Players Corner - September
27.09.2020

LPGA: Valenzuela misses cut

Albane Valenzuela missed out on reaching the final rounds of the Cambia Portland Classic in mid-September. With rounds of 74 and 71, the Geneva native was one over par at halftime and the cut was level par. In the annual ranking of the LPGA Tour (Race to CMB Globe Season), the 22-year-old from Geneva is currently in 102nd place.

Challenge Tour: Benjamin Rusch in Northern Ireland Eleventh

Four Swiss players competed in the R&A-supported Northern Ireland Open in Ballymena at the beginning of September, and two made it to the final rounds: With a total score of 274 strokes (6 under par), Benjamin Rusch narrowly missed out on a top ten classification as eleventh. Mathias Eggenberger needed a total of 288 strokes, which gave him 55th place. Impressive was his "comeback" after a round of 78 on day 1, which he followed with a 65 on day two. Joel Girrbach (146 strokes) and Raphaël de Sousa (147) missed the final by three and four strokes respectively.

De Sousa won prize money two weeks later at the Open de Portugal in Royal Obidos. With 288 strokes (par), the Geneva player reached 65th place; Rusch missed the cut by two strokes.

Ladies European Tour: Podium place for Kim Métraux in Holzhäusern

At the Czech Ladies Open at the Beroun Golf Club at the end of August, three Swiss women qualified for the prize money: Kim Métraux, with 208 strokes (8 under par) and 11th place, just missed the top ten, Caroline Rominger needed one more stroke and finished 13th, Morgane Métraux had a bad final round and fell back to 35th place with a total of 214 strokes. Rachel Rossel, Christina Gloor and Clara Pietri failed at the cut of 2 over par.

In mid September the LET returned to Switzerland after eight years. The Swiss Ladies Open was played on the course of Golfpark Holzhäusern - and there was a lot to celebrate from a Swiss perspective: Kim Métraux played for the victory. With rounds of 66, 70 and 68 strokes (a total of 12 under par), she finally ranked third, while her sister Morgane Métraux needed six more strokes and finished eleventh. Caroline Rominger, Anaïs Maggetti, Melanie Mätzler, Christina Gloor, Rachel Rossel, Clara Pietri and amateur Elena Moosmann failed to make the cut (+2).

Kim Métraux also made it into the prize money a week later in the strong field of the Ladies Open de France. In the Golf du Médoc she played rounds of 73, 70 and 73 strokes, which meant 26th place in the final score.

LET Access Series: Morgan Métraux in Lavaux in 4th place

The Second Level Tour of European women started its 2020 tournament season in Eastern Switzerland at the beginning of September. At the Flumserberg Ladies Open at the Golf Club Gams-Werdenberg, six Swiss women qualified for the final rounds. The amateur Caroline Sturdza was ranked 10th with a total score of 212 strokes (4 under par), Anaïs Maggetti needed two strokes more and finished 20th, Christina Gloor was ranked 51st with 226 strokes. Also in the final round were the amateurs Chiara Tamburlini (+5/Rank 36), titleholder Elena Moosmann (+7/Rank 44) and Elena Colombo (+9/Rank 49). The Swiss PGA members Caroline Rominger, Rachel Rossel and Clara Pietri failed to make the cut (+7).

Two weeks later the Czech Ladies Challenge was played. Christina Gloor finished 51st in Prague with 234 strokes (18 over par), Melanie Mätzler finished 59th with 238 strokes (+22) and thus made the prize money.

Last week LETAS was again in Switzerland. At the Lavaux Golf Club, the Romande Morgane Métraux played well with twice 70 and once 69 strokes and missed the tournament victory by only two strokes - fourth place for the Lausanne native. With Anaïs Maggetti (215 strokes/rank 13), Caroline Rominger (220/rank 29) and Melanie Mätzler (222/rank 36), three other Swiss players made it into the prize money. Also in the final round were the amateurs Tiffany Arafi (36th place), Lily Hürlimann and Victoria Monod (shared 39th place) and Anouk Casty and Elena Colombo (shared 49th place).

