Andrew's Le Vaudreuil Challenge (HPT) Preview

An incredibly frustrating Sunday on both Tours, where we started with a player one shot off the lead and in third in each tournament, and finished with a win-only third and a top-five each-way 13th.  Nice to be picking players who are there or thereabouts but my selections play Sundays like Tommy Fleetwood. 

Of more note on the HPT is the top of the leaderboard. Our winner, Jamie Morrison has been around forever – it is 15 and ten years since his two DPWT wins – but having lost his card he’s been poor this season, making one cut on the DPWT in December and one on the HPT this month from 13 total starts. I can cope with missing him, and even with missing Max Kennedy who I backed at Q-school but I thought he was probably a year away.  Whilst Robin Sciot-Seigrist was a frustration, and Calum Scott was simply poor, this was just one of those weeks. It’ll be harder to shake off the KFT results but that’s for the other preview. Here on the HPT, we need to cover the second consecutive week of quality golf on the French coast. Let’s get into it.

The Tournament

As last week, we’re at a well-established venue, other than a Covid break in 2020 we’ve been coming here since 2013, and we have a decent list of former winners. People of whom we’ve all heard won here – Ryan Fox and Aaron Rai are the pick of the bunch, but Marcel Siem and Beef Johnston aren’t too shabby either. What that demonstrates is that this is a tee-to-green test, and that’s what I see when I review the recent leaderboards, too. At 7,000 yards exactly for a par 72, this is more about accuracy than length. The last four events have been won at -14 or -15, which gives a clear idea of what’s needed to win. 

It is also curious that no Frenchman has won this, particularly given the piles of talent coming out of France over the last few years. That may just be statistical noise given that there have been four French runners-up (Benjamin Hebert last year in a playoff being the most notable) but I wouldn’t be desperate to find a home challenge. I’m just looking for rock solid iron players, a touch of class and ideally some good results on links, coastal or exposed courses.  I should also note that the weather, which can be tough, is going to be restrained. There will be some wind on Thursday but the rest of the tournament should be in calm conditions, and it’ll be warm and dry throughout.

Selections

I’m leading my team with Jamie Rutherford. Let’s start with his course record. He was 17th here back in 2018 and then didn’t see the course until the last two years, when he finished third and sixth. His current form isn’t bad either – after a hot start to this season (fifth on the DPWT in Kenya, a win in Cape Town on the HPT) he ranks fourth on the Road to Majorca standings. He’s recovering from a few poor weeks and a closing 69 saw him finish 27th last week in Brittany. He’s quietly having one of the best seasons on this tour, knows his game and this course, and is ideally suited to a test of accuracy and a test of every club in the bag.

Second on my list is Liam Nolan. After missing out on the Irish hot star last week I’ve no intention of doing so again, and Nolan is another who is highly-ranked this season, in tenth. He returned to form with third in the Danish Challenge – a hot start in South Africa was followed by a string of missed cuts – and there’s something of the Danish course about Le Vaudreuil. As a good links player from the West Coast of Ireland, Nolan is more than familiar with the sort of exposed course he’ll be playing here and should thrive in the higher winds on Thursday. He was a good amateur who among other things won the prestigious Brabazon in 2023, held that year at Sunningdale, another course with plenty in common with the short, tight Le Vaudreuil. Finally, we know that players thrive when their friends succeed, and Nolan and Kennedy effectively grew up together in Irish golf.

The third member of my foursome is Santiago Tarrio. I’ve long been a fan of the Spaniard’s game and he’s another with high ranking on the Road to Majorca – 15th. His 21st this week continued good form that began with a second place in the Swiss Challenge. After a few years on the DPWT he’s looking likely to get his card back, and I think that’s what he deserves. However, when he was a Challenge Tour regular he enjoyed this stop, finishing 11th in 2019 and fifth in 2021 on his only starts here. At a DPWT level, his best finishes (twin third places) came at the Indian Open and the Kenyan Open – two courses that are all about tee-to-green precision. Growing up in Galicia, he’s well used to exposed courses on Europe’s Atlantic Coast and it is no shock that this is an event in which he’s done well. A better player now than on his last visit, he can go a few places better.

Finally, as a complete outsider, I am keen to keep Clement Guichard onside. You may or may not remember Rocco Repetto Taylor’s win. He went into the Challenge de Cadiz having won on the Alps Tour, one of the HPT satellites, and as a local player to the course. He promptly won and has since established himself with some comfort on the HPT, adding a tenth at the Open de Bretagne to his haul. Now consider Guichard. He’s based at Le Vaudreuil. He’s won this year on the ProGolfTour, one of the HPT satellites. He’s actually third-ranked on that tour and clearly playing the best golf of his young life, having struggled on the Challenge Tour last season. I wish he’d shown a bit more last season, or that his record in this event were better, but it seems that he’s turned a corner this season and the record of the French system in recent years for improving youngsters is so good that I’ll take a real gamble at this price.

• Jamie Rutherford, 25/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, Unibet.

• Liam Nolan, 70/1, 1pt e/w, ¼ odds 5 places, Bet365.

• Santiago Tarrio, 35/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, Unibet.

• Clement Guichard, 500/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, Unibet.