Blog
Dynamic Dunhill!
Well, what can I say...what a weekend for Europe! Spent an unforgettable few days in Paris with some close friends which meant we were in prime position to watch the Ryder Cup drama unfold. Honestly, it was hard to imagine back in July when we played Le Golf National for the French Open how things were going to shape up for the Big Event...but the course could not have proved to be a bigger or better stage! The atmosphere was incredible and it was some serious inspiration to watch the guys battle it out out there!
Moving forward, arrived in St Andrews, the Home of Golf on Sunday evening with a few friends who have come to support myself and TP out here this week. As I am sure most of you know, this event follows a slightly different format since we all pair up and play with amateurs the first three days, as well as visiting 3 different courses, including this year's Open Championship venue, Carnoustie Golf Links. There is then a final outing at the Old Course on Sunday for all Pro's making the cut.
This week I will be paired with Irish musician Ronan Keating but also playing alongside surfing legend Kelly Slater one day too! As a matter of fact, I was fortunate enough to play with him last year and it was an awesome experience!
Weather conditions are looking pretty testing these next few days. Up to 34 km/h winds have been forecasted for tomorrow with consistently low temperatures throughout the week too. Will definitely make things more challenging but since we have been very lucky with lots of European sunshine this summer it will give me a good chance to finally sample the Hugo Boss Winter Gear collection I have had packed away too!
Experience on these courses is definitely advantageous and having managed a quick practice trip to Scotland earlier in the year with my caddy Ryan, as well as doing some solid work with my coach Jerome here yesterday, the game is feeling comfortable, confident and we are ready to go!
Touchdown...Portugal Town!
Very happy indeed with a Top 3 finish last week in the Netherlands! Honestly, it felt great to follow up a Career Record round on Saturday with another low one on Sunday and secure a very solid final result...especially after going home briefly on Friday, genuinely thinking I was going to miss the cut!
Moving forwards, I will be teeing it up again this week in Portugal for my fourth consecutive event before taking a much needed week's break. It is always an easy decision for me to factor this event into my schedule since I have spent a lot of enjoyable times in Portugal growing up. Furthermore, I am staying nearby in a villa with my family which always makes the week slightly more special! Brilliant to also have my coach Michel Vanmeerbeek out here for a few days in order to make a few small tweaks to my swing and get everything feeling slightly more comfortable again too.
In relation to the tournament here in Vilamoura, we are playing at the Dom Pedro Golf Victoria Golf Course which is an incredible place and has been the event venue for the past 11 years! The course features wide, open fairways which obviously suits long hitters...but the putter will certainly need to get hot as well to have a chance of getting in contention! The winning scores around here are usually close to 20 under par - lots of birdies needed!
In addition, we will be receiving our usual quota of sunshine and warm temperatures in the Algarve this week with very little humidity and just a light breeze. There are still a couple of tricky water hazards and sneaky bunkers out there though that will remain a constant threat regardless!
Tee off at 9am tomorrow morning. Lets keep the momentum going and push some more positive vibes from Portugal!
Saturday Satisfaction!
Pretty happy with my third round performance here at the KLM Open! As you may have heard from some of my post round interviews, I actually drove home on Friday afternoon since I was convinced I needed to make the birdie putt on 18 to be in with a slight chance of making the weekend! Luckily though, the wind conditions seemed to pick up in the afternoon and after a quick dinner with family at home, I drove myself straight back up to Spijk!
As for yesterday, I honestly had a lot of fun out there. Got off to a pretty slow start but built up some confidence after making a long putt on the 4th par 3 and things went upwards from there! As a matter of fact I actually got unlucky on my 8th tee shot when we really felt the wind pick up and I went long past the green. Managed a little magic here though and chipped in to make another birdie and truly keep the momentum going! Unfortunate missed bogey putt on 17 but very happy I took advantage of all the par 5s including 18 and henceforth managed to record my lowest career round on European Tour!
Furthermore, was really great to see so many fans out there yesterday morning. Hope that I can produce a similar performance for anyone returning this afternoon! Thanks also to Daan and the KLM Open promoters for hosting another fantastic edition of the event!
Dutch Courage
After an un-welcome (yet pretty enjoyable!) weekend off, spent mainly cycling and eating in the Swiss mountains, it was straight back to the grind this week. I started by getting some good work done with my coaches back in Brussels on Monday before travelling over to the Netherlands early Tuesday morning so that Pieters and I could spend the day with Bank Delen at The Duke Golf Club. It was a fun event with the team and great way to start the week!
Furthermore, I am now in Spijk preparing for this week's tournament, the KLM Open, which heads back to The Dutch Golf Course for it's third consecutive year. As a matter of fact, I played both of those editions at this venue...and the tournament in 2016 was one of my first ever Tour events as a professional!
In terms of layout, the Dutch is a relatively short but wide open links-style course. It is also quite exposed to the elements which means that wind can play a pretty big factor & a high level of accuracy will be required throughout. The forecast has projected sunny conditions for us though with only light winds for the first two days before getting slightly more gusty over the weekend. The fairways and greens are in pretty good condition right now but the rough is definitely still going to be challenging. There is also water in play on more than half of the holes!
