There is a good friend of Ten Golf, passionate about sports in general and crazy about geography in particular, who is fascinated by the DP World Tour rankings. Lucas, as the man is called, loves that next to each player appears the flag of the country they represent. That’s why, when he comments on any circumstance of a tournament, he refers to it in a very peculiar way: “Have you seen what happened today on the last two holes of little flags?” It doesn’t matter the tournament, the sponsor, or the country in question, they are all little flags because of that way of presenting the ranking.
If among all of you, dear readers, there is any fan of the little flags world, like our good friend Lucas, you will surely have noticed that this week at the Final Stage of the DP World Tour School at Inifnitum Golf there are two flags that are, at least, curious. The first is from Albania. The second is from Armenia. Both have an interesting story behind them.
The Albanian one belongs to Ilirian Zalli, a 22-year-old player who today delivered the second-best card of the day (63 strokes at the Lakes) playing with the Donostian Joseba Torres and, of course, José María Olazábal, his caddie this week. “I was actually born and live in Canada. My parents are Albanian immigrants. Since I was a junior, I wanted to represent Albania and I have maintained it as a professional. I have always thought it would be something very special. I would like many people to get to know Albania through me. It is a privilege to showcase my country of origin, so small, on the big stages. It makes me very excited and it is a tremendous pride to represent my people. In the DP World Tour, there are many different countries and it is a great satisfaction that Albania is also there,” he explains to Ten Golf.
Zalli completed a spectacular round of golf today. On a difficult, windy day, he shot eight under par. He is twelfth with -9. He will never forget it, but especially because it was in front of José María Olazábal. “It was an interesting round. I approached it as a moving day, I knew I had to shoot low, and both my father and I were excited to play with Olazábal,” he notes.
The climax of his day came at hole 4, par 3. He had 191 yards to the flag and hit a 6-iron. “I hit the ball very high and we couldn’t see well from where we were what had happened. It seemed to me that it had landed very close, but nothing more. Then, Olazábal started shouting at me: ‘Ilirian, it’s in, it’s gone in!’ And I was saying, well, let’s see, let’s wait, it’s not certain, and he insisted, yes, yes, it’s in… 15 meters from the green, we already checked that the ball wasn’t there and it had gone in. It was something very special to experience something like that, a hole-in-one, with someone like Olazábal.”
Zalli, who turned professional at 18 and studies Communication, acknowledges that he hasn’t had the chance to talk much with José Mari during the round because each was focused on their own game. Even so, and despite it being the first time he coincides with him, he has formed a perfect mental picture of the Gipuzkoan champion. “Seeing him as a caddie, you quickly perceive how competitive he is and how proud he is to accompany his nephew. You can understand how good he was as a player by how focused he is, the intensity he puts into every shot even if he doesn’t hit it, and the extraordinary attention to the smallest details. Seeing him up close, it’s easy to explain why he has achieved so much success in his career. I’m young and I value a lot being able to share five hours of my life with someone like that.”
The Armenian one is represented by Jean Bekirian (-5). Today he shot 74 strokes at the Hills and knows that tomorrow he will have to push to make the cut and get closer to the top twenty. For him, also 22 years old, nothing else will do but to finish among the top 20, as he has secured the Challenge Tour card through the Pro Golf Tour ranking, the German satellite circuit where he finished in fourth position this year with one victory and seven more top 5s. “I have that peace of mind over the rest. My goal for this year is already achieved, if I get the DP World Tour card it would be a wonderful addition,” he explains to Ten Golf.
Bekirian’s accent gives him away. And the Lacoste clothing, of course. Besides being Armenian, he is French. He was born in Marseille, although his story is no less curious than Zalli’s. “My parents are also French, but my ancestors are Armenian. My great-grandfather lived in Constantinople (now Istanbul) during the Ottoman Empire. Over a hundred years ago, he had to flee from there due to the Turkish genocide and, like many other Armenians, ended up in Marseille. He worked in a violin shop,” he recalls.
The first reason Jean decided to compete under the Armenian flag is as a tribute to his ancestors, but it’s not the only one. “Throughout my childhood and youth, I was never selected to play for the French Federation… and I was as French and European as the others…”, he recalls lamenting.
Both dream of taking the flag of Albania and Armenia as far as possible in golf. “I know that sooner or later I will reach the DP World Tour, but when I practice, I don’t do it to play small tournaments, but because I imagine myself in the future competing at Augusta and things like that,” says Zalli.
The wonderful world of little flags.
