A new tournament begins on The Gecko Tour today with a stellar guest player: Barry Lane. Definitely worth rising to our feet… The veteran English golfer, born 55 years ago in Hayes, is a European golf legend, and his presence is yet another demonstration of the Tour’s enormous growth since its creation five years ago.
To talk about Barry Lane is to talk about European Tour history. He has played in 684 tournaments on the European Tour and nearly 60 on the Senior Tour. Between both circuits he has won nine titles: five on the European Tour and four on the veterans. His most recent victory came in 2012, when he won the Speedy Services Wales Senior Open. He has also accumulated 73 top-10 finishes on the European Tour and has finished in the top-three of the Senior Tour order of merit on three occasions in his six seasons playing on the circuit.
Lane will be the main attraction but not the only one. To start with, there are the two venues hosting the tournament: San Roque Club, where the third and final round will be held on Wednesday, and Finca Cortesín, two of the Costa del Sol’s finest courses, European Tour venues over several years and both always prepared in impeccable condition.
This will be the second time this season that The Gecko has been held at the two courses. On the first occasion, the event was won by Manuel Quirós, who is currently the main favourite to top this season’s order of merit.
Another star participant is Roman Šebrle, in this case not for what he has achieved in the world of golf but as one of the greatest athletes of all time, who is now testing his skills on the golf course. A world record-holder in decathlon, his illustrious career has been exceptional: gold and silver medals in the Olympics; once world champion and twice indoor world champion; and five times European champion, three times indoors and twice outdoors. Born in the Czech Republic, he is now 41 years old.
In addition to Lane and Šebrle, other top players competing include Max Walz, winner last week at Marbella Golf CC and Santa Clara Golf Marbella, Gabriel Cañizares, Alfredo García Heredia, Carlos Rodiles, Adrian Bernadet and Pep Anglés – another rising young star in Spanish golf who will be aiming to emulate the success on this circuit of his generational colleague Mario Galiano.
The tournament will be played over 54 holes, beginning today on a Monday, one day earlier than normal on The Gecko Tour.
