Pelayo Fernández from Asturias and Isabel Mas from Castellón, a precocious young man capable of overcoming older players with greater experience, and a golfer very skilled in short distances, with an impressive resume in this golf specialty, have won the title in the Spanish Under 16 Pitch & Putt Championship that has been successfully held at the Deva Golf course in Asturias.

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Also noteworthy are the top-ranked athletes in the different age groups after the two days of competition: Antón Pérez from Galicia and Isabel Mas from Castellón, the best cadets (15-16 years old); Pelayo Fernández from Asturias and Daniela Montolio from Barcelona, the best children (13-14 years old); Miguel García from Madrid and Lucía González from Cantabria, the best juniors (11-12 years old).

The aforementioned mix of precocity and experience has resulted in an increased spectacle guaranteed from the start, as evidenced by the fact that playing under par, very low par at that, became a requirement from the very beginning to occupy the top places in the two overall rankings.

Impressive tiebreaker playoff to crown Pelayo Fernández

In the men's category, no fewer than 35 players finished the first round with less than 54 strokes, with special mention for Eduardo Villarejo from Madrid and Ignacio Adaro from Asturias, who topped the leaderboard with rounds of 46 strokes each, a whopping 8 under par!

Such a display of power and skill overshadowed other equally commendable performances, not least those of his closest pursuers, the quartet of golfers who, with 48 strokes (6 under par), were tied for third place. Their names were Miguel García, Yago Izquierdo, Antón Pérez, and Pelayo Fernández.

The list could be expanded much further, including players who also significantly lowered the par of the course and who were part of the very large group of contenders for the final victory.

Given the situation, repeating such outstanding performances became essential to winning the title, a monumental challenge that was met most effectively by three players destined to resolve the three-way tie at the end of the day through a spectacular playoff. With scores of 97 strokes each, 11 under par, Pelayo Fernández from Asturias, Antón Pérez from Galicia, and Antonio Roldán from Cantabria settled the tie on the first hole thanks to Fernández's decisive shot, defeating his two junior rivals in the final moments.

The end of the tournament was so exciting that the Asturians Ignacio Adaro and Álvaro Faes could also have been involved in the fight for the title, with scores of 98 and 99 strokes, only one and two more than the leading trio; the Canary Islander Isaac Puerto, with 100; or, just a little further away, with 101, six other players who could well have taken on more prominence.

Isabel Más, another title for her spectacular collection

Meanwhile, in the women's category the situation was similar, with a tremendously close outcome where, of course, the winner was perfectly aware of this type of situation, having experienced it so many times before that her new title does not fail to mean that one has to take off one's hat.

The star of the show was, once again, Isabel Mas from Castellón, whose record includes the 2016 Spanish Benjamin Championship and, specifically within the Pitch & Putt discipline, the titles of Spanish Benjamin P&P Champion 2016, Alevín P&P Champion 2017 and 2018, Infantil P&P Champion 2019, Cadete Pitch & Putt Champion 2022, and Under 16 P&P Champion 2019 and 2022. Furthermore, she was the runner-up in the Spanish Under 16 Pitch & Putt Championship in 2017 and 2018, demonstrating her exceptional experience and overwhelming effectiveness.

Her triumph, however, as on other occasions, was by no means a walk in the park, but required maximum concentration and accuracy to become evident through a timely reaction on the final day, where she substantially improved her initial 52 strokes with a second round of 48 that gave her the title with a one stroke difference over the Galician Marta Vázquez.

Eighteen holes earlier, Marta Vázquez led the provisional standings, standing out as the only participant to break the 50-stroke barrier, finishing with a score of 5 under par. The Galician golfer was aware that she couldn't relax for a moment because lurking just a breath away were Eva Moura from Cantabria, also with 50 strokes; Laura Gorgees from Zaragoza, with 51; Isabel Mas and Cristina García with 52… many contenders for the final victory in a tournament where there was still plenty of action to be had.

The strong performance of Barcelona native Daniela Montolio, who finished third just three strokes behind the winner; the solid play of Cantabrian Laura Gorgees, who finished fourth with 104; and the presence of Castilian-Leonese María Carlón in fifth place with 106… were also important highlights of an unforgettable competition.

It should be noted that a minute of silence was observed in memory of Ramón Barrenechea, president of the Vizcaya Golf Federation, who recently passed away.

Additional information, photo gallery, results and start times at the end of each day can be found below in the Related Links section.