– Infinitum Golf and the DP World Tour have sealed an agreement this Tuesday for the Costa Dorada resort to host the Final Stage of the Qualifying School for three more years. Therefore, the tournament will be held at the magnificent Catalan facilities until 2027. It will be nine consecutive editions, a decade. The relationship between Infinitum and this Final began in 2017.
The then-called Lumine Golf took over from PGA de Catalunya, now Camiral Golf. There will be nine editions because in 2020 and 2021 there was no European Tour Qualifying School due to Covid. Thus, Infinitum Golf will match PGA de Catalunya as the second club with the most Qualifying School Finals held in history, only surpassed by San Roque Club in Cádiz, which hosted eleven seasons.
The DP World Tour feels very comfortable at the Tarragona club and its two courses, Lakes and Hills, and Infinitum is delighted with the tournament. The Final Stage of the Qualifying School will witness firsthand the profound design changes that will be made to the Hills over the next two years.
– Adri Arnaus (-7), Sebas García Rodríguez (-7), and Borja Virto (-6) are far from securing their tour cards with 18 holes remaining. Specifically, they are seven and eight shots behind, respectively, after submitting rounds of 71, 72, and 74. They need a stellar round this Wednesday to break into the top 20 and ties. The only good thing in their favour is that they have absolutely nothing to lose. Their current situation does not improve the category they all have right now in the DP World Tour and the Challenge Tour. Therefore, they have no choice but to go all out and see if they can pull off the round of the year. We’re talking about likely needing rounds of -9 or -10. Although the disappointment was more than evident in the three players this Tuesday, they have no choice but to accept the challenge and even experience it as a fun adventure. What if it works out?
– Virto had a bad day at the office. Terrible. Nothing went his way. Over the first nine holes, from 10 to 18, he barely hit two greens and two fairways. It was a grind. He was saving par here and there. He managed to get through the first five holes with par, having only one real birdie chance on the 11th, but on the 15th, he made a double bogey after hitting his ball into the water on his second shot. The burden. Then, he was unlucky with the drop, and the ball ended up in a terrible position. To make matters worse, on the 17th, he missed a par putt from about two metres after a magnificent approach, and on the 18th, he hit the ball into the water again. His total over the last four holes of the Lakes in the last two days has been +7. With a par score in this stretch, which also includes two par 5s, he would be at -13, right in the thick of the fight. Yes, once again with the old calculations…
– Sebas experienced a rather surreal situation on the 6th hole. He missed his tee shot to the right, a lot, and ended up in an area of bushes and dirt. Yesterday, he went to the same spot and lost the ball. Drama. He had four holes left to finish. Finally, after a while of searching today, one of his balls appeared inside a bush, but the problem was he wasn’t sure if it was today’s or yesterday’s. He consulted with a referee. He explained that he was quite sure yesterday’s was even further to the right, and they finally allowed him to play that ball, assuming it was today’s. Halvorsen, a Norwegian player who played with Sebas yesterday and again today, confirmed the version. He finished with a bogey, one stroke less than yesterday.
– Arnaus made eight consecutive pars at the start of his round. Tension. It’s one of those days when you don’t know which way the scorecard will break, and this time it went the wrong way. After a long wait to hit his second shot on the 18th, due to a delay from the group ahead, he missed his second shot and ended up with a double bogey. One of those days when nothing went right for the Armada.
– Albert Boneta, Bastien Amat, and Matthew Watkins have been teammates in recent years at the University of New Mexico. Their athletes are known as the Lobos. It has been one of the best generations in the history of this university. Well, Boneta is in tenth place with one round and two holes remaining in the DP World Tour Qualifying School, Amat signed the round of the day at Infinitum (64 strokes) and is also in tenth place, and Watkins has passed the first stage of the PGA Tour Qualifying School. The Lobos continue to howl as professionals.
