Unstoppable Alfredo García Heredia and the unstoppable Xorkyo Frogs. The Asturian golfer has won the IV Open de Ciudad Real, the third event on the Tumi PGA Spain Tour calendar, with a commanding performance on the charming course of Golf Ciudad Real, to the north of the Manchegan capital. His triumph also served as the impetus for the third win in three tournaments for the Xorkyo Frogs in the Nin9rs Games, the team captained by Mario Galiano that, for now, wins everything it plays
García Heredia’s victory is doubly meritorious, since he had to fight hard against the determined attacks of Emilio Cuartero, Julio Moreno and Dani Berná and, on top of that, he had to do it without the laser rangefinder, an instrument permitted on the PGA Spain circuit to prepare each shot. On the 2nd hole this Sunday his battery died, so he had to revert to the most analogue version. The old-fashioned way. As ever. Using the yardage book and doing the calculations, with the added difficulty that, like almost everyone on this circuit, he doesn’t carry a caddie to help with this task
Alfredo could have asked his playing partners for distance help, but he preferred not to bother. “It wasn’t a question of asking and bothering on every shot”, he told Ten Golf at the end of his third round and just before collecting the trophy. It should be clarified at this point that the rules of golf allow you to ask playing partners for the distance to the hole; this is not considered advice, which would be prohibited, but objective information that is available to everyone. What they couldn’t tell him is how to play the shot, which club to use or how the wind is behaving
Players are used to handling yardage books well, but there were some situations in which he didn’t have time or couldn’t see where the markers were to make exact measurements. In fact, despite the victory, the Gijón native is convinced that it cost him more than one shot. “Measurements aren’t exact and a difference of three or four metres can be decisive to leave you a clear birdie chance or even miss the green”, he points out
Alfredo won with a sensational -28 over three days. Rounds of 63, 58 and 62. He is convinced that if he had had the rangefinder available he would have reached -30, although there’s no point in lamenting. On the contrary, this great triumph confirms that his game is in perfect order after the change he made to the shafts in his clubs. It’s already showing
Tied in second place were Dani Berná (-25) and Emilio Cuartero (-25), while Julio Moreno (-24) was the author of one of the day’s standout moments, with a spectacular hole-in-one at the 6th, the 15th of his career. Golf Ciudad Real is a 9-hole course and this week the professionals played the loop twice each day. That also helped Alfredo today when he didn’t have the rangefinder. Playing those nine holes again is easier than facing 18 different holes without the device
Golf Ciudad Real also crowned the Xorkyo Frogs by a landslide, well led by Alfredo García Heredia, one of the marquee signings of the last market. A great move by Mario Galiano. The five-man side this week in Don Quijote’s lands had some notable absences due to the Alps and HotelPlanner Tour tournaments, however they delivered an outstanding performance. Alongside García Heredia they played Borja Martín, Jacobo Pastor, David Borda and Javier Sainz. Between the five they accumulated 51 points, which include the five bonus points for all having made the cut, something the Barbarians also achieved
Three tournaments and three victories. The Xorkyo are the outright leaders of the Nin9rs Games overall classification. They have a total of 119 points, while Atlas Lleida, second in Ciudad Real, have almost half (63). Third place is held by Dacar Iron Masters with (51). In Ciudad Real the Barbarians finished third, and they occupy fifth place in the overall standings. The other four teams positioned among the top eight, who will qualify for the big Nin9rs Games final when the eight tournaments on the PGA calendar are completed, are: Valencia Vikings, Codex Golf Linces, Andalucía Penguins and Mermaos by Aiuken
