Alps Tour Q-School: He ain't heavy, he's my brother
Eamonn (left) and Tommy O'Driscoll at La Cala today.
A little brotherly love went a long way for Tommy O’Driscoll as his fortunes changed when Eamonn carried his bag for the last 13 holes and he retained his card at the Alps Tour Q-School in Spain.
With the top 35 and ties earning their cards for 2017, Alps Tour regular Tommy bogeyed the third and fourth and then ran up a triple bogey seven at the fifth to slip to seven over par and out of the picture on the Asia Coure at a soggy La Cala Golf Resort.
But younger brother Eamonn, who had missed the cut, came to rescue by taking over on the bag and he clearly exerted a calmly influence as Tommy played the remaining holes in two under par with birdies at the ninth and 13th and 11 solid pars.
His two over 74 left him tied for 29th on the four over, one shot inside the limit, securing the 32nd card in Category 6 for 2017.
There was no luck for 19-year old Kilkenny amateur Luke Donnelly, who will still have a Category 7 category membership, as he closed with a 75 to finish an otherwise excellent week in 53rd on nine over.
Eamonn O’Driscoll will resume caddying duties on December 21, when he heads to Thailand to carry the bag for pal and Alps Tour regular David Carey at the First Stage of the Asian Tour Q-School with Headfort’s Rory McNamara also an entrant.
As for the Alps Tour Q-School, former Challenge Tour player Baptiste Chapellan closed with a 73 to top the qualifiers alongside countryman Antoine Rozner (74) on seven under par with former European Tour player Jean-Baptiste Gonnet a shot further back in third after a 68.
Scotland’s Jack McDonald was fifth on four under after a 69 with compatriot Clarke Lutton eighth but McDonald's former Walker Cup team mate Ewen Ferguson (seven over) and former Irish Amateur Open champion Jamie Savage (eight over) missed out on full cards.
The 38 graduates came from France (11), England (9), Austria (5) and Italy (4) with two representatives each for the Netherlands, Scotland and Spain and one each for New Zealand, Ireland and Finland.
