Berkshire’s Barry Lane became the first winner of a European Tour event in Madagascar with victory in the Staysure Tour’s MCB Tour Championship, at International Golf Club Du Rova. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

BERKSHIRE’S Barry Lane became the first winner of the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar at International Golf Club Du Rova – his second Staysure Tour victory of the season.

The 1993 Ryder Cup player shot a final two under-par 69 as he came from four shots back at the start of play to clinch his eighth victory on the over 50s circuit.

It was his second title of the year, having won the Senior Italian Open in June.

Overnight leader Clark Dennis could not follow his impressive bogey-free second round of 65, as Lane seized the opportunity to win the first stage of the three-legged final MCB Tour Championship series by one stroke.

The 59-year-old made a steady start to his final round with six successive pars before his first birdie of the day came at the par three seventh.

Lane made the turn at level par after dropping a shot on the ninth, but regained his focus on the back nine as he returned to the clubhouse bogey free to post three-under par for 54 holes.

Dennis, playing in the same group as Lane, had trouble on the home stretch as the American dropped six shots in seven holes, eventually finishing in share of fourth place.

The American was going in search of his sixth Staysure Tour title, and second win of the year after victory in the Winstongolf Senior Open, in Germany, in July.

But five-time European Tour winner Lane picked up shots at the 13th and 15th to move into the lead.

With the clubhouse target having been set at two-under by Spaniard Juan Quiros and Frenchman Jean-François Remesy, Lane knew a par on the final hole would seal a memorable victory on a course which tested the players’ patience to the utmost.

His four meant he became the maiden winner of the first European Tour-sanctioned event in Madagascar, the largest island in the Indian Ocean.

“It feels amazing,” said Barry Lane. “I knew I was one ahead coming down 18 and I still tried to hole the birdie putt, but I knew I could two-putt to win, which is always nice.

“I got off to a slow start, but putted beautifully on the first four holes and then started to play quite nicely.

“But I hung in there. Clark had a nightmare on the 15th and that changed things. This game changes so quickly and that’s the nature of it.

“This week was all about mental ability. Whatever happened you had to accept it and try and do the best you could.

“Mentally, I thought I was amazing this week, because not once in 54 holes did I get annoyed or upset with any shot. I just played and got on with it.

“It’s such a difficult golf course because it’s quite bouncy and if you miss the greens it is so difficult to get up and down.

“During the week I didn’t feel like I was flushing it, but I tried to hit every fairway and every green to give myself a chance.

“It’s great that at 59 years old I am still winning, having won the Senior Italian Open earlier in the year when I was 58.

“I’m very happy to win at 59 and may it continue for another few years,” Lane added.

Quiros and Remesy finished in a share of second place, following their final rounds of 69.

Dennis, meanwhile, carded a round of 75 to join Wales’ Stephen Dodd and Sussex’s first round leader Gary Evans in fourth, two strokes behind Lane.

Home favourite Jean Baptiste Ramarozatovo, who was cheered on by the home crowd, recorded a round of 69 to take a share of seventh.

The three-time winner of the Madagascan Open in the late 1990s finished alongside Argentinian Mauricio Molina, Kent’s Peter Wilson and South African duo James Kingston and Chris Williams on level-par.

Lane now in contention for No. 1

THE 675 Order of Merit points won by Lane leaves the Englishman in with a real chance of claiming the John Jacobs Trophy and being crowned the European Seniors No. 1 for a first time.

With two events to go in the Seychelles and Mauritius, Barry Lane is third on the Staysure Tour Order of Merit, with Wales’ Phillip Price, who finished 18th in Madagascar, on 2,377 points, with Lancashire’s David Shacklady in second 2,033.5 points.

This week’s MCB Tour Championship – Seychelles gets under way on Thursday this week, instead of the traditional Friday start.

•For final scores from the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar click here.

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Sussex’s Gary Evans is the first round leader at the MCG Tour Championship – Madagascar after a fine round of 68 left him with a one-shot lead on three-under par at International Golf Club Du Rova. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

SUSSEX’S Gary Evans carded an opening round of 68 at the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar to lead by one shot as the Staysure Tour held a tournament on the Indian Ocean island for the first time in its 27-year history.

Evans rose to the top after his three-under par round saw him finish the day one shot ahead Spain’s José Manuel Carriles, Stephen Dodd, from Wales, Madagascan Jean Baptiste Ramarozatovo and France’s Jean Pierre Sallat.

Evans, who has recorded three top 10s in his rookie season on the Staysure Tour, made a quick start with a birdie on the first hole.

