As the Challenge Tour touches down on European soil for the first time in 2012 at the ALLIANZ Open Côtes d’Armor Bretagne, last year’s winner Phillip Archer talks you through the ins and outs of Golf Blue Green de Pléneuf Val André.
Hole 1, par 4, 428 yards
“This is one of the toughest on the course, especially when it’s into the wind like it was last year. It is a dog-leg left to right down the hill and it’s basically a three wood, eight iron most days – but then on the Sunday, it was a driver, three wood.”
Hole 2, par 4, 437 yards
“This is a par four up the hill, about a driver and nine iron. I was one under on this hole over the four days last year so it was a steady enough one for me, one birdie and four pars.”
Hole 3, par 3, 200 yards
“This is a strong par three, about a four iron with bunkers around it so you have to play a good iron shot. Basically keep it right and long because the bunkers are short.”
Hole 4, par 4, 355 yards
“This is quite a short hole. It’s just an iron off the tee and then a wedge to an elevated green, so just find the fairway here and you have a birdie opportunity on your hands.”
Hole 5, par 4, 358 yards
“This is another birdie opportunity if you get the driver away. A good drive and you’ll be left with a wedge or a nine iron in.”
Hole 6, par 4, 419 yards
“This is quite the same as the previous hole really. I hit three wood a lot of the time but if you’re taking these holes on it’s a driver and you’re only left with a wedge. Again, it depends how strong the wind is.”
Hole 7, par 5, 508 yards
“This is a reachable par five but the green is a nightmare. It’s very undulating and the bunkers are in difficult positions. I did make birdies here though last year, luckily. I left it in a good position each day and got up and down. You’ve got to keep it on the right side of the green so you need your game plan to have an easy chip and I did that.”
Hole 8, par 3, 160 yards
“The eighth is a pretty straightforward par three and was pretty straightforward for me too. It’s an eight or a seven iron and I managed to par it every day last year.”
Hole 9, par 4, 406 yards
“This is a really good hole because it’s normally into the wind. It’s a three wood or four iron from the tee but, again, your drive can run out into bushes so it’s about placing your tee shot.”
Hole 10, par 4, 317 yards
“The course gets a little bit funky now on the tenth. This is straight downhill and it’s a blind green, but you can reach it with driver. The wind is straight off the left though so it’s a risk-reward hole. You can bump a four iron down or you can go for the green.”
Hole 11, par 5, 523 yards
“There is probably a 70 yard elevation from the tee down to the fairway here, so get a good drive away and you’re only going in with a mid-iron."
Hole 12, par 4, 415 yards
“The course gets really strong here. This is a good par four – driver, six iron, but up to a really elevated green. You can see it but you can’t see the bottom of the flag, it slopes from back to front.”
Hole 13, par 3, 167 yards
“Last year, the first three days I hit nine iron and had two birdies and then on the last day I hit a three iron and came up short! That’s how much the wind changed, but this is definitely a birdie chance if there’s no wind.”
Hole 14, par 4, 451 yards
“This is a really strong hole, you really have to find the fairway here because it’s very tight. There are bushes to the left and right and the fairway is sloping right to left, and you’re still going in with a five or six iron there after a good tee shot.”
Hole 15, par 3, 118 yards
“This is a fiddly little par three which you can hit with a wedge, but you’re in amongst the trees on the tee and you don’t know what the wind’s doing so it’s quite a tough little shot.”
Hole 16, par 4, 381 yards
“This hole is a blind one, you’ve got to turn it a little bit right to left to keep it on the fairway and then you’ve only got a wedge in.”
Hole 17, par 4, 391 yards
“Again, you need to shape it left to right to keep it on the fairway with driver here, otherwise you can hit a three wood. You then have either a wedge with driver or an eight iron with a three wood. The first three days, 16 and 17 were playing very benign but then extremely difficult on the final day, so you just had to hang on and the course showed its teeth.”
Hole 18, par 4, 393 yards
“This is a good strong finish. It was straight into the wind last year and I hit a good drive and a good seven iron through the back. I managed to just eke out the win really because Roland Steiner managed to miss a short putt to hand it to me, but I wasn’t complaining.”
