The DP World Tour returns to Albatross Golf Resort this week as the eighth edition of the D+D Real Czech Masters begins a three-event stretch in mainland Europe. Here are your five things to know.
Veerman back to defend
Johannes Veerman was one of 14 first-time winners on the DP World Tour during the 2021 season. The American mixed six birdies with two bogeys on his way to a final-round 68 at Albatross Golf Resort as he secured a two-shot victory over countryman Sean Crocker and Finn Tapio Pulkkanen. Veerman, who became a father for the first time at the start of the year, has one top-ten finish so far this season but the 30-year-old registered his fifth top 20 of the 2022 campaign at the Cazoo Open supported by Gareth Bale earlier this month. Victory this week would see him become the first player to successfully defend the D+D Real Czech Masters title.
A place for first-time winners
In the seven editions since this tournament was first staged in 2014, five players have earned their maiden Tour title at Albatross Golf Resort, situated just outside of Prague. Belgian Thomas Pieters recorded his first Tour victory at the event in 2015 and, having finished as runner-up a year later, went on to win it for a second time in 2019. The other players to get off the mark at the event are American Paul Peterson in 2016, South African Hadyn Porteous in 2017, Italian Andrea Pavan a year later, and defending champion Veerman.
Pieters chasing DP World Tour Points
Two-time champion Thomas Pieters returns to Albatross Golf Resort with lots of fond memories. He is in sixth position on the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex and could climb as high as second in the season-long standings with a title this week. The Belgian, ranked 35th in the Official World Golf Ranking, has missed just three cuts in 15 tournaments so far this year, the last of which was at The Masters in April. Writing in the Player Blog earlier this season, Pieters revealed he tends to perform well after a break and, having not played since The Open Championship a month ago, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the 30-year-old Rolex Series winner mount a title challenge.
Supporting Czech golf
Promotional company Relmost has organised the tournament since it was first held in 2014, with the company and title sponsor D+D Real owned by Petr Dědek. The Czech Republic also hosts two tournaments on the Challenge Tour – including the D+D Real Czech Challenge, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in June. Two-time Challenge Tour winner Ondrej Lieser is the best-ranked Czech golfer on the Official World Golf Ranking and takes his place among a host of home players in the field this week.
The venue
Designed by golf architect Keith Preston, the Championship parkland course at Albatross Golf Resort opened in 2009 and has played host to the D+D Real Czech Masters since its inception in 2014. The 6,829-yard course has an interesting mix of holes, with four par fives, ten par fours and four par threes. Three of those shorter holes are all over 200 yards long, while both nines begin with par fives. The par four 18th hole is guarded by water all the way up the left side of the fairway to the green. In the previous seven editions of the event, the winning total to par has ranged from a high of -13 in 2017 to a record low of -22 a year later.
