Andrew's Italian Challenge (HPT) Preview
- Andrew
- Sep 16
- 5 min read
Great to finally be celebrating a winner for the HPT previews, albeit at the fairly cramped odds of 25/1. We’ve come close a few times, but JC Ritchie delivered wonderfully on Sunday, finishing birdie-birdie-birdie to take the title without needing extra holes. I don’t know if he’s mathematically certain to get a card now, but he’ll get a card now. He’s had a slightly odd career to date - he’s made 90 starts on the DPWT, with his South African starts in co-sanctioned events meaning he’s played every year since 2014, including a full schedule in 2023. He’s now had nine professional wins but is yet to do much on the bigger tour.
As Ben Coley pointed out on twitter, there’s nothing stopping him making it on the DPWT or even getting a PGA Tour Card. He’s only 31, there isn’t an obvious hole in his game, and unlike plenty of other players, he seems to have a knack for winning. What I think has changed is that his play in Europe has improved notably. His wins in Germany and Portugal this season were his first outside of South Africa, and now he’s proved that his game travels he’s ready to mix it on a bigger stage. There are lots of excellent South African golfers who’ll play in their bigger events over the northern hemisphere winter (Bezuidenhout, Oosthuizen, Burmester, Jarvis, van Tonder, Norris, Grace, Schwartzel, Broomhead, etc, etc) but there’s no reason that Ritchie can’t pick up a win or a few high places and get his full season on the DPWT off to a good start. I am going to be running a “DPWT rookie watch” rather that an “HPT graduate watch” next season so I won’t be featuring him, but I’ll be watching him and I’ll be optimistic.
The Italian Challenge has been rumbling on for many years and, much like their National Open, moves about a fair bit. This year we’re back to Golf Nazionale just outside of Rome, which hosted this tournament in 2022 and 2023 before last year took us to Argentario as a dry run for the DPWT event this season. Both are lovely, high quality courses and I’m content for us to be back at Nazionale.This is a tough 7,033 yard par-72 course that winds between oak trees on undulating land, with plenty of doglegs and a range of hole lengths including some terrific par-3's. If you’re thinking that this all sounds very classical, then yes, you’re right.
If you’re thinking that course management is key, and that bombers and plodders alike can thrive, then yes, you’re still right. Hit greens, make putts, and avoid mistakes. Yes, that’s always the recipe, but there’s not much more to it this week. Weather, incidentally, won’t be a factor; it is going to be lovely. History tells us that Italians do well here - on this course we saw Lorenzo Scalise come third in 2022 before Matteo Manassero took a very popular victory in 2023. That doesn’t really narrow it down much as the Italians, coming off hosting a Ryder Cup, are having a great year with some tremendous young talents and with three inside the Road to Majorca top 20.
Scalise is back and heads the charge alongside two Roman natives, who’ve won this season, Filippo Celli and Renato Paratore. Don’t sleep on Stefano Mazzoli, who hits it a mile and is in great form, or on Alps Tour victor Jacopo Vecchi Fossa, either. Finally, he might not be one to bet on quite yet, but I was hugely impressed with Filippo Ponzano when I followed his match for a few holes at Royal St. Georges in The Amateur and I’ll be interested to see what he can do.
The Selections
I said that it wasn’t easy finding a KFT trio, and it was no easier here this week. I really struggled, in part to pick between the Italian players I mentioned. In the end, I think Filippo Celli is the best suited to the course, and is in great form. After picking up a first professional win in the Dutch Futures he’s managed two solid results in the Dormy and Portugal, with the latter starting with a great 66 before stagnating slightly. In front of a home crowd, he’s got the length to be a real threat and will be tough to beat.
Alongside Celli, I’m taking an emerging talent from across the Tyrrhenian Sea in Barcelona. I think this is a course that could well suit Quim Vidal, who is returning to form having dipped after his win in Delhi. He was seventh two starts ago in Poland and fourth last week, and was 18th here on course debut in 2023, when a much weaker player. His odds don’t reflect his current status as a form player who is in the top ten of the order of merit.
My card is completed by Benjamin Follet-Smith. The Zimbabwean has struggled with a Q-school category status on the DPWT this season and has mixed and matched starts on both tours to disappointing results. He’s at his best on these classical tests, however, and despite inconsistency can look a class above most of these as a ball striker. He played here in 2023 and picked up a tenth place, and this year was 41st in the Italian Open. He’s won twice at this level, in a shootout in the Czech Republic and a highly comparable course at Royal Cape Town. This is a speculative pick as it is hard to see whether he’ll be at or near his best, but there’s no doubt his best is good enough and the prices don’t reflect that.
There were a few I desperately wanted to take. I wouldn’t put anyone off Renato Paratore, although I think his price does enough to make me wary, given his form has trailed off since the beginning of the season, and this is a course where, for all his familiarity, his weakness on approach could be a concern. Similarly, Adri Arnaus was on my radar as a second Spaniard and one who is at his best on these tight, tree-lined courses, but the man who finished second at Valderrama hasn’t been much in evidence in what has been a disappointing season.
Filippo Celli, 20/1, 2pts win only, Bet365
Quim Vidal, 28/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, Sporting Index
Benjamin Follett-Smith, 150/1, 1/5 odds 6 places, Sporting Index
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