After a 13-event season, the top-50 ranked players on the Alps Tour are set to compete in the Grand Final Presented by AURALIS Limitless Lighting at Asolo Golf Club in Venice, Italy from 18th – 20th of October.
At the end of this week’s event, the top five players in the Alps Tour Order of Merit rank will earn a Challenge Tour category 12b card for the 2024 season.
Galway man Ronan Mullarney currently holds pole position in the rankings thanks to an excellent season that’s seen him capture two victories and four additional top-five finishes on the circuit, and such is his ranking points haul, he’s already assured of one of the five Challenge Tour cards. The same goes for Holland’s Kiet Van der Weele, a three-time winner, whom Mullarney overtook after winning the penultimate event.
Malahide’s Paul McBride is still in with an outside chance of pushing his way into the top five, but currently ranked 17th, will need to win the Grand Final and rely on a myriad of other scenarios going his way. Still, with €10,000 on offer for the winner, making it the most lucrative event of the Alps Tour season, it’s well worth winning.
Rosslare’s Paul Murphy completes the Irish lineup, and at 36th on the Order of Merit, he’s likely to return to the Alps Tour in 2024 with an additional year’s experience under his belt.
All of the season’s winners are included in the field, with Mullarney and Van der Weele joined by Frenchman Oihan Guillamoundeguy, England’s Jack Floydd, and Dutchman Lars Keunan, who round out the top five on the Order of Merit coming into the week. With just five points separating fifth and sixth at present, volatility is to be expected in the 54-hole stroke play format.
There is precedence for Irish success as well. The most recent winner of the tournament is Jonathan Yates, who won the event in 2022, held at Modena Golf & Country Club, also in northern Italy.
“Yeah, the course is nice,” said Mullarney after competing in Tuesday’s pro-am. “Really, nice. Got a lovely day today. The greens are very soft, and it’ll probably be lift, clean and place in the fairways. Really nice golf course though, and it’s a beautiful part of the world, Venice.
“Yeah, I’m playing quite well and comfortable with my game. I’m playing as much as I can at home. Played a lot at Corballis and that’s a good way of sharpening your game there, playing a few games with the lads.”
Despite the bonus of having his Challenge Tour card secured, he’s certainly not just taking the week for granted, however.
“No, like trust me with the hassle it took to get over here, I definitely don’t treat this as a free week,” he explained, “but it is nice to know that I still get my Challenge Tour card whatever happens this week
“But yeah, I’d love to finish top of the Order of Merit.”
Next on the horizon after this week is the Second Stage of DP World Tour Q-School in Huelva, Southern Spain where he’ll hope to carry his fine season’s form and make a push for automatic graduation to the big league and happily pass on the Challenge Tour card he’s worked so hard to earn.
“Q school starts on the second of November for me and I’ll probably go out to there a little bit earlier.
“I’m playing Isla Canela, and I played it earlier this year on the Alps, and it’s not far from Quinta do Lago so I might go out there and do a little bit of practice before the event starts because, you know, the weather at home is not going to be pretty.”
Mullarney will join second-ranked Van der Weele for the final tee time of Wednesday’s opening round, while McBride joins Frenchman Paul Margolis and Murphy will play alongside Italian Davide Buchi.
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