Five Irish players will tee it up at the Final Stage of Alps Tour Q-School on Wednesday at Golf Nazionale and Terre dei Consoli as they look to get a foot on professional golf’s ladder.
Marc Boucher and Tom Dowdall who played on the Alps Tour and Clutch Pro Tour last season were exempt into the final stage. Dowdall arrives in good form having progressed to the second stage of DP World Tour Q-School where he put on a decent showing in Spain.
They will be joined by amateur trio Cathal MacCanna of Carton House, Portumna’s Sam Murphy and former Shamrock Rovers, Burnley and Sunderland footballer Stephen Grant after they eased through the pre qualifier last week.
For the first two rounds, the 156 competitors will be alternating between Golf Nazionale and Terre dei Consoli Golf Club. The final round will be played at Golf Nazionale.
The format of the tournament is a 54-hole stroke play. After 36 holes, a cut will be made to the top 65 players and ties who will compete in the final round.
At the conclusion of the 54 holes, the top 35 players and ties ranked according to score will be eligible to receive Category 6 membership for the 2026 Alps Tour Season.
The remainder of the players who made the cut and finished between the 36th and 65th positions will be eligible to receive Category 8 membership. The remaining players who conclude the tournament between the 66th and 156th positions will be eligible for membership in Category 9.
Several recent participants from Alps Qualifying School have gone on to achieve remarkable success, becoming winners on the DP World Tour and the HotelPlanner Tour. Among them are Angel Hidalgo, David Ravetto, Martin Couvra and most recently Rocco Repetto Taylor, who earned his Alps Tour card at the 2024 Q-School and went on to win in 2025 both on the Alps Tour and on the HotelPlanner Tour.
