El Challenge de Cádiz experienced a vibrant day this Saturday at the Iberostar Real Novo Sancti Petri Golf Club, with more favourable weather conditions than in previous days, but with a scoreboard that reflected both great rounds and unexpected difficulties. Among all, the Cordoban Víctor Pastor shone brightly, the main protagonist of the day, taking the lead in the tournament with 11 strokes under par and two ahead of Rocco Repetto, Guillamondeguy, and Townsend, who share second place with -9. Three strokes behind is the Cadiz native Mario Galiano who is going all out, as well as the Navarrese Asier Aguirre, recent winner on the Alps Tour, with 7 under par. Very few strokes of difference for a final that promises to be exciting and will be experienced tomorrow in Andalusia.
Víctor Pastor, member of the ProSpain of the RFEG, had a spectacular start, with 4 consecutive birdies that placed him in a privileged position to allow a mistake on the 9th; in the back nine, he hooked another 4 consecutive birdies from the 11th to the 14th and, despite the mistake on the 17th, he has not relinquished the lead of a tournament he is determined to win. “I am very happy with today’s round, as well as Thursday’s and Friday’s, but today we had a little less wind until almost the end and I was able to play very well. It was the day I hit the ball the best. I took all the opportunities I created. In the end, the wind changed and became a bit tougher, the monster that I managed to overcome.
All the memories I have on this course are good. Sancti Petri is a place I’ve been coming to since I was a child and if it’s for the tournament from 3 years ago, I did the best I could but there was someone who beat me and I am very proud of that tournament and everything it brought with it. Obviously, tomorrow it’s time to play another 18 holes, I want to win, it would be stupid to say no, but I will go out to do my best, leave nothing behind and if that serves to win, so be it”.
Tomorrow Pastor will go out as the leader with a 2-stroke advantage, with a new opportunity to close the circle and lift his first title on the HotelPlanner Tour.
The trio formed by the Malaga native Rocco Repetto, the Frenchman Ohian Guillamondeguy, and the Swede Hugo Townsend have fought to reduce strokes and dethrone the leader but have had to settle for going out tomorrow with a two-stroke disadvantage in what would be, for any of them, their first victory on the HotelPlanner Tour.
Repetto, winner last March on the Alps Tour in Tunisia, is going all out in his second opportunity of the year on the HotelPlanner Tour. Today he signed 6 birdies and 3 bogeys for 69 and a total of 9 under par: “It was a tough day. In the first holes, there wasn’t much wind but from the 6th-7th hole, it started to pick up, it changed from the 9th and it was very complicated with the wind against. The goal today was to go out and try to do my best to give myself a chance tomorrow and I feel like I achieved it, despite finishing with 2 bogeys. Today the key was to try to keep the ball in play as much as possible and take advantage every time birdie opportunities presented themselves. Tomorrow same routine, same strategy and go out to see if we make a lot of birdies”.
Mario Galiano does not intend to stay on the sidelines and is fighting to win on his home turf. He started the third round decisively, with four birdies in the first 6 holes, a mistake on the 7th and a slip on the 8th that resulted in a double bogey difficult to recover from. Even so, he bounced back with three more birdies on the back nine and although he didn’t have the most desired finish, he ended with 72 strokes to stay in the fight for the Challenge de Cádiz in the final round. “Today I felt very comfortable hitting the ball, I have the feeling that the result was a bit short because I played very well but I made a couple of mistakes on the 7th and 8th; on the 8th, doubting whether to go for the green or not, I felt comfortable and decided to go for the green when I wasn’t one hundred percent convinced, I hit a very bad wood, made a double bogey, it hurt and cut my momentum a bit. Then I started playing very well again, made three birdies, and on the 16th, from the centre of the fairway, I hit it into the right bunker; it was a complicated shot and the bunker shot was a bit poor; and on the 18th also into the bunker and a half-poor shot out. Those two bogeys sting to finish, because I was very close to Víctor, but I know that if I play like this tomorrow and if those mistakes instead of falling one way fall the other, I can end up winning. Today it was easier because the wind didn’t come in until the 12th, 13th and the end got complicated. On the 16th I said, ‘if I make 3 pars, General Captain’, and I ended with the two bogeys, but happy and in position for tomorrow”.
Hole-in-one by Enefer on the 15th
In this third round, there have been spectacular shots, like the hole-in-one made by the Briton Will Enefer on the 15th hole, from 150 metres with a 7-iron. With this result, Enefer signed 67 strokes, climbing to 11th position with a total of 6 under par.
Everything is set for a thrilling final day at the Iberostar Real Club de Golf Novo Sancti Petri, where Spain dreams of repeating victory in this fifth edition of the tournament, as happened in the inaugural one in 2021. The battle for the title of the Challenge de Cádiz is tight and will begin tomorrow at 8 in the morning, with the leaders’ match, featuring Víctor Pastor, Rocco Repetto, and Hugo Townsend, teeing off at 9.50 am.
The Challenge de Cádiz, which concludes tomorrow at the Iberostar Real Novo Sancti Petri Golf Club, is sponsored by the Real Federación Española de Golf, with the support of Hotel Planner Tour, and the Real Federación Andaluza de Golf, as well as the Consejo Superior de Deportes, the Junta de Andalucía, Iberostar Real Novo Sancti Petri Golf Club & Iberostar Beachfront Resorts, Kyocera (official printing services), Allianz, Mahou San Miguel, Solán de Cabras, AON, Halcón Viajes, Volvo, Titleist, Viñas Familia Gil, Maximiliano Jabugo, Licor Mediterráneo and Viamed, under the organization of JGolf.
