Mullarney secures win and Challenge Tour card; Maguire and Power cruise through Q-School; Walsh fires 65
Winners of the 2023 Hauts de France-Pas de Calais Golf Open, Ireland's Ronan Mullarney and South Africa's Lejan Lewthwaite. Photo Credit: Federico Capretti/ Alps Tour Golf
Galway’s Ronan Mullarney claimed his second Alps Tour win of the season at the Hauts de France-Pas de Calais Golf Open at Aa St Omer to secure his Challenge Tour card for 2024 and top the Order of Merit heading to the season-ending Grand Final.
The former Irish Close champion (28) went bogey-free for all three rounds, closing with a five-under 66 to win by an impressive nine shots on 16-under-par.
“I’m delighted,” said Mullarney, who won €6,400. “It was good, it might not have looked stressful but trust me, it was extremely stressful. Today was by far the best I’ve played.
“The first two rounds, my short game saved me, but today I was very comfortable and I played well.”
He added: “Yeah, securing my card for the Challenge Tour was a big goal of mine. It’s my third year as a pro and my first year on the Alps Tour, so definitely things this year have gone a lot smoother than the first few years, so I suppose it's part of the learning process.”
With his Challenge Tour card secure, Mullarney’s goal now is to win the Grand Final in two weeks.
"I’m really competitive, I will definitely be heading to Asolo Golf Club trying to grab another trophy,” added Mullarney, who will be joined at the Grand Final by The Island’s Paul McBride and Rosslare’s Paul Murphy.
"I’ll be playing a pro-am in Spain next week and then will prepare for the Final.”
In the concurrent LET Access Series event, South Africa’s Lejan Lewthwaite beat Slovenia’s Katja Pogacar at the third sudden-death hole to win the title.
Meanwhile, Walker Cup duo Alex Maguire and Mark Power cruised through the First Stage of the DP World Tour Q-School at Golfclub Schloss Ebreichsdorf in Austria.
Laytown and Bettystown’s Maguire, who is still an amateur, closed with a one-over 73 to finish tied sixth on 14-under, just three shots behind England’s George Toone and American Brandon Kewalraman.
Kilkenny star Power, who tied for 33rd in the Horizon Irish Open on his professional debut last week, shot a one-under 71 to finish tied 16th on 12-under as 28 players progressed on 11-under or better to November’s Second Stage.
On the Ladies European Tour, Castlewarden’s Lauren Walsh made eight birdies in a six-under 65 to move up to tied ninth heading into the final round of the VP Bank Swiss Ladies Open.
The former Wake Forest star is just six shots behind Norway’s Madelene Stavnar, who shot 66 to lead by two shots on 12-under from France’s Anne-Charlotte Mora and Germany’s Alexandra Forsterling.
Olivia Mehaffey shot 77 to miss the two-over cut by eight shots.
On the Challenge Tour, Ballymena’s Dermot McElroy shot a three-under 69 to go into the final round of the Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos tied for 24th, eight shots behind England’s Andrew Wilson.
Conor Purcell’s 71 left him tied 35th on five-under with Jonathan Yates two shots further back in 52nd after a 71.
