Andrew's Dormy Open (HPT) Preview

The Korn Ferry Tour takes a break now until their playoffs begin on the 10th of September in Tennessee. My selections opted to start their break early, with two failing to make the cut and Alvaro Ortiz looking fantastic until midway through his second round, when he stopped making birdies and drifted backwards through the field. Yuto Sugiura had no such trouble and is yet another young Japanese player making an impact on a bigger stage – he’s just outside of card-gaining status in 23^rd and can move up with a good run in the playoffs. I’m less excited about Austin Hitt, in second, but in general this was a leaderboard striking for containing a number of young players I think could go very well on the bigger stage – the likes of Mahanth Chirravuri, Sandy Scott, Blades Brown and John Marshall Butler all picked up top ten finishes.

Meanwhile, the HotelPlanner Tour has no break coming – like the DPWT, the season is still rumbling on with eight events left. In Dominic Foos we saw an exciting winner in Finland – he was a very young man when winning the GANT Open on this tour back in 2015 and is only 28 now. He won on the Asian Tour last year but is going very nicely since shifting to the HPT in June. In just six starts he’s reached 26^th place and you’d think he’d be more confident than many of performing well in the high points events in China. Kalle Samooja, at 140/1, gave us some excitement for our money but in the end the consistency wasn’t quite there and he didn’t get a place. Sadly, that also meant he lost out on a place for this week’s event in which I think he’d have had a solid chance once again. Let’s look at the boys who are turning up.

The Tournament

The Dormy Open (previously and confusingly named the Indoor Golf Challenge (played outside) is now in its fifth year and is heading for a fourth course. We’re in Sweden, and for the first time we’re at Kristianstad Golf Club in Ahus. If, like me, that doesn’t help you with geography or anything else, I can tell you that we’re in the very south of Sweden, on the coast facing east but closer to Copenhagen than to Stockholm or Gothenburg. I can also tell you that this is the home of Absolut vodka. Which doesn’t mean much for the golf but is a fact worth knowing.

The golf course looks to be one that the pros have the potential to take apart. A par-70, it plays to 6,718 yards and in addition to two par-fives (one reachable by everyone, the other potentially reachable, depending on wind.) It has three par-fours of less than 350-yards as well. However, there are defenses, and they’ll be very much in play this week. The history of the course is fairly involved and confusing, but it grew from a nine-hole course on military land to the current 18-hole configuration, one of two at the club. Many architects have had a hand in building this confection, which combines parkland holes through a former tree plantation with exposed links-like courses taking advantage of the sandy base. Wind, then is key – and it is going to be very blowy indeed. Friday, in particular, looks like it’ll be a challenging day.

So we’re looking for players who’ve got some pop in the bag to take advantage of the drivable holes and the days when conditions may be manageable. More than that, though, we’re looking for players who’ve gone well in windy or tricky conditions and have links experience. Last year’s Danish Challenge springs instantly to mind as a useful comparison, as does any experience of the last two Nexo Championships on the DPWT. Given the inevitable trouble that’ll be found off the tee and on approach, an efficient scrambling game can only help. Other than those guesses, plus the usual edge for local golfers, it is hard to get much of a sense of what’ll help around here and as such I’m happy to take a risk on some longer prices.

The Selections

As I say, the shorter-priced golfers don’t appeal hugely given all the uncertainty, and whilst Charlie Lindh and Adam Wallin are playing a home event, neither will be suited by the short course and they’re too defensively priced for my taste. Instead, the first selection here is a straightforward one, with a form golfer who has an excellent record in events like this. Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen won the aforementioned Danish Challenge at Bogense last year, his second win at Challenge Tour level. The Copenhagen native was also fourth at last year’s Dormy Open when not in great form, and he arrives here having just finished second in the Finnish Championship. He’s a Nordic Golf League graduate and, at 28, playing better golf by the year. His power from the tee will be a real asset here, but it his affinity for Scandinavian golf and his ability to play excellently in hard conditions that made him an excellent pick at a surprisingly generous price.

Next up is an old favourite, Julian Perico, who has played some good golf in the last two weeks on the DPWT, finishing 13^th in Denmark and making the cut in the savagely tough conditions at Trump International. We know he can handle bad weather and his best performances have come on fiddly courses like this one (he’s been second in Switzerland, fifth in Interwetten and third in Durban this year, all highly relevant) and last year he was a solid 31^st in the Danish Challenge. He’s classier than his price suggests, which to me is based on over-reacting to a low finish in the Nexo, rather than a class advantage over most at this level going back to his amateur days.

Finally, we’re taking a massive price on Rory Franssen, who missed the cut at Trump International – in truth, he never looked like making it – but is a classy links operator who should find this shorter course in tough conditions to be exactly what he wants. Winning in Estonia at the start of the month career highlight but there’s no reason to think he’s finished. He was 18^th in the Irish Challenge on his last start at this level and his form from last year’s Tartan Tour shows his comfort on links courses and in poor weather, which built on his amateur career as a Scot playing primarily in similar events, though he did spend five years at college in Missouri, which broadened his experience. I really rate the Tartan Tour as a pathway and he’s quietly played his way into the HPT field, so quietly that the bookies appear to have forgotten about his recent win already.

• Jonathan Goth-Rasmussen, 60/1

• Julian Perico, 75/1

• Rory Franssen, 350/1 All 1pt e/w, 1/4 odds 5 places, Bet365