STEVEN HUME JOINT 2ND

FINISH ON ALPS TOUR AS


GAVIN DEAR PLUNGES

By COLIN FARQUHARSON
Murrayshall's Steven Hume and Gavin Dear are travelling all over Europe together. But today, in the final round of the Alps Tour's Montecchia Open in Italy, they went in different directions.
Hume closed with a six-under-par 66 for a total of 11-under 205 which gave him joint second place and a financial reward of 3,232 Euros – his best performance as a rookie pro.
Meanwhile, former Walker Cup man and amateur star Dear, one of the most consistent players on the Alps Tour, fell from grace with one of his worst rounds as a pro – an eight-over-par 80 which dropped him to two-over 218, a share of 36th place and a payslip for 481 Euros 50 cents.
Hume, pictured above by Cal Carson Golf Agency, came roaring into the picture with an outward half of 32, birdieing the long first, the short second, the sixth and the long ninth. A birdie at the 10th got him to five under par but he dropped his only shot of the round at the 13th before finishing strongly with birdies sixth and seven at the 16th and long 18th.
In contrast, things went from bad to worse for Dear after he had birdied the long first hole. He dropped shots at an alarming rate – the second, the fourth, the seventh and the ninth to be out in three-over 39. It didn’t get any better after the turn for the Murrayshall man. He bogeyed the 11th and 15th before the final body blow – a triple bogey 8 at the long 18th which Hume had reduced to four strokes.
Englishman Adam Hodkinson, with not a single bogey over 54 holes, was the winner with scores of 66, 68 and 68 for 14-under-par 202 and the first prize of $6,525, finishing three shots ahead of another Englishman, Ben Mannix, Slovakia’s Gregor Slabe and Hume.
LEADING FINAL TOTALS
Par 216 (3x72)
Prizemoney in Euros
202 Adam Hodkinson (Eng) 66 68 68 (6,525).
205 Steven Hume (Sco) 70 69 66, Ben Mannix (Eng) 73 67 65, Gregor Slabe (Slo) 68 67 70 (3,232).
206 Juan Antonio Bragulat (Spa) 74 66 66, Jason Palmer (Eng) 69 70 67 (2,047).
208 Fredrik Svanberg (Swi) 70 74 64 (1,710).
209 Matthew Baldwin (Eng) 73 68 68 (1,485).
210 Xavier Poncelet (Fra) 66 74 70, Alan Bihgan (Fra) 71 69 70, David Antonelli (Fra) 67 73 70, Leo Astl (Aut) 70 69 71 (1,071).
Selected totals:
212 Neil Chaudhuri (Eng) 70 67 75 (jt 15th) (750).
218 Gavin Dear (Sco) 70 68 80 (jt 36th) (481).