CONSISTENT KELLETT EARNS PROMOTION TO CHALLENGE TOUR

By COLIN FARQUHARSON Calcarsongolf@scottishgolfview.com Ross Kellett is one of five players who have gained promotion from the Alps Tour to the European Challenge Tour next season. The Motherwell man, despite a disappointing joint 47th place finish in the weekend's final event of the Alps Tour - the Masters 13 Allianz at Pont Royal GC near Marseille, had done enough to finish fifth in the Tour's Order of Merit. The top five who are going up are Northern Ireland's Gareth Shaw, France's Thomas Fournier, England's Jack Senior, France's Jérôme Lando-Casanova and Ross Kellett. Italy's Niccolo Quintarelli will play on upper circuit as well thanks to Jack Senior's ranking on Challenge Tour. Kellett, who will be 23 on January 9, earned 22,168 Euros from 17 Alps Tour events, one of which he won. He also finished third behind Senior and Casanova in the Rookie of the Year table. “I’m relieved to finally get over the line. People had been saying that the job was almost done for a few weeks, but a few players had really come into the mix in the last few tournaments," said Kellett. "I’ve kept my focus on the Alps Tour for the whole season as I knew that’s what I was in control of. I turned down a few other events like the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open and I’m delighted it has paid off in the end.” In the Masters 13 Allianz Kellett had an uncharacteristic triple bogey and three double bogeys in rounds of 73, 78, 73 and 76 for a 12-over-par total of 300 which earned him 720 Euros. He had double bogey 6s at the sixth and 17th in his final round today (Sunday). Kellett finished 23 shots behind the winner of the 15,000 Euros first prize - Frenchman Adrien Bernadet who shot 69, 70, 72 and 66 to win by one shot from Northern Ireland's Gareth Shaw (72-70-70-66), runner-up for the fourth time this season. Shaw earned 10,000 Euros and was the leading Alps Tour money-winner for the season with a total of 34,545 Euros from 17 events. ALPS TOUR - Masters 13 Allianz Pont Royal GC, nr Marseille, France LEADING FINAL TOTALS Par 288 (4x72) 277 Adrien Bernadet (Fra) 69 70 72 66 (15,000 Euros) 278 Gareth Shaw (NIr) 72 70 70 66 (10,000 Euros) 281 Victor Dubuisson (Fra) 70 74 67 70 (7,500 Euros) SELECTED TOTALS 288 Jason Palmer (Eng) 75 71 71 71 (11th) (1,700 Euros) 289 Jack Senior (Eng) 71 75 73 70 (T12) (1,625 Euros) 290 Tom Sherreard (Eng) 71 79  71 69 (T14)  (1,450 Euros) 294 Steven Brown (Eng) 73 72 75 74 (T28) (912 Euros) 297 Andrew Cooley (Eng) 78 77 74 68 (T37) (720 Euros) 300 Ross Kellett (Sco) 73 78 73 76 (T47) (590 Euros) 302 Brendan McCarroll (Ire) 79 71 80 72 (T53) (540 Euros). ALPS TOUR FINAL ORDER OF MERIT 1 Gareth Shaw (Northern Ireland) 34,545 Euros. 17 events. 2 Thomas Fournier (France) 24,188 Euros. 17 events. 3 Jack Senior (England) 23, 784 Euros. 10 Events 4 Jeromo Lando Casanova (Italy) 22,251 Euros. 17 events. 5 Ross Kellett (Scotland) 22,168 Euros. 17 events. 6 Niccolo Quintarelli (Italy) 21,874 Euros. 16 events.  +Quintarelli is also promoted to the Challenge Tour next season because Jack Senior already has a ranking on it. ALPS TOUR ROOKIE OF THE YEAR TABLE 1 Jack Senior (England) 2 Jeromo Lando Casanova (Italy) 3 Ross Kellett (Scotland) SELECTED PLACINGS 7 Andrew Cooley (England) 9 Kris Nicol (Scotland)