The Spanish golf scene has a new tenant today in the HotelPlanner Tour, the second division of European golf. It is the Navarrese Javier Barcos, who is golf-based in Logroño. He has mathematically secured his promotion through the Alps Tour with one event remaining, the final, which will be played next week in Italy.
Barcos completed the job with the second place he achieved in the Parma Alps Open, the penultimate tournament of the season held from Thursday to Saturday at the Golf del Ducato Percorso La Rocca. With this magnificent performance, he has already accumulated 32,698.59 points in the Alps ranking. He is the undisputed leader and it is now impossible for him not to finish among the top five, no matter what happens in the final next week. The winner will receive 10,000 points, and Barcos leads the sixth-placed player by more than 11,000. Sensational.
The truth is he had victory within reach today in Parma. He surely finished with a bittersweet taste because he had it in his hands. With eight holes to go, he was the favourite and the tournament leader. However, a bogey on the 12th hole, another double bogey on the 14th, and one more bogey on the 17th left him without options. Despite everything, he finished just one stroke behind the winner, the Italian Jacopo Vecchi Fossa, who is currently second in the Alps ranking. Vecchi Fossa, with rounds of 65, 67, and 70, finished with a total of -14, and Barcos, with rounds of 69, 63, and 71, was second with -13. In any case, the mathematical qualification for the HotelPlanner Tour should serve as good consolation.
The other great news for Spanish golf in Parma was Asier Aguirre (-13). He finished tied in second position with Barcos and moved up to fifth in the Alps ranking. A giant leap. He has moved from tenth position to fifth. He will arrive at the final in a HotelPlanner Tour card position. He will have to defend the position. He played three very consistent rounds in Parma of 66, 68, and 69 strokes. This performance has allowed him to position himself with 21,272.41 points, just ahead of Álvaro Hernández Cabezuela and Javier Calles. Spanish golf will arrive at the Alps grand final with one player already qualified for the former Challenge, another in a card position, and two more just behind.
Additionally, two more players will arrive with mathematical chances of qualifying for the HotelPlanner Tour: Jorge Maicas and Mario Galiano.
