Borja Virto Astudillo enters this week’s Fred Olsen Challenge de España with confidence sky high after a dramatic maiden victory in Slovakia last week and the home favourite believes a big result at Tecina Golf could be a crucial with regard to the rest of his season.
The Spaniard holed out on the final hole at Penati Golf Resort last week to win the D+D REAL Slovakia Challenge in breath-taking fashion, winning by one shot when the tournament seemed destined for a play-off.
It was a hugely important moment in the burgeoning career of the former Spanish amateur international, especially given he has been splitting his schedule this year between The European Tour and the Challenge Tour.
Having earned his place on the top tier via Qualifying School last November, Virto Astudillo struggled to hit the ground running in the early-season events on African soil, missing the cut in all of his first four appearances.
After the re-rank in his category, his opportunities on The European Tour for the rest of the year are looking more limited, so he had a decision to make on whether to choose instead to devote his time to the Challenge Tour.
The victory in Slovakia has gone a long way in making that decision for him, and the 24 year old believes that a good finish this week on the Canary Islands will copper-fasten his dedication to the second tier for the remainder of 2015.
“It was a very important victory last week,” said the Pamplona player. “These are four big events coming up on the Challenge Tour, including the Madeira Islands Open, and if I can put myself in a good position in the Rankings this week I will go and play them.
“Right now I don’t know if I will go and try to play well on The European Tour but a couple of good finishes on the Challenge Tour now would be big for me.
“I haven’t been playing well on The European Tour and I feel more comfortable right now on the Challenge Tour. Last year I was basically playing the Alps Tour and a few Challenge Tour events here and there but then suddenly I did well at Q-School and I had a European Tour card.
“I went straight from Q-School to the South African events and it was a big step for me. It’s hard to adjust so I was struggling. For the first couple of events everything is so new and you’re seeing players around that you’ve watched on TV so it’s difficult to focus and you feel pressure.
“Every week I was close to the cut mark, then of course I was only thinking about making the cut and it’s easy to make bogeys then. On the Challenge Tour I have generally been a few shots clear of the cut mark on Friday and then it’s easy to look at the top of the leaderboard and you get more confident. I just need to keep playing the way I have been playing now.”
In case he needed any more inspiration, the island venue this week provides it in spades with some of the most stunning views to be seen all season.
While Virto Astudillo missed the cut here last year, he is feeling much more bullish about his chances this time around, especially given he is surrounded by so many friends.
“I feel confident and happy in myself right now,” he said. “It’s a nice feeling coming home to Spain a week after winning and a lot of the Spanish players are here so they’re coming up and congratulating me.
“I struggled here last year and the greens were quite slow so I didn’t get to grips with them but it is a beautiful place with amazing views – a long journey to get here but it’s worth it. I have played the course already and I like a lot more this time around.”
Virto Astudillo is joined in the field by the only other Spanish winner this year on the Challenge Tour, Nacho Elvira – who has two titles to his name in 2015 having won Spain’s other Challenge Tour event, the Challenge de Madrid, and the Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda.
Three former winners of this event are in the field – 2010 winner and the Challenge Tour Number One that same season Alvaro Velasco, 2009 champion and winner on tour already this year, Rhys Davies, and Andrew McArthur, who won his maiden title here in 2008.
