Andrew's Danish Challenge (HPT) Preview

People talk a lot about growing the game of golf. You know who doesn’t get enough credit for doing it, not talking about it? Thomas Bjorn, that’s who. He was the first Dane to play in the Ryder Cup, in 1997. He played twice more and then he captained the winning side in 2018 – and he won 15 events on the European Tour, as it was then. Since he did that, Soren Hansen, Nicolai Hojgaard and Thorbjorn Olesen have played in Ryder Cups. It’s a virtual certainty that Rasmus Hojgaard will join that list in the autumn, and we surely aren’t far from Rasmus Neergard-Petersen reaching that level. To say nothing of supporting talents like Jacob Skov Olesen, Niklas Norgaard, Lucas Bjerregard, Frederik Kjetterup… you get the message. For a country of about 6 million souls, Denmark punches seriously above it’s weight in world golf. 

This week, we get to see a new course and we get to see a bunch of the next crop of Danes taking on the rest of the world as the Hotel Planner Tour swings north before heading back to Spain.

The Tournament

Bogense Golf Club is a new one on me, and the internet has not been helpful. Here’s what I do know: this is 7,062 yards of par-72 not far from the North Coast of Fyn, the central island in Denmark. It is pan flat, with no water and very few trees, exposed to the elements. Fairways are narrow and bunkers are small but numerous. It is very much links style golf, with weather and tight approaches on sandy courses the order of the day. If you’re researching it yourself, it’ll help to know that it was previously known as Gyldensteen and also as Hans Christian Andersen Golf Club. You’ll also see that this course, in layout terms, is nuts. Yes, it is par-72, but it has only eight par fours (there are five fives and five threes) and only three par-fours on the back nine. We finish 5-3-5-4-3. I’m quietly confident that’ll be the only time this season that happens on any tour I cover.

I’ve said that this is an exposed course, so, good news: we’re going to see lots of wind. That’s especially the case on Thursday, and I think that we’re going to see a very tough day at the office for these guys, though it should get a trifle easier as the week goes along. With the fields more standardised now we’re into the European swing, there’s less to focus on who is taking part, although it is of course worth keeping an eye on those talented Danes on local invitations. I’m keeping it simple this week, looking for guys who are more about accuracy than about length, who play well on links courses, and who are showing decent current form. It was, as always, tough to leave Joshua Berry out as he returns to this level, and there are plenty of other talented players in this field but I’m just not sure how they’ll handle this test of ball striking in high winds. It is, ultimately, a specialist skill. 

On that note, Eddie Pepperell has decided to take a break from golf, which is a brave and sensible decision and I wish him well – but this would have been a very suitable course for him, so look for someone a bit “Pepperlly” and you ought to be okay.

Selections

Before the prices came out, I had a clear first name on my list, and he’s still an easy pick now the bookies have had their say. Euan Walker has spent longer at this level than most would have expected, but the 29-year-old is playing some of the best golf of his career this year, finishing third in Spain to grab his best finish of eight consecutive cuts. He’s the 14th ranked player on Tour and a win here would all but cement his DPWT card for next season. He’s won at this level before, last year in Switzerland and in the British Challenge in 2022, which was on a links course in St Mellion, Cornwall. His home course is Dundonald Links and he was second at Portmanock in The Amateur Championship. This is a perfect setup for him, and whilst he’s short in the market, I would back him at even shorter prices.

A second veteran with a penchant for links golf and a great ball-striking game is my old favourite Robin Sciot-Siegrist. The Frenchman is, rather to my surprise, spending a second season at this level having narrowly missed out on regaining his card last year despite finishing fourth on the truest links challenge of the year in Northern Ireland. He was also 13th in the Danish Challenge.  He’s shown he’s in form with a fifth place in Abu Dhabi two starts ago and will be relishing this test – the worse winds the better for him. Sitting 39th on the HPT rankings, he needs a good week to improve his chances of returning to the level he expects to play at.

My team is finalised with a links specialist at the start of his career, Alex Maguire. I won’t walk through his entire amateur career but he was a quarter-finalist then a semi-finalist in The Amateur Championship in 2022 and 2023, and his best professional result in a short career came at windswept, coastal Brittany in last year’s Challenge Tour. This would be a big breakthrough but if it is going to happen anywhere this is the right event and he certainly has the talent to do it.

• Euan Walker, 22/1

• Robin Sciot-Siegrist, 50/1

• Alex Maguire, 275/1

  
  

All are ¼ odds 5 places, 1pt e/w, Bet365.  Better odds may become available.