For the second successive season the leading lights from the European Challenge Tour and the Tour de las Americas will pit their wits against one another at the Abierto Internacional de Golf Copa Antioquia.
Boasting a prize fund of US$230,000 and a competitive field of 156 players drawn from 25 different nations, the third edition of the event will again be played at Club Campestre El Rodeo Sede in La Macarena, near Medellin, Colombia.
The tournament will be the 29th occasion on which the TLA and the Challenge Tour have joined forces since the first co-sanctioned event in 2003, the Costa Rica Open.
The defending champion this week will be Colombia’s David Vanegas, a member of both Tours. The 23 year old arrives in fine form, having finished is a tie for third place at the rain-affected Pacific Rubiales Bogota Open on the Nationwide Tour.
Vanegas said: “I’m very optimistic and happy to play the Copa Antioquia once again. This is, and will always be, a very special tournament in my life. I’m playing at my home course, in front of some of my friends and family, so hopefully I’ll be able to put up a nice title defence.”
Vanegas is one of 40 Colombians in the field, whilst Argentina provide a formidable trio in the shape of the big-hitting Clodomiro Carranza, European Tour champion Daniel Vancsik and Challenge Tour champion Alan Wagner.
Vancsik, a successful TLA graduate who went on to win the 2007 Madeira Islands Open BPI – Portugal and the 2009 BMW Italian Open on the European Tour, is making his return to the Challenge Tour after finishing 140th in The Race to Dubai last year.
Of the European contingent, Finland’s Antti Ahokas, Dutchman Wil Besseling and Italian Alessandro Tadini have all previously tasted success in South America. Meanwhile England’s Matt Ford, the current leader of the Rankings leader, will be looking to extend his advantage after finishing runner up in the season-opening Gujarat Kensville Challenge.
Located in Rionegro, a stunning mountain area some 50 kilometres from the city of Medellin, the Club Campestre El Rodeo Sede La Macarena is one of the country’s most historic clubs. Star names such as Bernhard Langer, Sandy Lyle, Curtis Strange and Sam Torrance all played the course in the late 1970s and early ‘80s to promote the game in Colombia.
