It’s not been an easy start to life on the European Challenge Tour for Dan Brown, but a top five finish at the Prague Golf Challenge has boosted his spirits.
The Englishman was in contention throughout as he posted four under par rounds of 66-70-70-68 before finishing four shots behind winner Ben Stow in the Czech capital.
Brown, who needed a top ten finish to secure a place at this week’s Italian Challenge presented by Cashback World, was pleased to put in a career-best performance, but admits his disappointment at not laying down a real challenge for the title on the final day.
“I’ve been struggling of late,” he said. “This is only the second cut I’ve made in eight starts this year so I’m quite pleased. I was a bit gutted towards the end not to finish a bit better but it’s been a good week.
“The course was really good. It suits my eye quite well and it’s generous off the tee. You’ve definitely got to hit the right spots on the greens and you’ve got to put your ball in the right place.
“You’ve got to be aware of the angles into flags with all the slopes on the greens but it’s good. It was in great condition and it was set up for scoring.
“I’ve always known I can compete at this level. I played as an amateur in the Bridgestone Challenge last year and finished in the top 20.
“A few things have happened off the course and I’ve struggled mentally really. My game hasn’t been that far away, but I’ve just been missing cuts by one, two or three shots. It’s just one of those where I’m waiting for it all to click really and I’m getting a bit of confidence back.”
The 23 year old now heads to the idyllic island of Sardinia where he’s looking forward to what he hopes will be another positive week in beautiful surroundings.
“I’ve played there before a few years ago so I know the course,” he said. “I played nicely in Prague and there’s one or two things to work on before Sardinia, but I feel like I can definitely go there and put in a good showing there as well.
“It was a while ago when I last played it, so it will probably come back to me when I get back out there. From what I can remember, the greens are quite similar to Prague in that they’re quite slopey so we’ll see.
“It’s a beautiful place. It’s quite nice when you get a place like that, it makes you feel a bit better and gives you an extra boost. You can take a look around and just take your mind off the golf a little bit.”
