It was a slow moving day for David Carey as the Castleknock man dropped back into a tie for 15th ahead of the final day at Golf de la Grange aux Ormes on the Alps Tour.
Carey only managed two birdies as he grinded his way to a one over par 71 and sit on a -4 total which is still only four shots off the leaders.
Those leaders are Italian Jacopo Vecchi Fossa who climbed into a share of the lead at -8 with Frenchman Jules Gris after the second round of the Open de la Mirabelle d’Or, in Eastern France. Portuguese Tomás Bessa is enjoying his third position just one stroke back at -7, while 4th spot is shared by six players at -6.
On a weatherwise complicated day, with a light morning breeze turning into a real wind in the afternoon, Vecchi Fossa (teeing off at 13:14 from hole n. 10), leader of the Order of Merit after 6 tournaments, is showing once again that he is the man to beat: adding a 67 (-3) to yesterday’s 65 (-5), he has carded one eagle, three birdies and two bogeys. “It’s been a hard, windy day, the course is tight, the rough is definitely unforgiving, deep and thick. Overall, I’m satisfied with my game especially from the tee, I’ve missed some putts but I made an eagle three on hole n. 5 which definitely helped! I have suffered a bit on the last holes, with a bogey on n. 9; those are the most difficult holes and the wind made them even more problematic. Let’s see what tomorrow brings!”.
Jules Gris, who gained his spot in the tournament thanks to his 3rd place in the French Qualifying School, which gives him the right to also play two Challenge Tour events on French soil, is obviously very happy with his result: “I have been playing well for a while now and my coach was feeling that something good was about to come, and it happened today. I’m curious to see how I’m going to face the game tomorrow, as it is the first time that I’m in such a good spot. My strategy was to keep the ball in play and play with my head, it worked well. I will try to keep the same mindset for tomorrow, always trying to have fun on the course whenever possible”.
The best card of the day was signed by Italian Gianluca Proietti, who shot a 63 (-7), ten shots better than first round, with one eagle, seven birdies and two bogeys, and is sitting on T15 at -4.
Once again, the work of the fore-caddies was really precious helping to find balls in the rough and speed up the game; 59 players (44 pros and 15 amateurs) made the cut at level par, and will play tomorrow to share the 45,000 points for the Alps Tour members (and the 40,000 Euros for the pros). The second round statistics record also 51 players under par and a total of one double eagle (made by Frenchman Sam Dumez, a 2 on hole n. 4, a par 5 of 460 metres!), 25 eagles and 460 birdies for the day.
Simon Bryan followed his opening 68 with a 70 to make the final day and is two shots further adrift of Carey with amateur Michael Young just making the final day after a 71,69 left him in a tie for 55th.
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