The European Challenge Tour stars at this week’s Swiss Challenge presented by Association Suisse de Golf have been unanimous and wholesome in their praise for the new set-up of venue Golf Sempachersee – with the high rough making the course tougher than it has ever been for the event.
The fairways are tight and the rough has grown thick ahead of the 12th edition of the event at the idyllic mountain-side venue, resulting in higher scoring than in previous years.
But far from complaining about the difficult nature of the set-up this year, the players have been thoroughly enjoying the fact that every facet of their game – primarily their accuracy off the tee – has been challenged in the Swiss sun.
This is what they’ve been saying:
Anti Ahokas (@Ahochoke)
When I got here and saw the course, I thought I had to give credit to the club for this set-up
“The set-up is so different from previous years. I played the first time the event was here and I think the winning score was like 25 under and we were hitting drivers on every hole, so it’s a completely different course.
“They’ve done an amazing job setting it up. It changes the course completely, it changes how you see the holes. You were able to cut the corners, hit big drives and get close to the greens easily, but now it’s all about making sure you get to the fairway and whatever distance you feel comfortable with.
“When I got here and saw the course, I thought I had to give credit to the club for this set-up. For amateurs it must be quite a challenge at the moment but for us, it’s really good and it’s good fun to play.”
Haydn Porteous (@HaydnPorteous)
It’s nice to be challenged on the Challenge Tour
“The last few weeks we’ve been playing on the Challenge Tour, the rough has been up and it has penalised you for a wayward tee shot. It’s definitely a lot better than seeing scores of 25 under par and so on.
“It’s nice to be challenged on the Challenge Tour and obviously try and get used to European Tour golf because obviously you don’t see high numbers very often in the biggest events on the main tour.”
Jack Senior (@JSenior88)
It’s more of a Championship lay-out this year
“It’s more of a Championship lay-out this year especially on one, two, three and four. That’s the hardest part of the golf course and you just have to sacrifice the distance off the tee and make sure you’re on the fairway.
“You’ve got to make sure you’re on the right side of the pins, you don’t want to leave yourself short-sided or leave yourself with tricky up and downs.
“I did just that at the 14th and managed to get out with a par, which was key. You just have to keep hitting it close on the greens and give yourself chances.
Oscar Stark (@OStark1)
I do like greens as tricky as possible so they challenge everyone and I like that
“The greens are very nice. I do like greens as tricky as possible so they challenge everyone and I like that.
“You have to hit really good shots and stay in play – that’s the main thing. You need to play smart coming in to the pins because there are some tough pins out there – some Sunday pins already.”
