After securing his best result in two years with a third placed finish at the Made in Denmark Challenge presented by Ejner Hessel last week, Martin Ovesen is feeling refreshed ahead of this week’s Prague Golf Challenge at Prague City Golf.
The Dane’s previous highest finish this year was a tie for 27that the Andalucía Costa del Sol Match Play 9 in May before the stars aligned in his homeland last week.
Four under par rounds of 69-70-68-68 meant he finished six shots behind countryman and Road to Ras Al Khaimah leader Joachim B. Hansen at Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort and Ovesen believes his strong performance was thanks to improved putting, which he hopes can continue this week.
“I’ve been improving my game for the last few weeks so it’s been pretty much just waiting for all the different aspects of my game to add up to a good result, so I did that last week,” Ovesen said. “I played the course many times before so I felt great and comfortable.
“Last week, my putting was definitely better than usual and my driving, I think I hit 85 per cent of fairways.
“The fairways don’t really matter here, the only thing that matters here is if, from the tee, you can just smack it a long way. If you can carry it to 290-300 yards, you’re going to be way ahead of a lot of the other guys.
“I think hitting that many fairways last week, I’ll be more tempted to hit the driver into tight areas where the bunkers are and then the putting is still good. I’ve just played nine holes and it’s still terrific, the same as yesterday.
“If I play well this week, it will be down to the putting. The greens are true, they’ve got a good pace and the putting this week is really going to be crucial for a good result.”
The 26 year old, who believes the course at Prague City Golf is ‘one of the better set-ups’ on the European Challenge Tour is feeling more confident in his game and is excited for the rest of the season.
“It was nice for my sponsors to see me playing really well on my home turf,” he said. “I’ve been struggling so much with some results so to have a good result, it makes me calm down for the rest of the season. I can plan a little bit more rather than being unsure about my future if I kept playing the way I was.
“I’m looking forward to the rest of the season now, compared to two weeks ago when I wasn’t sure how the season was going to go.
“I was told this was almost like a ‘bomber’s paradise’ when I first got here, as I’ve never been here before. To be honest, I think it’s quite good. They’ve grown a little bit of rough; if you’re out of position you might get unlucky.
“I think it’s too open for me to gain an advantage on the other guys. If the fairways were as wide as they are and the semi-rough is very thick and juicy, that would be the perfect set-up for me at this event.
“The layout is good, the greens are good and the whole set-up is by far one of the better set-ups on the Challenge Tour.”
