Spaniard Alejandro Aguilera claimed his maiden Alps Tour victory courtesy of a closing, nine-under 62 and a playoff, while Marc Boucher signed off with a one-over 72 to finish tied for 33rd.
The sole Irish representative to survive the 36-hole cut, Boucher realistically needed a victory to play his way into next week’s Alps Tour Grand Final at Monticello Golf Club, but trailing by six this was always going to be a long shot.
As it transpired, had he matched Aguilera’s final-round score, he’d have joined him and Austrian amateur Jakob Lotschak in the playoff, but a bogey on the first made an uphill task even tougher and birdies on three and 14 were offset by bogeys on 10 and 17 and he ended the week on -4.
This leaves Robert Moran as the sole Irishman in the field for the Grand Final, and the Castle Golf Club man heads into the final event in 11th place in the Order of Merit, meaning he has an outside chance of pushing his way into the top five and securing promotion to the Challenge Tour for 2025.
Aguilera was in the first group off the 10th tee and made three birdies in a row from the 11th and added another on 17 to turn at -4 for the day. A run of five consecutive birdies from the third, combined with a bogey on two and another birdie on the last thrust Augilera into the clubhouse lead, but Lotschak had covered the first 10 in -3 before making back-to-back bogeys and had to go into catchup mode.
He drew back level with birdies on 15 and 16, but couldn’t find a winning birdie over the final two and he and Aguilera headed back out where the Spanish pro sealed victory on the second playoff hole.
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