And the player, often regarded as the best Englishman never to have won on the European Tour, bounced back from his bogey on the second with three consecutive gains, including two on par threes, ahead of the turn.

A dropped shot on the 10th was quickly recovered on the par three 11th before he made back-to-back birdies on the par four 15th and par three 16th.

Even with a double bogey on his penultimate hole following a difficult lie in the bunker, Evans was more than happy to sign for a round of 68 and take the lead after round one.

“If you had offered me that score at the beginning of the day, I would have snapped your hand off,” said Evans, who represented Ascot’s Mill Ryde GC for many years as a European Tour player.

“I’m very happy with that and can’t complain at all,” added Evans, who shared the Brabazon Trophy – at the English Amateur Open Strokeplay Championship – back-to-back in 1990 and 1991.

“It is an extremely difficult golf course and it is hard to be aggressive, but I actually played really nicely, especially on the par threes.

“I hit a lot of good shots into the par threes which made life a lot easier. I played the rest of the course quite nicely, but I played those holes really well,” said Evans, who grew up playing as a junior at Worthing GC.

“I could’ve birdied all five of the par threes. On the fourth hole I hit a seven-iron into five feet – and missed the putt. All of my approaches were close and none of them were long putts.

“I drove the ball well and made a couple of small mistakes. It was a shame on 17 because I hit a perfect drive and then hit my wedge on-line with the flag.

“It landed on the front edge of the green and span back, as opposed to going forward, landing in a really bad lie in the bunker.

“You are going to have holes that will bite you because it’s the nature of the golf course. It’s all about patience and a clear mind and executing your game as best as you can.”

Hot on Evans’ heels are a group of four players at two-under, including local professional Ramarozatovo, who became the first Madagascan player to tee it up in a Staysure Tour event.

The island star held the lead during the opening round following three birdies and an eagle, but a double bogey on the 17^th saw him drop back to a share of second place.

Madagascar became the 46th country to host a Staysure Tour tournament since its inception in 1992 as the first stage of the three-legged MCB Tour Championships got under way at International Golf Club Du Rova.

The second round of the MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar gets under way at 8am local time with Evans teeing off at 10:45am.

•For lives scoring in Madagascar click here.

Evans was tipped as the ‘next Faldo’

GARY Evans was tipped by many as the new Faldo when he burst on the amateur scene a decade after the Hertfordshire player became youngest-ever English Amateur Champion at 17, in 1975.

Evans won the Carris Trophy – the English U18 Strokeplay Championship in 1986 – and played in the 1991 Walker Cup for Great Britain and Ireland against the USA, at Portmarnock, with the American team containing Phil Mickelson.

Evans beat David Duval in the Saturday singles, and partnered Andrew Coltart and Jim Payne in the foursomes in a GB&I team that also contained Ireland’s future Ryder Cup players Padraig Harrington and Paul McGinley.

Evans spent several years coaching after quitting the European Tour back in 2006 after shoulder and back injuries, which came on top of a persistent wrist injury.

He appeared in a total of 353 tournaments between 1992 and 2006 earning nearly €3.4million finishing in the top three five times.

The post Evans hits front in MCB Tour Championship – Madagascar as local Ramarozatovo fires appeared first on Golf North.

Welshman Stephen Dodd is desperate to maintain his run of a victory in every season he has been on the Staysure Tour, in the Austrian Senior Open, at Murhof GC. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

STEPHEN Dodd has been the first to admit his 2019 Staysure Tour campaign had not gone to plan.

Yet despite a balky driver, he carded an opening-round of 64 to take a one-shot lead at the Murhof Legends – Austrian Senior Open on eight-under par.

The Welshman – who was crowned The Amateur Champion at Royal Birkdale 30 years ago – showed remarkable resilience during the Staysure Tour’s first official day of competition in Austria – the 45^th different country to host Europe’s over-50s circuit.

Following a bogey at the eighth hole, Dodd carded back-to-back birdies on the ninth and 10th, and then repeated the bounce-back effort by erasing his double-bogey at the 15^th with consecutive gains on the next two holes.

“The score was good,” the 53-year-old said, “I didn’t particularly drive it very well, so I’ve got a bit to work on perhaps, but I am delighted with the score.”

Dodd has collected one win on the Staysure Tour in each of the three years he has been eligible to play.

But so far he has not yet matched that high standard in 2019, and finds himself in 30^th on the Order of Merit.

Still, the man who collected his first professional title at the 1992 Bank Austria Open knows the book is not closed this season just yet.

“To put it politely, it’s been a quite one,” he said. “The season is not finished yet though, we’ve still got a few more events, so we’ll see where we are come December.

