Clément Sordet’s phenomenal hole-in-one at the season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final has been voted as the 2017 European Challenge Tour Shot of the Year after taking more than a quarter of the public vote.
The Frenchman holed his tee shot on the par three eighth during his second round in Oman, where after pitching eight feet short of the flag, his ball kicked off the surface before slowly trickling into the cup of the 184-yard pin.
The 25 year old’s ace propelled him towards a stunning two-stroke victory at Al Mouj Golf – his second win in a fantastic 2017 season where he finished second in the Challenge Tour Rankings.
After making an excellent start to his rookie season on the European Tour with a top-ten finish in his first event, the UBS Hong Kong Open, Sordet is excited for what the future holds – and was delighted that his hole-in-one was voted as the best shot from 2017.
“I think it is pretty cool to win Shot of the Year – especially with my hole-in-one in my last event of the year,” he said.
“All I can say is it was a perfect shot. My caddie told me to aim a bit right of the pin to play it safe but I thought to myself ‘I’m going straight for the pin here’ and it paid off.
“I didn’t see it go in but I saw someone jerking around behind the green so I knew it had to be in the hole.
“I was 12thin the Rankings going into the tournament so I knew I had to play very well – to finish the season with a victory was great and I can’t wait to go back to Oman on the European Tour in a couple of weeks.
“I will definitely think about making another hole-in-one there, although the more you think about a hole-in-one the less chance you have of making one!
“I have made a good start to my first season on the European Tour and hopefully I have shown I have the game to compete at that level. My next aim is to try and win on the European Tour this year.”
Sordet, who received 26% of the public vote, narrowly pipped the United States’ Chase Koepka to the top prize, with the American’s hole-out eagle at the Swiss Challenge presented by ASG coming a close second with 23% of the vote.
Shot of the Year number 2⃣@ChaseKoepka at the #SwissChallenge pic.twitter.com/1R5fSpfM0K
— Challenge Tour (@Challenge_Tour) January 22, 2018
Sordet becomes the third winner of the Challenge Tour Shot of the Year, with Scotland’s David Law claiming the crown in 2016 after a stunning approach shot into the par four third hole at Terre Dei Consoli Golf Club.
Spain’s Nacho Elvira sealed the top prize in 2015 with an incredible albatross en route to winning the Challenge de Madrid.
Of those who voted, David Williams was the lucky one drawn as our prize winner, the Welshman picking up a collection of Challenge Tour goodies from last season’s top 15 including Tapio Pulkkanen’s trilby hat, Aaron Rai’s gloves, Marcus Kinhult’s five-wood and Erik van Rooyen’s tour bag, among other prizes.
