Thread Tools

Display Modes

**truebluefan** · 03-09-2008, 09:26 PM

Discuss event in here.

**truebluefan** · 04-16-2008, 08:44 AM

He might have begun the day in the last group out on the golf course, but Belgian Didier de Vooght ensured he ended it in style by topping the leaderboard after a first round 66 in the II Club Colombia Masters.

The 34 year old’s five under par opening round was good enough to lead the Dutch duo of Wil Besseling and Inder van Weerelt as well as Englishman James Morrsion and the Paraguayan Marco Ruiz by a single stroke at the Country Club de Bogotá in Colombia, with a further ten players just two behind De Vooght.

The leader started his opening round on the tenth tee and signalled his intent with birdies on the 11th and 14th to make a great start to the fifth and final co-sanctioned event between the European Challenge Tour and the Tour de las Americas.

A bogey on the 16th – De Vooght’s only dropped shot of the day – saw the Belgian reach the turn in 34 before he surged home in 32 strokes picking up three birdies in a beautifully constructed ‘back’ nine.

“My long game was really good today,” said De Vooght. “I’ve been in Argentina and now Colombia here three weeks now, and for the first time in the three weeks I actually drove the ball nicely, which made a big difference.

“It makes it a lot easier to hit the ball from the fairway than from the rough, where I was the last two weeks,” smiled De Vooght.

Among the ten men tied for sixth spot, just two off the lead, are the Challenge Tour’s two newest champions, Estanislao Goya and Antti Ahokas.

The Argentine, currently Number One on the Rankings, and the Finn – respective winners of the 77 Abierto VISA del Centro 2008 presentado por Personal and the 103 Abierto VISA de la Republica presentado por Peugeot – have emerged as two players to keep an eye on as the Challenge Tour’s 20th anniversary season progresses.

Also on three under par after matching the opening 68s of Ahokas and Goya is Colombia’s Eduardo Herrera. The former PGA Tour member is the best among the locals after a round of three birdies and fifteen pars.

Sweden’s Oscar Florien could have finished the day enjoying a comfortable lead, but, having reached the five 18th at six under par for the day, his great round came crashing to a thunderous halt as he twice dumped his ball out of bounds on his way to racking up a hugely damaging quintuple bogey ten. Florien is by no means out of the tournament, though, just four behind early leader De Vooght.

**truebluefan** · 04-16-2008, 08:46 AM

Wil Besseling of The Netherlands, Denmark’s Mark Haastrup and Colombia’s Ricardo Ruiz share the halfway lead at the II Club Colombia Masters after torrential rainstorms forced a suspension of play to the second round.

Haastrup and Ruiz posted respective second round scores of seven under 64 and six under 65 over the Country Club de Bogotá to set the pace at nine under 133 before the heavens opened and flooded the golf course, leaving Officials from the European Challenge Tour and the Tour de las Americas no option but to suspend the second round for the day.

On the resumption, Besseling claimed the one birdie he needed for a 66 and a share of the lead.

After three pars in his opening three holes, Haastrup compiled a birdie-par-birdie-birdie run between the 13th and 16th holes to haul himself into contention. He duplicated that same effort between the first and the fourth before finishing of his 64 with a final birdie on 8th, his 17th hole.

“I hit a lot of good shots and then, when I hit some bad shots I was able to make the chip and then a good putt. My putting was really good,” said the 23 year old Dane, who turned professional last June.

Like Haastrup, Ruiz started on the tenth hole. The Colombian picked up birdies on the 12th, 17th, and 18th and then tried to play safely over his ‘back’ nine.

“My plan over the final few holes was to hit the centre of the green and make pars, but the putter worked out great and I started sinking my birdie chances,” said Ruiz after a hot closing run of birdie-par-birdie-birdie between the sixth and ninth.

With the in-form Antti Ahokas of Finland – winner of the last week’s 103 Abierto VISA de la Republica presentado por Peugeot – just one stroke behind the leaders after a second round 66, and Challenge Tour Number One Estanisloa Goya two strokes further back.

