England’s Robert Coles capped off a stormy and turbulent week at the 2013 Beko Classic with a second-round, course-record, 64 (-8) that together with his first round left him two ahead of the competition with a -12 total (132) at Gloria Golf Club in Belek, Turkey.
In a second round that spanned two days due to severe weather and delays during Round 2, Coles managed to take advantage of his tied-5th position going into the final round and finish on top to take home the winner’s cheque for $8,000, and his second Beko Classic title having won in 2009 at Antalya Golf Club.
Round 1’s conditions were representative of standard Turkish weather, however, severe lightening storms and downpours caused rain delays on day two of the tournament and subsequently a shortening of the tournament to two rounds as opposed to the scheduled three.
Coles had only hit two shots at the first hole of his second round when play was halted, but came out the following day knowing he had to attack the course to move up the leaderboard:
“It feels fantastic to win, I was lucky enough to win a few years ago, so to come back and win it again is really nice,” explained Coles. “I started off really well on the New Course – started off slowly but managed to get it going and finished off ok. I had a good draw really – I was 09:50am the second day,which was obviously quote late and meant I didn’t have to play too many…when I returned I could not believe how good the drainage was on the golf course…we played today and the sun was out and it was a dry golf course.
“Whenever you come back and you start on the golf course mid-way round you’re always a bit apprehensive about getting off to a decent start…we all knew it was a two-round tournament and we needed to have a good day. I’ve not had the best of years so this is great way to finish and I’m delighted with it really,” he added.
Round 1’s play went without a hiccup and superb 66s from Welshman, Rhys Enoch, and England’s Ryder Cup star, Paul Broadhurst, left them atop the leaderboard overnight as forecasts of heavy rain became evident.
Broadhurst continued his fine form, carding a second round, four-under 68 two finish at tied-second on ten-under par (134) alongside fellow countrymen Jamie Elson and Andrew Marshall, both of whom carded second round five-under par 67s.
2011 Open Champion, Darren Clarke, also made a bid for the title but not even a second round fiver-under par 67 was enough to catch Coles, as Clarke finished on a nine-under par 135 total for the week in fifth place.
Early leader Enoch looked to chase but a triple-bogey on the 8th of Gloria’s New Course was enough to thwart his efforts as he finished on two-under par for the day and in sixth position on eight-under par (136) for the tournament.
Solid scoring throughout the week from the stellar field showed the great quality of players invited to play at the longest-running Pro-Am on the PGAs of Europe calendar, with stars of the European and Challenge Tours, such as Raymond Russell, Ronan Rafferty, Philip Archer and special guest hailing from the PGA Tour, John Daly, all battling the elements expertly.
The tournament’s Pro-Am honours were taken by Bona Team who’s net -40 (124 + 124 = 248) gave them a four-shot advantage at the top of the leaderboard having been aided by England’s Ben Mason in round one and Rhys Enoch in round two.
Full final results can be found on the 2013 Beko Classic Tournament Hub Page here: http://eur.pe/1hgnwmq.
Gloria Golf Club www.Gloria.com.tr
PGAE www.pgae.com