Spectacular Lumine Praised During European Tour Qualifying School

The tense Final Stage of European Tour Qualifying School was held last week at the spectacular Lumine Mediterránea Beach & Golf Community, showcasing the venue and its golf courses, with the players competing widely praising the Costa Daurada resort.

156 hopefuls congregated playing privileges for 2019 from November 10-15. After six dramatic and challenging rounds over Lumine’s stunning Lakes and Hills Courses, the top 25 and ties were rewarded with their European Tour Cards.

Spain’s own Alejandro Cañizares emerged as the victor by lowest final round score, after being tied with Zander Lombard. Both finished on -24 with a six-round score of 404, with Cañizares’ final round 64, compared to Lombard’s 68, allowing the Spaniard to take victory.

Among the other notable recipients of their 2018 Tour Cards were Kristoffer Reitan, an amateur from Norway and Scott Gregory of England, who achieved the remarkable feat of gaining European Tour privileges after competing in all three stages and playing all 252 holes of Qualifying School 2018. 

Commenting on yet another year of great drama at Lumine Mediterránea Beach & Golf Community, Calle Carlsson, the General Manager, said: “We have just witnessed golfing history being made and it has been an honour to play host to the Final Stage of European Tour Qualifying School. The careers of some of the future stars of the European Tour just started here today and I am very excited to see how they progress.

“It is a pleasure to have worked with the European Tour in staging this exceptional event, and I would like to personally thank all the players and officials for their kind words in regards to Lumine. It is a true testament to the hard work that our team puts in and their preparations for such an important occasion.”

Mike Stewart, Qualifying School Director, said: “Lumine sets the standard for not only a Qualifying School Final Stage venue, but also for a European Tour venue too. The quality of The Lakes and Hills Courses, as well as the practice facilities and off-course amenities, cannot be faulted and have received just high praise from officials and players.

“Calle and his team have been brilliant, and it has been a pleasure working with them in such an important event. The team has worked tirelessly to ensure that the Q School experience has been memorable and enjoyable for all competitors.” 

Further praise for Lumine was received from the competitors, who offered their thoughts on why the Spanish gem is such a special place to play the game.

Max Schmitt

“I played here two years ago at Second Stage, so I do know the course quite well. I like the Lakes Course more, but the Hills Course is also a great course.”

Zander Lombard

“I like the two different courses. The Lakes Course is more open, links style and a bit longer and the Hills Course is tight and shorter, so it does even the field out. It’s not just the long hitters or the good scramblers that do well so you need to be on with all aspects of the game on both courses.”

Matteo Manassero

“They’re good golf courses. If the wind blows at all they’re a great test and you will have used all your shots in the bag. You have the opportunity to make a lot of birdies but I think it’s going be a great test.”

Deyen Lawson

“They’re both good. With it less windy today I was able to attack more. I wouldn’t mind if the wind gets up though. The two courses are great, as well as the practice facilities. There wouldn’t be too many other venues that could host something like this at this time of year with so many players and everything going on.”

Bernd Ritthammer

“Last year was the first time I played here. It’s great! I like is that the two courses are very different, so the Hills Course can be very tricky, today it was calm but if there is some wind in the air it can be very, very tricky, so today I felt it played quite easy because the wind wasn’t swirling or anything. And then you have the Lakes Course, which is the complete opposite with a lot of wide fairways where you can really go for it, some water in play, tough par threes as well, but it’s very different. The Hills Course is a precision course, and I feel like you can make more mistakes on it than the Lakes, but if your game is on like mine was, then you have many wedges and you can make your birdies.”

Clement Sordet

“I think they’re great. I think I prefer the Hills Course to the Lakes Course but they’re both challenging especially if it gets windy but they’re both fun. “The greens are a bit faster on the Hills Course and it’s a bit trickier, and the Lakes Course is a bit more open so you can miss some drives, but they’re both kind of hard to score on especially if it gets windy.”

Niklas Lemke

“Overall the two courses are great. They have had a lot of rain here and so it is soft but means a good opportunity to attack the pins and try to make birdies . The greens are rolling really well, and pins are challenging. Although it is kind of wet, the guys have done a good job and it's a good golf course to play”.

Stay up to date with all the latest from Lumine on social media:

Twitter @LumineGolf.