Bessling wins in Bogotá
Enjoying a two stroke overnight lead, the 22 year old’s final round 66 for a 16 under par total of 268 saw him finish out of sight of second placed Antti Ahokas of Finland and Denmark’s Mark Haastrup who each carded 71 for matching totals of nine under par 275.
Besseling picked up the winner’s cheque for €18,303 which moved him from 41st to sixth place on the European Challenge Tour Rankings.
“I started very well and my swing felt good all day,” he said. “I struggled a little yesterday, but today it was really good. I didn’t make any mistakes and it feels great to be the winner.”
On another overcast and chilly day, the Dutchman got off to a hot start in the final round with four birdies in his first nine holes which saw him to the turn in impressive figures of 31 which extinguished any real hope his challengers harboured of catching him.
On the back nine, a bogey at the 12th was immediately righted with an eagle three at the 13th and five solid par figures to finish saw him home in style.
“Although I had a lead, I just tried to keep playing one shot at a time,” he added. “The guys made some bogeys behind me and that made the gap even bigger but I just kept playing my own game and it all worked out perfectly. It feels awesome.”
A studier of form would have earmarked the Dutchman for success as in the series of three events in Argentina and Colombia – co-sanctioned between the European Challenge Tour and the Tour de las Americas – he had constantly improved; finishing tied for 48th in the 77th Abierto VISA del Centro two weeks ago and tied ninth in the 103rd Abierto VISA de la Republica last week.
His performance in the latter tournament was all the more laudable considering he had to attend the pre-qualifying tournament on the previous Monday and was one of the four European Challenge Tour Members to make it through.
Argentina’s Estanislao Goya, winner of the 77th Abierto VISA del Centro, was one of four players who tied for fifth place in Colombia, a performance good enough to maintain his position at the top of the Challenge Tour Rankings.
Gareth Maybin closed with a 75 to finish 55th on six-over par and move up six places to 38th in the Challenge Tour rankings.
The Challenge Tour now takes a week off before heading to France, where the AGF-Allianz Open Côtes d'Armour Bretagne is set to start on April the 23rd.
Leading final results from the II Club Colombia Masters on the European Challenge Tour
268 – W Besseling (NED) 67, 66, 69, 66;
275 - A Ahokas (FIN) 68, 66, 70, 71; M Hasstrup (DEN) 69, 64, 71, 71;
276 – A Rocha (BRA) 71, 69, 69, 67;
277 – E Goya (ARG) 68, 68, 72, 69; S Benson (ENG) 68, 73, 65, 71; A Pinedo (COL) 70, 68, 67, 72; J Hoyos (COL) 72, 67, 70, 68;
279 – R McEvoy (ENG) 68, 72,72,67; B Alvarado (CHI) 69, 72, 70, 68; T Karjalainen (FIN) 72, 67, 68, 72; J Amaya (COL) 72, 70, 66, 71;
280 - I Van Weerelt (NED) 67, 69, 71, 73; M Ruiz (PAR) 67, 70, 73, 70; K Eriksson (SWE) 69, 67,70, 74; D De Leon (MEX) 69, 68, 72, 71; G Acosta (ARG) 69, 70, 72, 69; P Acuna (GTM) 70, 66, 72, 72;
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290 - Gareth Maybin (NIr) 72, 68, 75, 75