Rocco Repetto looked at the scoreboard on the 15th hole of The Residence Golf Tunis. It was the final day of the Tunisian Golf Open and he knew he was falling behind. A bogey on the 13th hole had put him four strokes behind a hurricane called Álvaro Hernández Cabezuela. The calculations quickly ran through his head. “I need four birdies to give myself a chance of winning,” said the golfer from Málaga with an Italian father and Irish mother who is competing this year on the Alps Tour.
He passed the 15th without a birdie. Passed the 16th, still no birdie. He didn’t get flustered. He threw the first plan in the bin and recalculated his route. You have to adapt to what’s coming, but always with the mindset that things can happen. He is optimistic and believes in his chances. Two virtues that go wonderfully with golf. Finishing a round with four birdies is already something very special, but now he needed a twist, something big. While there’s life, there’s hope.
The first step was to open a door, and he did it with a superb putt. On the 17th hole. “It was about ten or twelve metres and I rolled the ball wonderfully. It was a tube,” he assures Ten Golf from the practice range at La Cigale Tabarka Golf, where tomorrow the fifth tournament of the Alps season and the last of the North Africa tour begins. With that birdie, he was at -8, and Álvaro, who had birdied the 16th, was at -12.
Next was a great drive on the 18th hole. On the way to the ball, he recalculated his route in his brain. Four strokes behind, but Álvaro has two holes left. Who knows, but on the 17th a bogey might fall, and maybe on the 18th he makes par. Then, if I make an albatross, I might still have a chance. “It was a fleeting thought, not even two seconds, but it crossed my mind,” he recalls. It’s his way of thinking. Always forward. Always positive. “When I got to the ball, I did the math and had 178 metres. The distance was perfect. An 8-iron. The wind was blowing from right to left, and the flag was tucked far left. I planned a draw shot (right-to-left effect), taking it out to the right edge of the green to close in. If it closed a lot, I could leave it close. The shot came out perfect, it closed, caught the wind, and closed more, bounced hard seven metres from the flag and started rolling towards the hole… Suddenly, I couldn’t see it anymore. Shouts. Surreal,” explains the 22-year-old golfer. Three less. An albatross is so extraordinary that in the Alps Tour online, there’s not even a colour for that result…
Suddenly, and above all with a bang, Rocco finished at -11. A reward for faith. A tribute to déjà vu. Álvaro gave no chance. He finished with par on the 17th, another birdie on the 18th, and took the victory, but the Andalusian won’t forget what happened there. He secured second place, his best result in a tournament counting towards the world ranking. He’s only played six in his career and has three consecutive top 6 finishes.
“I’ve never made an albatross in my life, just as I’ve never made a hole-in-one,” he admits. Who knows, maybe it’s time to start thinking about it. “That’s right, now every time I’m on a par 3, I’m going to think about the hole-in-one, let’s see how it goes,” he jokes over the phone. The can of miracles is open. “Now anything can happen,” he says with fabulous optimism.
Repetto’s start to the season has been almost as extraordinary as his albatross. Right now, he is fourth in the Alps order of merit. He is the best among those who have not yet won. He has been highlighted by Álvaro Hernández as a great candidate to grab one of the five HotelPlanner Tour cards when the year ends. “Before the first tournament, I set a goal with my team (Dani Colomar and the family of the Fundación Fairways & Green, supported by Airzone and its top executive Antonio Mediato) to finish among the top twelve, as it would mean good progress. However, after this start, the idea is to finish the year in the top five,” he states.
Rocco’s mother was born in Dublin and his father in a town north of Milan. When asked if he identifies more with Ireland or Italy, he doesn’t hesitate. “I am Spanish, Spanish, from Málaga, and nothing would make me more excited than to represent Spain wherever I can,” concludes a golfer raised in such an extraordinary academy as the Real Guadalhorce Golf Club.
