First stop on the Costa del Golf tour

More than a hundred amateur players met on Saturday at Alcaidesa Links, in the Cadiz municipality of San Roque, to participate in the first leg of the Costa del Golf Tour, organised by SUR and its leading publication Costa del Golf.

Daniel Leary and Juan Grau Gómez led the classification of the first category, while Pablo Ortega Briesemeister, Louis Figueras and Andrés de los Ríos Gaspar occupied the upper echelons of the second category.

María del Carmen Noguero Aguililla, Irene García Sánchez, Ana Isabel Irima Diéguez and Francine Guisepone were joint top of the female category with 36 points each.

Saturday's game day, as with the rest of the tour, was played according to individual 'stableford' rules, where players score one point for a bogey, two for par, three for a birdie and four for an eagle. Access to the final will depend on the results of the first three days of the competition, although players can still sign up for the second and third days and stand a chance of making it to the final.

Saturday's events took place on the Alcaidesa Links facilities, which are managed by Juan Pablo Arriaga. The participants and the tour's sports director, Francisco Gómez, praised the excellent atmosphere and playing conditions, adding that the weather was ideal for a day of golf. The perfect conditions made for a very tight contest on one of the hardest fought game days of the tournament's history, which has traditionally set the standard for amateur golf in Andalucía.

The commercial director of Alcaidesa Links, Charo Soto, was present for the award ceremony. SUR representatives included the commercial director, Jorge Artero; the director for new businesses, Federico Moret; the Marbella representative, Leandro Rodríguez; head of public relations, Pilar Perea; and head of marketing, Pilar Alcalá.

Registration for the remaining dates on the Costa del Golf Tour is still open. The Oferplan platform offers a discount so that each tournament costs 65 euros. The tour is sponsored by Acosol, Marcos 1942, the restaurant Da Bruno and the Andalusian regional government, with the collaboration of Andalucía Golf Select, Copyrap, Golfriends and FC&CO.

The next stage

The next event on the tour's calendar is at the Cabopino golf course, Marbella, next to the marina of the same name. The course has 18 holes and over 5,000 square metres of pitch, designed by the architect Juan Ligués Creus, with views of the Mediterranean.