Hugh Foley came desperately close to claiming a first professional victory but instead had to settle for second place in the Alps Tour’s Hauts de France–Pas de Calais Open after losing out on the first playoff hole to home favourite Alexandre Vandermoten.
The Royal Dublin man began the final round tied for second and two shots off the lead and remained two in arrears at the halfway despite a hat-trick of birdies to close out the front nine as Vandermoten had produced a hat-trick of his own on holes six through eight.
But of the leading contenders, Foley held his nerve the best on the back nine as the wind became a serious factor. Despite dropping a shot on the 12th, Foley struck back with a birdie on the par-3 17th which saw him draw within one and when Vandermoten failed to get up-and-down on the difficult 18th, Foley showed great composure to save par himself and set up a two-man playoff.
His joy was short-lived, however, as Vandermoten, now a four-time winner no the season and back-to-back winner having claimed last week’s Longwy Alps Open, birdied the first playoff hole to further his advantage at the top of the Order of Merit.
“My putting was once again totally up to the task,” Vandermoten said. “I saved a lot of pars. It was a little more complicated with my game, and I had a lot of thoughts going through my head. I doubted myself at times, especially because Hugh Foley was playing so well.
“It’s a back-to-back, which is a great achievement. Everyone tells me that I’m playing really well, but it’s something that is very difficult to achieve. Winning three times is one thing, but going back-to-back is never easy.”
Foley’s runner-up finish sees him rise to 33rd in the rankings, and was his highest finish since also finishing runner-up in the same event last season.
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