German Thomas Ggele, with 197 (64 66 67, -19) shots, won the Sergio Melpignano Senior Italian Open, a Legends Tour tournament played at San Domenico Golf (par 72) in Savelletri di Fasano (Brindisi). First success on the over 50 circuit for Ggele, who managed to hold on to the lead since the first of the three rounds. Welshman Bradley Dredge failed to overtake, confirming his second position with 200 (-16). Third place was all English with 202 (-14) for Simon Griffiths and Andrew Marshall. The trophy for best Italian went to Emanuele Canonica, who finished the competition in eighth place with 206 (-10) ahead of Alessandro Tadini, tenth with 207 (-9). Michele Reale placed 32nd with 213 (-3), Mauro Bianco, 52nd with 218 (+2), Gianluca Pietrobono, 60th with 231 (+15). The defending champion, James Kingston, finished in 18th place with 209 (-7), while the Brazilian Adilson Da Silva, leader of the order of merit of the Legends Tour, did not go beyond 24th place, with 211 (-5). The Sergio Melpignano Senior Italian Open also included in the calendar of the Italian Pro Tour, the circuit of national and international competitions organized by the Italian Golf Federation, with the support of the Official Advisor Infront Italy offered a prize pool of 400,000 euros, of which 60,000 went to the winner.
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Senior, results
Thomas Ggele is beaming as he comments on his first title on the Legends Tour. The 53-year-old German thus adds another trophy to his collection after the 1995 Open des Volcans on the Challenge Tour. I am thrilled with a success that repays me for so much effort. It was not easy in the last round to maintain the gap on Bradley Dredge and keep first place. I dedicate the victory to my wife, who supported me as a caddie in the competition and I look to the future with great confidence. Congratulations to all the staff at San Domenico Golf for presenting the course in excellent conditions. I love Puglia, the climate, the food and the hospitality. It will be a pleasure to return here to defend the title.
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Legends Experience: double success for Williams. Also on the field were Donadoni, Tassotti and Paramatti In the stableford ranking reserved for 15 amateurs, the Englishman Nigel Williams won the tournament with 115 points and also established himself as the winner of the order of merit of the Legends Experience. The former footballers Paramatti, Donadoni and Tassotti finished in fifth (108), eighth (107) and fifteenth (84) respectively.
The awards ceremony was emotional in memory of Franco Chimenti and Sergio Melpignano The awards ceremony opened with a long round of applause to remember Franco Chimenti, historic President of the Italian Golf Federation from 2002 to 2024, who passed away last October 3, and Sergio Melpignano, promoter of the development of golf and tourism in Puglia who left us in 2015. The speakers included: Aldo Melpignano, representing the Melpignano family, owners of the Club; Leonardo Gravina, FIG Southern Macrozone Manager and FIG Regional Delegate for Abruzzo; Mark Aspland, Chief Operating Officer Legends Tour; Alessandro Rogato, Italian Pro Tour and Director of the Italian Open; Monica Cosenza, President of San Domenico Golf. Also present were Marco Ibello, Regional Delegate FIG Campania and Giuseppe Mainella, Regional Delegate FIG Molise.
