Although he never truly challenged for the main prize, Lars van Meijel did have one reason to celebrate at the Prague Golf Challenge.
The Dutchman won a year’s supply of Pilsner Urquell thanks to hitting the longest drive on the par five seventh hole at Prague City Golf.
The Czech brewery were one of the sponsors of the event – which was won by Englishman Ben Stow on 18 under par – and they set-up the competition on the longest hole at the Czech venue.
Finn Kalle Samooja looked as though he had secured the year’s supply – 365 bottles – with his drive of 323 yards, but van Meijel had other ideas.
Playing alongside Portuguese duo José-Filipe Lima and Pedro Figueiredo, the 24 year old fired his drive marginally beyond Samooja’s effort with the ball coming to a halt at 324 yards.
Although he admits to enjoying the occasional beer, van Meijel insists he’ll require a little help from his friends to finish the enormous supply.
“I knew my drive was the longest at the time,” he said. “The wind was coming in from the left so I thought I’d hit it hard with a little fade and I hit it as good as I could.
“Apparently it was one metre past the guy in front of me and that turned out to be enough.
“I enjoy a beer every once in a while, but I don’t know if I’ll finish all of them! I think I might need some help, I’ll share them with my friends.”
Van Meijel ended the week in Prague in tied 11thon a total of 11 under par for his best-ever finish on the European Challenge Tour and he was pleased with the improvement in his game, despite rueing missed opportunities.
“My tee to green play hasn’t been that good this year but this week it’s been a lot better,” he said.
“I didn’t really make the putts I wanted to over the weekend but overall, I’m positive. It’s my best finish this year so hopefully it’s all uphill from here.”
