Fans gather at the new venue of Bernardus Golf
Beautiful blue skies greeted the European Tour today as players teed-off at a sparkling new venue. The impressive par-72 Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, Brabant in the south of Holland provides the platform for those in search of fame and glory for winning the 101st edition of the Dutch Open (16-19 September 2021).
Joost Luiten, the Dutch Open Champion of 2013 and 2016, has waited a long time to be in contention again. Could this year be his third victory on another new course? Last year the event was cancelled due to Corona safety measures during the pandemic. And so now is the time to bring your A-game to Holland after a two year gap. Let’s see what the 156 players have in store for us.
Luiten got off to a cracking start in last week’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. He opened with a 4-under par 68 for a top-10 first round. Rounds of 72, 73 and 68 followed for a finish of 7-under which was good enough to tie 35th with 10 others including former Open Champion Francesco Molinari (Italy) and Pablo Larrazábal (Spain). Alas, not a brilliant start for Luiten but at least he easily made the weekend cut. It is also shows some extra promise for the 35-year old Dutchman for his very own Dutch Open this week.
Other leading lights from the BMW tournament, which was the occasion that European Captain Padraig Harrington had highlighted for the announcement of his three wild card picks for the Ryder Cup next week, included the American winner Billy Horschel. Alas, he is not in Holland this week but other top names here include Graeme McDowell (Northern Ireland), Thomas Pieters (Belgium) and Branden Grace (South Africa).
With the honour of teeing-off first in Holland at 07.45 am were Lorenzo Gagli (Italy), Liam Johnston (Scotland) and Ricardo Gouveia (Portugal).
The nearly 7,000 metre long heathland course of Bernardus Golf near ’s-Hertogenbosch has pitched a promising reputation in its short history. Designed by the American architect Kyle Phillips, it opened in 2018 and was soon talked of as a potential new venue for the Dutch Open.
“GOLF. CHALLENGING TO PLAY. EASY TO LOVE.”
Enjoy the Dutch Open!
Wendy Hoad
MAIN PHOTOGRAPH: Joost Luiten is in search of his third Dutch Open victory.