Christian Braeunig will tee it up at this week’s Viking Challenge buoyed by a career-best third place finish in Northern Ireland.
The German lost to eventual champion Robin Sciot-Siegrist on the first extra hole of their semi-final in the Galgorm Resort & Spa Northern Ireland Open presented by Modest! Golf but overcame Bradley Neil in the third-place play-off at Galgorm Castle.
The result jumped him up 40 places to 46th in the Road to Oman Rankings, in all likelihood securing his Challenge Tour status for next season, and he is now looking forward to tackling Miklagard Golf Club with slightly less pressure on his shoulders.
“It was a really important result,” said the 25 year old. “The last few weeks were pretty bad and a good result like that reduces the pressure a little bit because it already secures me my Challenge Tour card for next year, so the next couple of events now will be a lot more relaxed.
“I’m not really that disappointed because on the third morning I was almost out of the tournament and then I almost made it to the final.
“In the moment of losing to Robin I was obviously pretty disappointed but overall I’m extremely happy with the whole week and it’s been incredible fun to play in front of all those people.
“I’ll hope to carry this form and this confidence with me to Norway this week. I hear it’s a great course so if we get some good weather, I’m really looking forward to pushing on.
“It’s definitely a confidence boost to be able to take my best ever finish to Norway, especially with the format becoming head-to-head and knowing I can compete with the best players on the Challenge Tour directly.
“The six hole format suited my game really well, I could be aggressive, and I played pretty solid all day, it just wasn’t quite enough in the end, but it was a great week overall.”
