By Will Pearson, europeantour.com
at Diamond Country Club
Ahead of the Lyoness Open Powered by Greenfinity, europeantour.com chatted to former winner and home favourite Bernd Wiesberger to assess the challenges posed by the stunning, dangerous host venue, Diamond Country Club.
Situated 60 kilometres west of the capital Vienna, on the outskirts of Atzenbrugg, Diamond Country Club lies resplendent in Austria’s picturesque, lush lowlands.
Opened in 2000 and designed by renowned British architect Jeremy Pern, the course measures a not insignificant 7,417 yards and plays to a par of 72. In recent years, prolific European Tour winner and now Vienna resident Miguel Angel Jimenez has helped remodel a number of holes – not least the signature par four eighth.
In 2013, the course was also bestowed the honour of being named a Destination in the Tour’s portfolio of world-class European Tour Properties and this spring added the luxurious Diamond Apartment Hotel, which offers 33 apartment-style rooms and two exclusive master suites, thus solidifying its status as a preeminent, all-encompassing resort.
Scenic and challenging in equal measure, with vast swathes of water and cavernous bunkers, the Diamond Championship Course this week hosts Austria’s national Open for a sixth successive year and it has a been a period in which the country’s number one player has flourished.
Along with Wiesberger’s win here back in 2012, the 29 year old also finished runner-up here 12 months ago to Mikael Lundberg, beaten only in a sudden-death play-off with the Swede, tied 14th in his defence in 2013 and tied fifth back in 2011.
Safe to say, then, that Bernd sparkles on the Diamond.
“I think because it is a course where I have played well and have always had a lot of support that helped make me feel a bit more comfortable and helped me feel a bit more competitive,” said Wiesberger, who has already amassed more than €1million this season and is flying high at fifth in The Race to Dubai currently.
“Of course I really want to win every tournament, every week, but that is elevated even further at your home Open, which is obviously on anyone’s bucket list as a golfer.
“I’m sure if you asked Rory (McIlroy) he would say he’d love to win the Irish Open, or if you asked Lee (Westwood) he’d say he’d love to win at Wentworth and it’s no different for me.
“Yes, I have one already but it would be nice to get at least another couple. Hopefully more to come!”
Overview
“I think there are always courses that set up well for your game and for your eye and this is mine,” continued Wiesberger, who hails from the country’s capital. “This is definitely one where I see most of the tee shots and feel comfortable which is important because the rough is quite tough to control the ball from and the greens are quite firm so it’s key to find the fairways.
“I think I’ve had success because I have been able to do just that mostly and take advantage of the scoring holes.
“In general it’s a really good test and definitely a course I very much enjoy playing.”
Greens
“There have been a lot of changes and improvements to the course in recent years and we’ve seen some of those on the greens. The new parts on certain ones – like the 18th and ninth – have seen them grow into quite big putting surfaces now.
“There are specific areas of all the greens that you need to hit to to give yourself a chance. They are not that slopey, but moderately undulating and the spots you need to hit to are pretty small so accuracy is important.”
Water
When you arrive at Diamond Country Club, one of the first things you notice is the abundance of water at every turn. The wet stuff comes into play on no fewer than 13 holes on the championship layout and Wiesberger says that avoiding a watery grave is paramount.
“A lot of the course’s defences are built around the water hazards,” the World Number 37 reflected. “It forces you to play away from the perfect lines a bit and the shortest ways of getting to the green.
“They are trying to build all sorts of hazards into the course to make it to tricky and with such prominent water on even the first two holes it makes you think straight away.”
Key Stretches
The Opening Stretch
“On the weekend certainly, you definitely want to get off to a fast start with a reachable par five, a short-ish par four on the third and another reachable par five on the fourth. Those are three really good chances you have early in your round.”
Around The Turn
“Now the nines have been turned around, there is a really tricky part in the middle of the round from eight through to 13 where there are some long par fours and tough to score and easy to lose some holes. You have to be very careful there – if you can come out of there with a couple of birdies you can gain some shots on the field.
Consecutive Par Fives
“You have to take advantage of the par fives as most of those are reachable if it’s not too windy. Unusually, we have the back-to-back par fives at 15 and 16 which can make for eagles and birdies and certainly an exciting finish!”
How it played last year
As Wiesberger attests, the par fives are where you need to make your money at Diamond Country Club with the quartet of long holes ranking the easiest four on the course last year with 24 eagles made on them in total 12 months ago.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the par four eighth, ninth and short 14th ranked the joint-hardest in last year’s event at 4.26 and 3.26 respectively so during that mid-round period, as Wiesberger so wisely pointed out, one has to hang onto their hat.
The par three 18th - an interesting closing hole.
