Event Info
Starts - 15th July 2020
Course - Adamstal GC
Par -70 (36-34)
Length – 6,473 yards
Results
Overall Profit/Loss: N/A
Pre-Event Six to Watch
T57th Francesco Laporta - 30/1
T63rd Marcel Schneider - 35/1
MC Daan Huizing - 60/1
T18th Oliver Lindell - 66/1
T64th Jonathan Thomson - 150/1
T13th Ondrej Lieser - 275/1
In-Play: N/A
No In-Play bets
Preview
Course Info
Opened in 1998, Adamstal Golf Club is widely regarded as Austria's finest golf course. Situated in the Alpine mountains, designer Jeff Howes managed to shoehorn in a golf course to land that otherwise would not have been thought suitable. The result is stunning vistas and a quirky set up.
The course plays as a short par 70 with five par 3s and only 3 par 5s. Two of the par 5s play under 500 yards and the other (the 7th) is over 600. The long 7th was the hardest hole on the course last year so beware if betting in-play. The final hole is a 219 yard downhill par 3 and there is out of bounds for those who are particularly errant with their tee shot.
Low scores are probable at Adamstal, with multiple rounds in the low 60s recorded in previous events and Julien Quesne shooting a course record 61 in last year's event.
The players will face a number of uphill and downhill shots as well as uneven lies. Players will be expected to adjust yardages owing to the severity of the slopes encountered, but also factor in altitude considerations. The course is already short by Tour standards but plays even shorter due to its mountain location (it is 1,100m above sea level).
Significant Info To Be Aware Of
This is only the second event back on the European Tour and for many this will be their first week of competitive action.
We should also be alert to the possibility that some players may drop out should they test positive for Covid-19.
Continue to exercise caution at the outset and keep a watching brief in play.
Trends
The Euram Bank Open has been a Challenge Tour event for the past two seasons and prior to that it was a Pro Golf Tour event. We've seen winning scores of -17 and -18 the past two seasons but prior to that scoring was much higher (although this is to be expected with a drop in grade).
Given the hilly nature of this course, players who are under 30 have performed best in the last two years. In 2018 all of the top four were under 30 and last year two of the top three were under 30.
There does appear to be a trend with the Rolex Trophy Event played at Golf Club de Geneve in Switzerland. There are numerous examples of players recording high finishes in both events, some examples are:
Darius Van Driel - has won both events
Callum Hill - won here in 2019 and 3rd at the Rolex Trophy in 2019
Nicolai Von Dellingshausen - 7th in the Rolex Trophy in 2019, finished 19th here last year and won here on the Pro Golf Tour in 2017.
Ewan Ferguson - 2nd here last year and 10th at the Rolex Trophy in 2019
It is also notable that Van Driel, Ferguson and Gregory Havret have all recorded top 5 finishes here in the past two seasons and these three golfers made up three of the top four at the Belgian Knockout event on the European Tour in 2019.
Stats Analysis
With this being a lower tour event we have little to go on. We know that wild tee shots are likely to be severely punished but there is a little room off the tee for the longer hitters. Players who are accurate with their irons are preferred.
In Play
Be particularly wary of the last three holes on each nine. Holes 7-9 ranked as the three hardest holes last year, whilst 16 and 18 ranked as 5th and 6th hardest. If the European Tour is adopting three hole scoring again, keep this in mind!
We can say it's a difficult course to force a low score on. Being up with the leaders is advantageous. Last year's winner Callum Hill alluded to the advantage leaders have around here as he was being chased down by Matt Ford,
"I wasn’t worried about not keeping up with Matt because I felt like I could keep plotting away and make fewer errors. I figured that if I could get to three or four under, then he would have to get to eight under and you’ve got to play great golf to get that deep."
Six To Watch
Francesco Laporta - 30/1 @ Skybet
Francesco was Challenge Tour No 1 last year, recording two wins. He also got himself into contention at the Abu Dhabi Championship in January this year before faltering. He is quoted as saying he played "alright" last week but badly in the torrential rain of Saturday as he recorded a 77. He describes this week's venue as "amazing" and given that he's finished 11th and 38th here the past two years, we know he can get round. He ticks the age box being only 29 and this could well be the type of event he records his first European Tour win.
Marcel Schneider - 35/1 @ Betfred
Straight hitting Marcel finished 2nd last week in Austria to confirm his liking for golfing in the country. He actually led this event last year by 3 shots after an opening 62m but could only go onto finish 14th. Given how well he played under pressure last week we think he could improve on that. Also has a 2nd place at the Rolex Trophy in Switzerland at a course we think correlates nicely to here.
Daan Huizing - 60/1 @ Betfred
We are again attacking the Rolex Trophy angle as Daan was 3rd in 2019 and 6th in 2018. He has also respectable finishes of 42nd and 26th at this course in the last two years. He completes the hat-trick of boxes ticked with solid form figures of 25-11-37. Daan is an experienced Challenge Tour campaigner and has plenty of big finishes at this level. He is overpriced at 60/1.
Oliver Lindell - 66/1 @ William Hill
Oliver recorded his best ever Challenge Tour finish here last year, picking up a share of 4th. This was on the back of a run of missed cuts, so he comes into this week in better shape off the back of a 25th place. A promising talent, the young Finn offers good value at 66/1.
Jonathan Thomson - 150/1 @ BetVictor
There aren't many players in this field who have narrowly missed out on a European Tour title in the past two seasons. Jon Thomson almost won the Made in Denmark event in 2018, losing a four man playoff to Matt Wallace. Jon is a giant of a man, measuring 6ft 9 inches.
He battled Leukemia as a child and he is quoted as saying he uses this to retain perspective. He had a very credible 25th place finish last week which included a disastrous third round of 78 in the torrential rain. We are willing to put that weather affected round aside and think Jon represents value at three figures.
Ondrej Lieser - 275/1 @ Bet365
This is very much a punt, but Ondrej ticks a lot of boxes so he's worth keeping an eye on. He finished 44th last week, again shooting a poor third round of 76. Ondrej wears glasses, so the rain is likely to have affected him more than most and his other three rounds were par or better.
He played on the Pro Golf Tour last year and in his ten starts recorded 6 top 10 finishes. He's won each of the last two years on the Pro Golf Tour and has played the Euram Bank Open once before, finishing 53rd in 2018.
Felix Mory is another worth keeping an eye on at 250/1 given he too performed well last week and had a respectable Pro Golf Tour last year. We can only pick 6 though!