Hugh Foley shot a two-under round of 70 to lie tied for 25th after the opening round of the Alps Tour’s Parma Alps Open in Italy, with Ronan Mullarney one shot further back and sharing 32nd.
With just the Alps Tour Grand Final to follow, it’s a particularly important week for Galway man Mullarney, who came into the week in fourth place in the Alps Tour Order of Merit and with the top five earning promotion to the HotelPlanner Tour for 2026.
Just 400 points separate Mullarney and sixth-ranked Spaniard, Alvaro Hernandez Cabezuela, and the latter opened with a four-under 68 to end day one tied for 12th, while fifth-ranked Javier Calles Roman shot a one-over 73.
Foley is still in with a slim chance of earning promotion but he’d need a strong finish this week and a win in the season-ending championship which offers double points. He made the turn at -1 after two birdies and a bogey, but made a double bogey on the 10th before finishing with three birdies in the final eight.
Mullarney, playing alongside Cabezuela, started on the 10th and made back-to-back birdies on 11 and 12 but couldn’t build from there. Bogeys on 15 and three, with a birdie on one resulted in his one-under tally.
Robert Moran shot a two-over 74 to share 76th and needs to pick up several strokes on day two if he’s to make the cut, while Marc Boucher has a further two strokes to gain after an opening 76.
At the top of the leaderboard, Spain’s Manuel Morugan shot an eight-under 64 to take first-round leader honours over Jacobo Vecchi Fossa – the third-ranked player in the Order of Merit – with a further six players sharing third on -6.
Among the sextet are eighth-ranked Jorge Macais and 10th-ranked Asier Aguirre Izcue who could climb into the top five with a win this week.
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