The European Challenge Tour makes its second visit of the season to France this week and we have plucked out some of the best statistics ahead of Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge.
18– under par. The lowest total by a Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge winner. Aaron Rai, who triumphed in 2017, carded rounds of 66-65-69-66 to finish five shots clear of Morten Ørum Madsen on 13 under par.
4– winners of Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge are now playing on the European Tour. Rai, 2016 winner Alexander Björk, 2015 champion Ryan Fox and Andrew ‘Beef’ Johnston, who won in 2014, are all now playing top level golf. Fox is currently ninth in the Race to Dubai, while Björk is 15thand English duo Rai and Johnston are 58thand 65th, respectively.
73– the highest round by a Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge winner. Ryan Fox had a three-shot lead going into the final round in 2015 after carding 62-67-68 across the first three days. However, the New Zealander closed with a final round 73 to finish just one shot clear of Frenchman Thomas Linard, and take the title.
24.6– the average age of Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge winners. Aaron Rai and Brinson Paolini, who won the first-ever event in 2013, were both 22 when they triumphed. Fox, meanwhile, was 28 when he won in France, and in doing so became the oldest winner of the tournament.
4.36– the hole average for the course’s hardest hole last year. The par four 15th, which measures 473 yards, was birdied only 34 times across the week. There were 100 bogeys and 44 double bogeys; comfortably the most of any hole.
6,764– the length, in yards of Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil. The par for the course is 71 and the back nine is 404 yards longer than the front thanks to two par fives, as opposed to one during the first nine holes.
4– there have been four hole-in-ones in the five-year history of the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge. Wil Besseling carded the event’s first ace in 2013 when he needed only one shot on the par three fifth while Christopher Mivis achieved the same outcome on the 16thhole a year later. South African Merrick Bremner carded a hole-in-one on the fifth in 2015 and Charles-Edouard Russo holds the most recent ace, taking one shot on the tenth in 2016.
1– albatross since the tournament’s inception. Then an amateur, Frenchman Clément Sordet carded the event’s only albatross to date on the par five 12thduring the final round in 2014. He signed for the lowest round of the day after finishing birdie-birdie for a 63 and has since become a four-time Challenge Tour winner.
5– the largest margin of victory in Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge history. Aaron Rai set a new record for the largest margin of victory when he finished on 18 under par last year, five shots ahead of Dane Madsen.
3– different continents have produced winners of the event. Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge champions come from far and wide, with three Europeans, one American and one New Zealander all having their name etched on the trophy. Fox, who was born 11,534 miles from Le Vaudreuil in Auckland, has covered the most miles of any winner of the event, whilst Englishman Johnston was born just 167 miles away in London and is therefore the closest past champion.
