Portuguese golfer Vasco Alves has secured his membership card for the 2026 Alps Tour, marking a significant advancement in his burgeoning professional career.
Alves finished tied for seventh at the Qualifying School Final, held over three days near Rome, Italy. The tournament took place at the Golf Nazionale and Terre dei Consoli courses.
He completed the final with a total of 210 strokes, 6 under par. His rounds included a 73 (+1), a 66 (-6), and a 71 (-1).
The top 35 finishers out of 156 competing players earned a full 2026 tour card. Alves comfortably surpassed this qualification threshold.
Frenchman Alexis Leray won the event with a score of 206 strokes, 10 under par.
Alves, 25, demonstrated consistent form leading up to the final, having finished third in the First Stage of the Q-School earlier in Italy.
Another Portuguese player, amateur Bernardo Costa Pinheiro, was eliminated from the final stage. Costa Pinheiro had received an invitation to the Final for representing Portugal in the U18 European Championship.
His coach, Miguel Valença, confirmed that players who compete for their country in ‘Boys’ and ‘Amateur’ events receive direct entry into the Qualifying School Final.
Alves’s qualification follows a long track record of strong performances throughout his amateur and early professional career. He was the U16 national champion in 2015.
In 2019, as an amateur, he achieved a significant milestone by winning the Portuguese Golf Federation/BPI Cup. He was also a key member of the Oporto Golf Club team that secured a “three-peat” in the 2022 National Clubs Championship.
He topped the Portuguese Golf Federation’s National BPI Amateur Ranking in 2023 before turning professional at the end of that year. His professional debut was auspicious, as he immediately won his first event, the Pro-Am Viana do Castelo tournament in Ponte de Lima.
He added a second professional title in June 2024 at the Open Cidade de Amarante.
In his second professional season in 2025, Alves notably made his first cut on the HotelPlanner Tour, Europe’s second-tier circuit, at the Open de Portugal.
He has also consistently performed well on the 2025 Timestamp Golf Tour, achieving two runner-up finishes and multiple other top-five placements. Alves still has a mathematical chance to claim the No. 1 ranking on the 2025 Timestamp Golf Tour, with one final tournament scheduled this week at Aroeira, in the Almada region.