Eduard Rousaud is hoping to draw on experience of back-to-back top five finishes at Iberostar Real Club de Golf Novo Sancti Petri when he tees it up in the Challenge de España this week.
The 22-year-old finished fourth and tied fifth in the European Challenge Tour’s Cádiz double-header in 2020 while still an amateur, further enhancing the potential which saw him compete in the 2018 Junior Ryder Cup in Paris.
Rousaud is looking forward to the week ahead in the south-west of Spain, which marks the first of 20 consecutive weeks of events on the Road to Mallorca, and will be hoping to use past experience and home support as motivation.
“I like the course a lot because I’ve played well here,” he said “It’s a bit tricky, especially with the wind. If it doesn’t get windy, it's a little bit easier, that's obvious, but I mean, the guys here can score really, really low but with the wind, it gets tricky.
“This back nine with the with the trees is a little tough. I’m not sure if the balls will get as stuck in the trees this year but that’s going to be a challenge too.
“My family couldn't get here because I live in the other of Spain in Barcelona. It’s very good to have my friends here, and at least we get good environment with them and a lot of Spanish people. We are like a good team and we help each other.
“It is very demanding, but I'm not going to play 20 in a row. I think I will get really tired physically and mentally after at least four or five. My schedule depends on how I'm feeling, how I'm playing and taking one off, maybe two off in the summer but I’m not sure. It’s really demanding but it’s also good because it makes us organise ourselves better.”
The Spaniard is eyeing a return to form following a maiden visit to South Africa which yielded just one made cut from five starts but, despite a disappointing outcome on the course, Rousaud nevertheless views it as a positive experience.
“It's really good because at least we have the chance to play on the Challenge Tour,” he said. “Sometimes it's difficult to put together a couple of events and with the weather here in Europe, it's difficult in the first part of the year.
“We are very lucky to have that that chance, we really enjoyed that and it was my first time in South Africa, so for me it was an adventure and different. It was really, really nice experience.”
The top three on the Road to Mallorca Rankings – South African JC Ritchie, Germany’s Alex Knappe and Belgium’s Chris Mivis – all join Rousaud in Spain this week, as do two men who have previously tasted success at Sancti Petri.
Belgian Kristof Ulenaers, who won the Challenge de Cádiz here in 2021, and Czech Ondrej Lieser, who secured the first of two wins in two events at the Andalucia Challenge de España in 2020, both tee it up this week.
The first round of the Challenge de España will begin at 8:00am local time on Thursday May 18, with Rousaud joining Italy’s Lorenzo Scalise and Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin on the tee at 2:00pm.
