Andrew's Rosa Challenge (HPT) Preview

As the KFT break moves from "welcome", through "excessive" and towards "I hope I can remember who some of these guys are when they eventually return," the HPT keeps churning out the events. We had a better week last week and a full place return on John Gough at 66/1 more than paid for the week but it could have been much better, and the frustration is real. He's definitely a rising star and, assuming he doesn't get his card this year (he's 23rd in the Road to Majorca so it is marginal for now) he'll be one to keep an eye on next season. His tidy game isn't electric but has few holes and is well suited to both the DPWT and HPT, although I fear he'd disappear without trace on the KFT! The question is, how will he and everyone else fare in Poland?

The Tournament

The Rosa Challenge is back for a second year and we're at the Rosa Golf Club in Konopiska, Poland. No, me neither, but we're near Krakow and Katowice, down towards the Czechia border. That means some Mittel-European humid weather; it'll be quite sweaty for Thursday and Friday but cooler over the weekend. We shouldn't get much rain and other than a few gusts on Friday afternoon it'll be calm. Which, given the Irish weather, is a nice change. There aren't many locals to fear in the field, and last year this was one of the few events in Europe without a meaningful local challenge (Nicolai von Dellinghausen, in T5 is German but from Dusseldorf in the West, and whilst a couple of Czech golfers were midpack, only one Pole made the cut - Timon Batl, in T60.

Returning to the pointy end of that leaderboard, which is the best place to start, and my man Angel Ayora won at something of a canter, shooting a level par 70 on the final round to finish three shots clear at -13, having led by two overnight on Saturday. That all suggests that the course is tricky - I think it is, that weather matters and scores will vary - I think that they will, and that Ayora's huge power is critical - I think it might be. Let's bear in mind, though, Ayora was the class of last year, especially with Rasmus Neergard-Petersen not in attendence that week. Some classy and shorter players like Euan Walker and Oliver Lindell featuring towards the top of the board tells me that there's more than one way to succeed here.

This is a tight, 7,017 yard par-70 but it has scoreable holes as well as challenges - Ayora played the two par fives in -9 over the four days, which is quite the achievement and definitely shows a viable approach. Bogey avoidance is key - Bjorn Akesson finished 11th despite some brilliant golf as he also dropped 15 shots over his four rounds, against 8 for Ayora and 6 for Dermot McElroy in second. So, yes, power matters, but so does precision. Ultimately what we saw last year was a very fair test of tee-to-green golf that did throw up some unusual finishers (McElroy) but also saw many of the best Challenge Tour grads (Ayora, Lindell, Martin Couvra, Max Steinlechner, von Dellinghausen) featuring high on the leaderboard.

I'm not really looking beyond form and quality here, especially if I can find evidence of power and a good iron game. As well as last year I'm looking for clues from Raffeisenbank, Ireland and the UAE. Also, a reminder not to forget about the rankings at this stage of the year, in particular the cut-offs for cards (20th) and playoffs (46th.)

The Selections

In what is probably a bit of a down year for talent on the Challenge Tour, one of the classiest operators has been JC Ritchie, who won in Germany for his fifth HPT/CT victory, but critically the first one outside of South Africa, and was also second in the UAE and 15th in Raffeisenbank on similar courses. There aren't many here who drive it as well as him. I'd say he's playing better golf than he has since his standout 2022 season (two CT wins and multiple DPWT top tens) and he's a confident bet to pick up his second HPT win here.

I'm taking another towards the very top of the market, which is unusual for me but reflects the challenge I think the golfers will face this week. As a founding member of his fanclub (or the UK branch, at least) I was gutted to miss out on Oihan Guillaumondeguy winning his maiden HPT title, but if this is number two I won't miss out again. With his tee-to-green game (winning in Ireland, fourth in the UAE) it very well could be. I was tempted to stop at just those two, but I can't do it because...

Finally, and at much longer odds, I have to back Aron Zemmer who might very well be a horse for this particular course. In a not especially distinguished career, Zemmer picked up his best result when finishing fourth last year, and although he isn't setting the world on fire this season he's gradually improving and has made six of his last seven cuts, finishing 29th last week and tenth in Interwetten. The Italian veteran is from the alpine foothills north of Venice, so isn't far from home and is clearly comfortable on these tight, undulating fairways. He can spring a shock for a second consecutive year.

• JC Ritchie, 25/1, 2pts win only, Bet365.

• Oihan Guillaumondeguy, 20/1, 2pts win only, Bet365.

• Aron Zemmer, 110/1, 1pt e/w, 1/5 odds 6 places, SportingIndex.