Andrew's Irish Challenge (HPT) Preview

Well, I may have stopped, but the HPT hasn’t – it is doing what it does, and that means throwing up unlikely winners, with Rory Franssen in Estonia perhaps the most impossible to find of a challenging year. He had won three times on the Tartan Tour last year – and in retrospect the Estonian Challenge was links-esque in challenging short game and shot-making, and ended up with a very Brit-heavy leaderboard – but in 11 starts he’d made just two cuts, and finished 50^th and 52^nd in those. Oh, and he missed the cut in his home event last week, too. It looks like the event was a success from a marketing and engagement perspective and we’ll know more from a gambling perspective when we come back next year, information I intend to put to good use.

There was no surprise about the course or the event in Scotland last week, and at the halfway stage I was hopeful that Marc Warren might have produced a winner for this column, but he got stuck in neutral over the weekend whilst Christopher Blomstrand engaged warp speed to win with some ease. The Swedish veteran won at this level in Finland a couple of years ago and is a classic “not quite DPWT, very good HPT” player with the right blend of experience and current form who I was looking to back. I’m sorry not to have found the right one. He looked good and ought to win a card.

The Tournament

The breakneck pace continues on the HPT with another event and this will be a well-attended one, taking place in County Meath less than an hour from the middle of Dublin. Kileen Castle is the host for a second year in a row, and whilst I’m disappointed that there isn’t a links event here (come back, the NI Open, you are missed) or in either of the English events, this course deserves to host an event and gives us something different to many events. In fact, swapping this course with the KFT venue would probably make the majority of both fields feel more comfortable – so I’m glad that won’t happen.

Although I didn’t preview this last year (I was convinced I had) I certainly spent a long time looking at it, and came to the same conclusion as everyone else – this is a venue that will reward bombers. There aren’t many nigh-on 7,600 yard courses on this tour and it will challenge plenty of these players to come well out of their comfort zones. In retrospect, omitting Oihan Guillaumondeguy, noted bomber and long-time favourite, was the biggest miss of my betting season last year. Other than pure power, we’re looking for good iron players and we’re keeping an eye on local (i.e. British Isles) players who ought to be at a notable advantage.

The crowds, which as mentioned are likely to be large, will particularly enjoy the heat on Thursday, but there’s nothing in the forecast to deter the players or fans throughout the week, and I would expect scoring to be slightly better than last year , when -11 won and +1 made the cut. The long, dry summer will put a premium on putting and increase roll-outs, which will aid shorter hitters and mean more shots from the rough. All in all, though this is a bombs-away week.

The Selections

Rather a shame, in that context, that the DPWT is back, and back with a weakish event in Denmark that has syphoned off a number of the more talented power hitters on this tour, particularly Hamish Brown and Kristian Krogh Johanessen, who would both have been considered. In their absence, Adam Wallin is once again taken to gain his breakthrough win at this level. I’m very much on the record that he’s among the most talented players in this year’s HPT crop and it is bizarre that he’s yet to win.  A fast-finishing second in last week’s Scottish Challenge was eye-catching and this test is ideal for a prototypically powerful Swedish golfer. I’m surprised he isn’t favourite and happy to lead my squad with him.

In the absence of Hamish Brown, Barclay Brown is taken to grab a maiden HPT win and to ensure his DPWT card for next year (he sits in 18^th currently, just outside the highest category.) The 25-year-old Englishman has quietly been making real progress recently, taking the benefits of a Stanford education into his professional career which began with an abortive half-season at this level in 2024, before he played his way back with a good year on the Clutch Pro Tour, winning once among six top 12 finishes.  He started this year on the Alps Tour whilst fields were restricted with co-sanctioned HPT events, but has made the cut in ten-of-12 starts, with a third place in both Italy and at The Vale, the longest course faced this year, as well as a pair of other top-tens. Seventh in Estonia and 30^th in Scotland show that he’s in good form at the moment and we know that he’s got both the power and the pedigree to make a breakthrough. I think it could happen here.

Thirdly, I’m taking a very long price on a local golfer, Robert Moran, who is based at Castle Golf Club in Dublin and took advantage of local knowledge to finish fourth last year. That finish came on the back of a string of good results on the Alps Tour – results that have been bettered this season. The Leinsterman has been runner-up three times and has six other top-25 finishes to sit fourth in the money list. We know that players with satellite tour form can go well at this level and with course form and local support my only surprise is that such a generous price is available for him to repeat, or better, last year’s heroics.

• Adam Wallin, 25/1, 1pt e/w, ¼ odds 5 places, Bet365

• Barclay Brown, 40/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, Fitzdares

• Robert Moran, 300/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, Fitzdares