The DP World Tour said goodbye to one of its most distinctive holes in fitting style at Made in HimmerLand 2023 thanks to Sandy Scott and Grant Forrest.
The trademark 16th hole, HimmerLand Hill, has played as short as a record-breaking 79 yards in years past and has been witness to many memorable moments, with Scott adding another to the list on Sunday with a hole in one on his way to a five-under-par finish.
The Scottish rookie’s tee shot found the bottom of the cup – located at the front of the green and at a distance of 94 yards on this occasion – to give the spectators in the hole’s natural amphitheatre an early excuse to sound the squeaky ducks which are part of HimmerLand’s unique atmosphere.
Forrest followed him in later in the day, hanging a perfect lob wedge over the top of the pin and spinning back down the slope and in.
HimmerLand Hill has seen a number of previous aces over the years, from Sweden’s Robert Karlsson in 2016 to American John Catlin in last year’s tournament. Danish former pro Andreas Hartø even proposed to his wife Louise after birdieing the hole in 2015.
Today will be the last time we see the iconic HimmerLand Hill (16th)💔
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) July 9, 2023
Here are some of its best moments, from proposals to hole-in-ones 🇩🇰 pic.twitter.com/siGTDNm6zZ
And Scott said: “It’s super, to be a part of DP World Tour history – this course is fantastic, to be able to do it here in one of its last years here, it definitely feels special.
“It was amazing. It looked good in the air – I actually didn’t want to land it as far as I did, I thought if it landed on that back slope it was just going to come off the green.
“But it was low enough and downwind enough to keep the spin off and I saw it trickle in so yeah, it was fantastic.”
Forrest’s effort came after playing partner John Axelsen’s tee-shot lipped out, depriving the crowd of a Danish ace.
“You can sort of see it, you can’t quite see the bottom of the hole from the tee but you know from the crowd’s reaction," he said. "His was perfect, one bounce, a little bit of spin and just trickled down.
“I took a slightly different line but same thing, just to the top of the slope, little bit of spin and then as it was getting closer the crowd got louder and louder, we saw it disappear and it was cool.
“It was the first time I’ve hit the green this week as well! Made three up-and-down pars the first three days so it was a nice way to go out.”
It was Forrest's second ace on the DP World Tour while Scott, 25, was playing only his third event as a professional and had made the cut for the first time - though the latter revealed he had recent pedigree for his hole-in-one heroics.
“I’ve had three in my life, I think… no, four!” he said. “I’ve had four and I had one about four weeks ago, so it’s weird how it’s happened.
“Hopefully I keep the streak going!"
