EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR EVENT IN FRANCE
WILL NOW FINISH ON MONDAY

From Michael Gibbons
European Challenge Tour Press Officer

The AGF Allianz Open des Volcans – Challenge de France will be concluded on Monday morning after prolonged lightning storms and heavy rain left European Challenge Tour Officials no choice but to suspend the fourth round overnight.
Gareth Paddison of New Zealand, who has five holes to complete when play resumes at the Golf des Volcans at 07:10 local time on Monday morning, leads the tournament on nine under par, five strokes clear of his playing partner Leif Westerberg of Sweden.
England’s Chris Gane, who has four holes to finish in the morning, is six behind Paddison on three under, with Frenchman Michael Lorenzo-Vera, and Oliver Whiteley a further shot back.
With lightning activity circling the Golf des Volcans throughout the day – the players were called off the course three times due to the unstable weather conditions – coupled with heavy rainfall that began flooding bunkers towards the end of the day, the Challenge Tour Officials had no option but to resume play on Monday morning.
Tournament Director, José Maria Zamora, said: “There was a lot of lightning in the area and the rain was also causing problems with some of the fairways, greens and bunkers starting to flood.
Scot Chris Doak did complete his fourth round before the premature closure for the day. He had runds of 73, 72, 74 and 69 for three-over-par 287.