**truebluefan** · 04-16-2008, 08:47 AM

Wil Besseling of the Netherlands assumed control of the II Club Colombia Masters going into the final round.

The 22 year old dropped just one stroke in 23 holes on Saturday after finishing his rain-delayed second round 66 and then going back out on the fairways of the Country Club de Bogotá for a third round 69 that took him two strokes clear of Denmark’s Mark Haastrup and Finland’s Antti Ahokas.

Besseling is now 11 under par for the tournament, two clear Haastrup and Ahokas, with the experienced Colombian, Álvaro Pinedo, who carding a 67 to move into fourth place, only three strokes behind the leader.

A stroke further back, in a tie for fifth spot are Sweden’s Klas Eriksson, 70, and England’s Seve Benson, who carded a best of the day 65 to climb 37 places on the leaderboard.

With the Bogotá Country Club’s course still quite soft and open to low scores, Besseling will have to go low if he wants to resist a hungry chasing pack.

The top fifteen players are within six strokes of each other, which should provide an exciting final round at this the last Challenge Tour / Tour de las Americas co-sanctioned event of the 2008 season.

Besseling, though, is relishing the opportunity to close out his maiden Challenge Tour victory.

He said: “It didn’t start that good. I made plenty of pars early, but my swing didn’t feel like the past two days. You know, sometimes your swing doesn’t feel that well and you get around making up and down, and that’s what happened to me today. Fortunately, later in the round I felt better and I was able to take the lead and hold it,” commented the outright leader.

“When you are not playing well you have to be patient, make pars and whenever you get an opportunity to make birdie go for it. I did a good job today, but there are 18 holes left to play and that’s a lot.

“Tomorrow it will be a good experience. I will go out there to enjoy it and see what happens. This is the Challenge Tour, a higher level, and it will be awesome to win tomorrow.”

**truebluefan** · 04-16-2008, 08:47 AM

Dutchman Wil Besseling was simply unstoppable as he romped to a seven shot victory in the II Club Colombia Masters at the Country Club de Bogotá.

Enjoying a two stroke overnight lead, the 22 year old’s final round 66 for a 16 under par total of 268 saw him finish out of sight of second placed Antti Ahokas of Finland and Denmark’s Mark Haastrup who each carded 71 for matching totals of nine under par 275.

Besseling picked up the winner’s cheque for €18,303 which moved him from 41st to sixth place on the European Challenge Tour Rankings.

“I started very well and my swing felt good all day,” he said. “I struggled a little yesterday, but today it was really good. I didn’t make any mistakes and it feels great to be the winner.”

On another overcast and chilly day, the Dutchman got off to a hot start in the final round with four birdies in his first nine holes which saw him to the turn in impressive figures of 31 which extinguished any real hope his challengers harboured of catching him.

On the back nine, a bogey at the 12th was immediately righted with an eagle three at the 13th and five solid par figures to finish saw him home in style.

“Although I had a lead, I just tried to keep playing one shot at a time,” he added. “The guys made some bogeys behind me and that made the gap even bigger but I just kept playing my own game and it all worked out perfectly. It feels awesome.”

A studier of form would have earmarked the Dutchman for success as in the series of three events in Argentina and Colombia – co-sanctioned between the European Challenge Tour and the Tour de las Americas – he had constantly improved; finishing tied for 48th in the 77th Abierto VISA del Centro two weeks ago and tied ninth in the 103rd Abierto VISA de la Republica last week.

His performance in the latter tournament was all the more laudable considering he had to attend the pre-qualifying tournament on the previous Monday and was one of the four European Challenge Tour Members to make it through.

Argentina’s Estanislao Goya, winner of the 77th Abierto VISA del Centro, was one of four players who tied for fifth place in Colombia, a performance good enough to maintain his position at the top of the Challenge Tour Rankings.

The Challenge Tour now takes a week off before heading to France, where the AGF-Allianz Open Côtes d'Armour Bretagne is set to start on April the 23rd.