DID YOU KNOW – NAJETI HOTELS ET GOLFS OPEN
• In the ten years the tournament has been part of The European Tour International Schedule, nine winners have made the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open their first European Tour victory – Brett Rumford (2003), José-Filipe Lima (2004), Joakim Bäckström (2005), Cesar Monasterio (2006), Carl Suneson (2007), David Dixon (2008), Christian Nilsson (2009), Martin Wiegele (2010) and Matthew Zions (2011). The only player who had already won was Darren Fichardt in 2012.
• Darren Fichardt led by five shots going into the final round, eventually claiming victory by three over Simon Wakefield. His five shot, 54 hole lead was the equal largest on The European Tour in 2012.
• The 2002 championship saw history made history with Nicolas Vanhootegem claiming the title. After 36 holes, the Belgian made the halfway cut on the mark, with a score of 145 (+3). He then played the final two rounds in ten under par, closing with a then course record 65 (-6). His 72 hole total of 277 (-7) was enough for a four shot victory over Gustavo Rojas and Lee James. Vanhootegem went into the record books as the first player from any of the three Tours to win after making the cut on the cut score.
• The Saint Omer course has proved a tough test since the par changed from a par 73 to a 71 in 2003 – the year the tournament became part of The European Tour International Schedule. In the past ten years, the average winning score has been 276 (-8).
• History was made in the 2006 event when Cesar Monasterio from Argentina became the oldest European Tour first-time winner, aged 42 years and 164 days.
