dutch Golf Club. He has been consistently near the top of the leaderboards in the majority of the events this season. After his round, he happily commented: “my game was pretty good from tee to green today. The wind made it pretty tricky on some holes but overall, I played nicely, I’m happy. Tomorrow I’ll try to keep doing the same things and keep the same mindset of going one shot at a time.”

Romain Wattel from France, who represents Bussy Saint Georges, concluded his first round at the 2023 Alps de Andalucíawith a 6 under-par, 66 and is one of three players tied for 3^rd place. He is 2 strokes off the lead heading into the second round. He began his round on the 10^th hole today and made 3 birdies on his front nine and 4 birdies and 1 bogey on his back nine.

France’s Benjamin Kedochim, shot a bogey-free, 6 under-par, 66 with 4 birdies and 1 eagle and he is the second player tied for 3^rd place entering the second round. He is 28 years old and currently represents Biarritz Le Phare. His best finish so far this season is a tied for 6^th place at the 2023 Gösser Open. After his opening round, Kedochim was pleased: “Today was a great round, it’s my best round in putting, I made a lot of putts today. That was the best part of my game for sure even though usually it’s my iron play. I was able to always put the ball in play and never had to face a tough situation. My attitude was very positive and I just tried to keep doing my best.” He went on to add that he had the same mindset as when he played at the Gösser Open which was “to put the ball in play and then hit the middle of the green and make as many putts as possible.” Kedochim, went on to comment that: “I’ve been in contention lately and had a tough final round that kept me out of the top 5 but now I’m just focusing on what I can control and try to stay as close to the top as possible to hopefully capture a trophy soon.”

Jose Manuel Pardo Benitez from Spain who is 24 years old and represents Golf La Moraleja is the third player in the 3-way tie at 6 under-par and 2 strokes off the lead. He made 5 birdies on the front nine and 2 birdies and 1 bogey on the nine. After the round, he was overall satisfied, “I played really well, very solid today, the best part of my game was the attitude knowing that I am in a great place after finishing 4^th last week. I started the season poorly missing cuts but I am getting better each day. Things are going really well around me, golf, family, life and of course all of that reflects on the golf course and how I can approach each round.”

There is a 7-way tie for 6^th place at 5-under-par that includes: French amateur Antoine Bachelier, France’s Arthur Ameil-Planchin, Belgium’s Kevin Hesbois, Spanish duo Victor Garcia Broto and Mario Galiano Aguilar, England’s Jack Floydd and Spain’s Quim Vidal.

The 140 players are competing for an overall prize fund of €40.000 and 45,000 Order of Merit points. The tournament winner will earn €5,800 and 6,525 Order of Merit points.

Round 2-

The second round of the 2023 Alps de Andalucía will begin again at 8:15 am local time from the 1^st and 10^th hole. After round 2, a cut will be made to the top 40 players and ties.

The first-round leader, Paul Margolis will begin round 2 at 1:48 pm local time from the 10^th hole.

Tournament Promoter

The 2023 Alps de Andalucía is promoted and organized by JGolf.

Follow along on www.alpstourgolf.com or the official “Alps Tour Golf” app to keep up on all the latest news (available on App Store for iOS devices and Play Store for Android).#risinggolfstars
#raisinggolfstars