Bradley Dredge and Stephen Dodd will attempt to keep the smile on the face of Welsh sport this week when they return to the country of one of their greatest triumphs to compete in the Madeira Islands Open BPI – Portugal at Santo da Serra.
The feel-good factor in the Principality – which began when little Cardiff City reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup two weeks ago – continued last weekend when the nation’s rugby team beat France to capture the Grand Slam in the annual Six Nations tournament.
Now the sporting baton is passed to Dredge and Dodd who will return to Portugal aiming to recapture the form which won them the World Cup for Wales at Oceânico Victoria Golf Club in Vilamoura in 2005.
The trip will be particularly poignant for Dredge, for it was on the mountainous Santo da Serra course in 2003 that he claimed his first European Tour title by a whopping eight stroke margin, the groundwork for the victory laid by his sensational third round 60 which was only denied a place in the record books by the preferred lies in operation that day.
Talk of firsts is, of course, appropriate in the realm of the tournament because it has seen the launch of many promising careers with four of the last eight champions – Niclas Fasth (2000), Dredge (2003), Chris Hanell (2004) and last year’s winner Daniel Vancsik – recording their first European Tour success on the island.
However, it is not only the young who prosper on Madeira, for the record books also show that in 2001, Irishman Des Smyth triumphed at 48 years and 34 days, a record for the oldest player to win on The European Tour, which stands to this day.
Vancsik, like Dredge in 2003, was in total command of the tournament last season before finishing seven shots clear of runners-up David Frost and Santiago Luna; one of the many highlights of a superb golfing year for Argentina.
Leading the way was, of course, Angel Cabrera with his victory in the US Open Championship, but he was joined by Ariel Canete in the Joburg Open in South Africa, Andres Romero in The Players’ Championship of Europe in Germany and Vancsik, representing the first time in history that four different Argentine golfers had triumphed in the same season on The European Tour.
Vancsik holed 21 birdie putts and one eagle putt over the four days 12 months ago on his way to a winning 18 under par aggregate of 270 and, although the 31 year old from Posadas will not be in the field for this year’s tournament, he outlined the key element the man who follows him onto the Roll of Honour will need to master.
“Definitely the secret to playing well at Santo da Serra is where you place the ball on the greens,” he said. “If you can manage to get the ball on the right side of the pin you will find you will have chances for birdie and then it is just a matter of how many you are able to take.
“If you misclub or go too far and find yourself past the pin then it is a different story – the putts then will be really fast and tricky. Thankfully I got it right most of the time last year and the win has changed everything for my career both in terms of the opportunities I now have and also how confident I feel about my game.”