Both Nico and myself are playing this week so hope to see a lot of red support out there tomorrow! Stay tuned for more updates!
Scenic Switzerland
This week we have arrived in one of the favourites stops on the European Tour! In all honesty, the magic of the mountains means that once you land in Crans sur Sierre, you never want to leave! As a matter of fact, the previous two events on my schedule have been at new venues for the 2018 season, so it really feels great to come back to the familiar snowy scenes of the golf course here in the Swiss Alps.
Obviously I was a little disappointed not to finish up as well as I had hoped last week in Silkeborg but it's hard to be negative for too long when my game is feeling really sharp right now and there are still so many good tournaments left to play on the calendar!
Furthermore, am looking forward to getting out and playing the course this week. You may not know it but this is actually one of the shortest courses we play during the season. It's a par 70 and only 6848 yards, but since altitude is also a significant factor, it will play even shorter than that. Small greens with large run off areas are key features on the course which means that first class approach play is required on nearly every hole. There is also a considerable amount of water to navigate clear of on the back 9!
In terms of weather forecast, its definitely cooler up here than the high temperatures we have been experiencing most of this summer! Winds are predicted to be around 8 - 12 mph but only a little bit of rain has been projected for the first couple of days with a clear weekend to look forward to too!
Last but not least, obviously a little disappointed not to see our friend Pieters make a wild card pick for the Ryder Cup team today but Thomas Bjorn had a tough job and I think the European side is looking like it will be some pretty strong competition!
Final Push
Super happy with my bogey free/6-under par third round today! As a matter of fact, the course had firmed up quite a bit since none of the rain that was forecast actually arrived...but I was very happy to make some solid putts out there, as well as producing some strong iron play which set me up with those nice little chances!
A full day of sunshine is scheduled tomorrow so hopefully I can deliver more of the same as well as take advantage of those par 5s to card my lowest round of the week!
Look forward to seeing you all out there in the morning!
Update from Silkeborg
Good evening golf fans! Really happy with my first two days over here in Denmark. An unfortunate little bogey to finish on the 18th today but a 4-under par 68 score still gives me a nice little lie in tomorrow morning before getting back out there and chasing some low scoring over weekend.
Furthermore, my game feels really great off the tee right now and I'm feeling confident on the greens too. A few less clumsy mistakes here and there and hopefully I can be right up there in contention on Sunday!
Forecast for the rest of the weekend is good with very little wind and some warmer temperatures. Time to get a serious birdie fest going!
Destination - Denmark
Arrived safely in Silkeborg on Monday afternoon for the fifth instalment of the Made in Denmark tournament on the European Tour calendar. As a matter of fact, it is the first time that Silkeborg Ry Golf Club has played host to the event and furthermore, this is actually the home course of Ryder Cup Captain Thomas Bjorn! As you can imagine, there is quite a lot of Ryder Cup talk around campus this week since the event marks the last opportunity for players to automatically qualify for the European team.
Moreover, the course is in great condition at the moment despite the intense drought conditions suffered by most golf courses in Europe these past few months! Narrow & heavily tree lined fairways are a key feature here this week though which means there will be a lot to contend with for anyone struggling with accuracy off the tee.
Last but not least, the weather forecast is looking potentially quite testing for the first few days since, despite being warm, rain showers and gusty winds have also been predicted throughout the morning & afternoon. If the event is anything like previous years though then it probably will not affect the spectators determination to travel out to the course and I'm already looking forward to seeing everyone out there early in the am!!
Hejda for nu!
Safely back in Belgium now following a pretty enjoyable week in Sweden! Managed to secure another top 15 finish after shooting a final round of 67 in rainy and gusty conditions on the Hills Course yesterday. A little frustrated to miss the final putt on 18 but my game is feeling really good right now and definitely always enjoy the thrill of being in contention on a Sunday!
Big thanks to the promoters for running such a smooth tournament. Was great to see so many Swedish fans out there - especially playing with home favourite Robert Karlsson on Saturday! I heard it has already been confirmed that next year’s edition of the event will return to the same venue so will look forward to coming back in 2019!
Furthermore, am planning to spend a relaxing week at home now before taking on the next run of tournaments which will feature four events back to back. Next update will come from Billund in Denmark!
Swedish Summer
Back to work this week for the Nordea Masters in Sweden! For this edition of the event, we are playing at Hills Golf Club in Gothenburg. As a matter of fact, the course truly lives up to its name since there is hardly a flat area anywhere on it! Definitely going to be a good little work out for the players and spectators!
Moreover, the promoters have done a fantastic job of getting the course in good shape for us this week since, like a significant number of other areas in Europe, Gothenburg has had its hottest and driest summer for over 200 years and areas of the course have been badly burnt after 12 weeks of sunshine.
Furthermore, I am feeling great right now having just had two weeks holiday in which I managed to visit the Hugo Boss Headquarters in Stuttgart, play a Pro Am event in Switzerland as well as spending some days at the Belgian seaside with family and friends! I also had some quality time practicing with Nico and our coach Mich back in Brussels last week so I am officially fresh and ready to get going this afternoon! Time to go low!
