When Nick Bachem lifted the trophy at the Jonsson Workwear Open last weekend it was yet another high point in a remarkable rise through the golfing ranks.
In just over three years, he has gone from being an amateur shaking up the Pro Golf Tour to a European Challenge Tour player, and from a Qualifying School graduate to a DP World Tour winner.
Here, we take a look at the German’s ascension to the winner’s circle.
March 5, 2020 - Breakthrough win
After an impressive amateur career in his homeland, which saw him win the German Match Play and German National Amateur in 2018, Bachem announced himself outside of Germany with a victory at the 2020 Open Royal Golf Anfa Mohammedia in Morocco on the Pro Golf Tour. Still aged just 20, he prevailed in a play-off against Chris Maclean, parring the first extra hole to take the title after the Scot had gone into the trees off the tee. After that win he said he planned to stay in the amateur ranks until the end of the year and he will have been glad he did.
September 12, 2020 - Team glory
Bachem represented his country in the European Amateur Team Championship, with future Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year and reigning European Amateur champion Matti Schmid also lining up for Germany. Led by Schmid's 62 - with Bachem contributing a 71 - the Germans topped the stroke play section, with Bachem then winning three points from three in foursomes against Austria in the last eight, Switzerland in the semis and Sweden in the final, which Germany won 2-1. Germany lifted the trophy for the first time but two of the team-mates would be going head-to-head just weeks later.
September 25, 2020 - Challenging for individual amateur honours
Bachem opened his bid for the European Amateur title with a 70 to sit four shots off the lead held by Schmid but he was just one back after a second-round 68. Playing alongside Schmid on day three, Bachem matched the course record with a brilliant 63 to take a share of the lead alongside his countryman who carded a 64. But it in tough conditions on the final day, with freezing rain and cold temperatures, a closing 75 saw Bachem finish second as Schmid successfully defended his title.
April 20, 2021 - Another win
He may have stayed in the amateur ranks at the start of 2021 but Bachem was still mixing it with the professionals and it was not long before he claimed another Pro Golf Tour win at the Red Sea Ain Sokhna Classic. He trailed by three shots after the first round as countryman Benedict Staben carded a blistering 63 but he was in a three-way tie for the lead at the end of day two. And as Staben and Switzerland's Luca Galliano slipped back in the final round, Bachem carded a closing 70 to win by two shots from Belgian Kristof Ulenaers.
June 5, 2021 - DP World Tour debut
Along with victorious European Amateur Championship team-mates Schmid, Jannik de Bruyn and Marc Hammer, Bachem was handed an invite to make his DP World Tour debut at the Porsche European Open. Rounds of 76-79 saw him miss the cut in Hamburg but he would soon be back in the winner's circle.
July 2, 2021 - Hat-trick victory before move into the paid ranks
Bachem's third Pro Golf Tour win would prove to be his last as an amateur as he claimed a wire-to-wire victory at the Gradi Polish Open by Emeralld. An opening 63 set the tone for week and while a stunning second-round 61 from Swiss Marco Iten and a good week from fellow German amateur Nico Lang kept things interesting, Bachem held on for a one-shot win with a closing 68. His final amateur event saw Germany finish sixth the following week as they defended their European Amateur Championship title before a third-placed finish on the Pro Golf Tour Order of Merit ensured graduation to the European Challenge Tour.
Two years ago Nick Bachem was playing on the Pro Golf Tour.
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) March 26, 2023
He's now a winner on the DP World Tour!#JonssonWorkwearOpen | @Sunshine_Tour pic.twitter.com/E8ERWkqCk1
November 6, 2022 - A near-miss
Bachem was in the top 20 on the Road to Mallorca Rankings for much of his debut season, even entering the top ten at one point with the help of five top tens including a runner-up finish at the Frederikshavn Challenge - Presented by HESSEL. He entered the season-ending Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A 23rd in the Rankings and was just one shot off the lead after 36 holes with a spot in the top 20 and a DP World Tour card in sight. A third-round 75 then dented his chances and, despite making two eagles on the back nine in a closing 69, a tie for tenth left him 25th on the Rankings - although another opportunity was just around the corner.
November 16, 2022 - Elation and elevation after Q School comeback
The six rounds that make up the Final Stage of the Qualifying School are very much a marathon and not a sprint and Bachem will have been glad of that after opening with a 76 at Infinitum. He went a remarkable 15 shots better on day two to get inside the top 25 and never relinquished his place, with rounds of 69-65-68-66 seeing him claim the sixth card and a place on the DP World Tour.
March 26, 2023 - DP World Tour winner
Life on Tour started in steady fashion with six made cuts and no top tens from nine events but that would all change at the Jonsson Workwear Open. A 65-66 start had Bachem ahead at the halfway mark but he found himself one shot behind countryman Alexander Knappe with 18 holes to go after a third-round 69. He saved the best ‘til last with a bogey-free closing 64 and closed out a four-shot victory in just his 12th DP World Tour start, making him the fastest German winner in history.