“There are plenty of birdie chances if you drive it well around here. The greens are good and the weather was perfect today so it all sets up for a good week.

“So far, we’ve had a fantastic week. Gary Stangl and the team and everybody at Murhof have looked after us fantastically well.”

The highlight of the day came when Frenchman Thomas Levet holed his 235-yard second shot into the par five seventh for an albatross.

“Making an albatross helps a lot,” the former Ryder Cup winner said. “I had my first albatross 39 years ago when I was 12-years-old and a 24-handicap. I holed a five-wood then, but there were no spectators.

“Today, the spectators behind the green were so shocked nobody reacted, so I thought, from where I was, that the ball had run through the green because I could see the pitch mark but not the ball.

“When I arrived at the green, I fixed my pitch mark and started walking to the back of the green when a guy shouted ‘It’s in the hole!’”

Levet hit every green in regulation on day one, and along with his three-under par hole, signed for a six-under 66, which put him in a share of fourth place alongside Jarmo Sandelin, José Coceres and Rafael Gomez.

A pair of Englishmen – double Senior Major Champion Roger Chapman and Staysure Tour Rookie Gary Evans – sit only one stroke behind Dodd on seven-under, while home-hero Markus Brier carded a 71, which left him in a share of 29^th.

The second round of the Murhof Legends – Austrian Senior Open begins on Saturday at 8am, with the lead group of Dodd, Chapman and Evans set to go at 11.18am.

For live scoring click here

The post Why Dodd drives himself on to maintain winning run on Staysure Tour in Austria appeared first on Golf North.

Gary Evans was one of four players to tie the lead after the first round of the Senior Italian Open. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

FOUR players edged ahead of the field and will take a share of the lead into the second round of the Senior Italian Open, including one-time Worthing golfer Gary Evans.

Evans joined former England Amateur legend Gary Wolstenholme and, Scotland’s Surrey-based Gary Orr plus Austrian Markus Brier on four-under par.

The quartet all shot 68 on a difficult Villaverde Resort course, which enjoyed a day off from rains that have been hitting the north-east region of Italy for nearly six weeks.

With greens that were more receptive to approach shots, but fairways which eliminate distance off of the tee, the four leaders were divided on whether or not the course was playing easier or harder as a result.

“I think it made it harder,” said Wolstenholme, a two-time British Amateur Champion. “There’s quite a few holes uphill, decent par fours that are pretty strong, and you had to hit two good shots to find the green.

“Then once you found the green, you had to be in the right area to give yourself a decent chance.

“Putting was quite tough as well because there is a bit of grain and that grain can play on your mind, so you’ve got to be very positive with your putting, which is not always easy to do.

“But at the end of the day, you get the chance to shoot four under on a golf course as difficult as this, I’m very pleased.”

Evans, who was attached to Mill Ride in Berkshire for many of his 14 years on the European Tour, was also quick to identify another layer of difficulty when the course conditions become this wet.

“I had one in the rough on the tenth where I had a little bit of a jumpy lie and I hit just a smooth nine-iron, and I was lucky it came out perfectly,” said Evans, who made his Seniors debut in the Jordan Mixed Open.

“With the rough being this damp, sometimes it can come out a little heavy, but on that occasion it came out well.

“I’m pleased with my round in these conditions although I probably let a few get away from me on my inward nine.”

Taking a different view, were the other two co-leaders, Brier and Orr.

“As it’s my first time around here, I don’t know how it plays when it’s a bit firmer,“ said Brier.

“But length is not my issue, so I would say it’s probably a bit easier because you can shoot at the pins and it’s not going to roll away or anything.”

Orr, who was attached to Burhill in Surrey, for many years, now represnts Helensburgh GC, from where he hails.

“Although it’s playing a bit longer,” said Orr, “it probably is playing a bit easier because the ball stops when it hits the green. Plus the greens are good – they’ve held up really well despite all the rain.”

Sitting one stroke back of the leading quartet is Berkshire’s Barry Lane, who only dropped a single shot in his opening-round, which also featured an eagle and a chip-in birdie.

Clark Dennis, the winner of the last two editions of the Senior Italian Open, battled hard in his opening round to card a one-under par 71, and place himself firmly in the mix, finishing day one in a share of 11^th place.

Should the American go on to win the Senior Italian open for a third time, he would become the first player to win three-successive editions of a Staysure Tour tournament since Colin Montgomerie won the Travis Perkins Masters in 2013, 2014 and 2015 at Woburn GC.

•For live scoring in the Senior Italian Open click here.

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