Edouard Espana arrives at this week’s Swiss Challenge hoping he can draw some inspiration from the victory of his room-mate, Victor Rui, at Golf Sempachersee last year as the Frenchman aims to become the fourth consecutive champion of this event.
The 24 year old has been one of the most consistent players on the Challenge Tour this season, missing just one cut in 11 appearances and earning five top 20 finishes as well as a tied sixth placing at the Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels and Resorts.
He is still awaiting his maiden title but having shared a room with Riu this time last year and watched his friend earn his own first victory on the tour – en route to graduating for The European Tour – Espana is feeling very positive ahead of the 11th edition of the Swiss Challenge.
“This place is beautiful,” said the Bordeaux player, who finished tied 42nd in this tournament last year. “The course is tough because it’s quite wet this year but it’s really nice.
“I finished well last week, shooting eight under in my final round, so I hope I can carry that momentum into this week. I got some good confidence from that.
“I shared a room with Victor last year so it was really good to see him win. He is playing The Open this week so I hope I can do the same next year.
“It was a great inspiration to have seen him do it last year. I practise a lot with Romain Wattel and Grégory Bourdy and they are two guys who have done well on The European Tour so I always try to take inspiration from them.”
The last three victors at Sempachersee, located outside the beautiful city of Lucerne, have come from France, starting with Benjamin Hebert in 2011 and followed by Gary Stal in 2012 and Riu last year.
Espana is not sure why this tournament has been so favourable for his compatriots but is hoping he can add his name to that roll of honour this week.
“It must be because it’s close to France,” he said. “Maybe it’s because you can see the Alps from the course and maybe there’s just something in the air! I don’t know why so many French win here but hopefully it will be me this year.
“This year I have been playing three really good rounds but then I have had one round that hasn’t been good so I need to improve this part of my game for the rest of the season.
“This is only my second year as a professional so I'm just trying to improve all the time on the Challenge Tour, so it’s very important I take my time and keep learning.”
