Europe’s premier winter golf circuit, The Gecko Tour, resumed this week with the first tournament of the year at the Parador course in Málaga. Gonzalo Gancedo carded a 64 in the opening round (including an albatross on the first hole – his 10th of the day) and a two-round total of 136 to win the ninth leg of the 2016-2017 season by two shots from Briton Mike Bedford and Slovakia’s Peter Valasek. Joint fourth were current order of merit leader Andreas Andersson, Rod Bastard and Ross Kellett.
Twenty-eight-year-old Gancedo, who learnt to play the game at the Guadalhorce club, with good friend Pablo Martín (a multiple European Tour winner), did not commit himself fully to golf until seven years ago, and since then he has been achieving gradual progress – including several top finishes in previous Gecko events – without making it to the winner’s podium. Now his objective is for a second victory, and further inroads on the Gambito, Alps and Challenge Tours.