Alps Tour: Eggenberger and Baumann in Metz on place 12

The Alps Tour came up with a full calendar in September. The month started with the Cervino Alps Open, where Arthur Ameil-Planchin finished 17th with 199 strokes (5 under par). A week later, he was 22nd at the Open de la Mirabelle d'Or in Metz (France) with 206 strokes (7 under par), one stroke less needed his fellow countrymen Mathias Eggenberger and Gregori Baumann, who shared 12th place. Philippe Weppernig also ranked in the prize money, but dropped back to 53rd place in the final round.

One week later the Toscana Alps Open was played in Grossetto (Italy). There, too, three Swiss players took their place in the prize money: Mathias Eggenberger with 203 strokes (10 under par) on rank 16, Arthur Ameil-Planchin and Philippe Weppernig with 206 strokes each on rank 31.

Eggenberger was also last week's best Swiss player at the Alps de Andalucia in Seville (Spain): 206 strokes (7 under par) were enough for 20th place. Ameil-Planchin needed two strokes more and finished 32nd.

Pro Golf Tour: Freiburghaus wins in Lower Austria

The Pro Golf Tour visited the Czech Republic at the end of August. At the Altepro Trophy, which was held on two courses, Marco Iten finished 10th with 217 strokes (2 over par); a final round of 80 strokes took the Zurich player off the podium. Jeremy Freiburghaus finished 14th with 219 strokes; Yann Pfeiffer 45th and Alain Jeanrenaud 52nd also made it into the prize money.

The tournament continued in Styria: At the Schladming Dachstein Open, Freiburghaus and Luca Galliano both finished 22nd with 206 strokes (4 under par). From Styria, the tournament continued to Lower Austria at the Czech border. With rounds of twice 67 and once 65 strokes (a total of 17 under par), the Grisons native Jeremy Freiburghaus celebrated his second victory of the season on the Pro Golf Tour at the Haugschlag Lower Austria Open. Yann Pfeiffer was 43rd in the prize money as well.

The good results are also reflected in the Order of Merit. Freiburghaus currently lies in third intermediate place, Iten in seventh. At the end of the year, the five best ranked players on this tour will be eligible to play on the Challenge Tour 2021.

Swiss PGA Tour: Girrbach and Wesselingh win in Andermatt

The Swiss PGA Tour was held in Andermatt on September 7/8. One lady and 28 men were at the start. After two rounds, Joel Girrbach and James Johnson led the ranking with 141 strokes (3 under par) each. A play-off had to decide. On the 18, a par 5, Girrbach attacked the green with his second shot, his ball landed pin-high in the bunker, from where he played it one and a half meters to the flag and holed the birdie putt. Although Johnson was closer to the hole with three strokes, he missed the birdie from just over one meter and thus the tournament victory. The podium was completed by Frederik Svanberg (144 shots). Paul Wesselingh secured the senior ranking with 142 strokes (2 under par) ahead of André Bossert (144) and Franco Li Puma and Lloyd Freeman (148 each).

Swiss Pro Series: Gary Stal wins in Bonmont

The fifth tournament of the Swiss Pro Series was scheduled for August 31. At the GC Bonmont 45 pros were at the start, twelve of them stayed below par. Frenchman Gary Stal secured the winning check with a convincing round of 66 strokes (5 under par). The Swiss Steve Rey and André Bossert needed one more shot, as did Paul Wesselingh from Switzerland and John Gould from England.

The field was smaller at the sixth seasonal tournament. On September 21, only 18 players competed at the Matterhorn Golf Club near Zermatt. Frenchman Pierrick Peracino and Englishman James Johnson shared the victory with 67 strokes each (5 under par), with Johnson holeing to the eagle from 47 yards on hole 17 and a birdie on 18. Gerold Berchtold and Aleksandar Radoicic completed the podium with 69 strokes each.