Broberg and Pieters among the field

The sun is shining gloriously as Bernardus Golf in Cromvoirt, Holland welcomes 156 players from the European Tour for the 102nd Dutch Open (26-29 May 2022).  A number of players have just returned from Tulsa, Oklahoma where they competed in the US PGA Championship.  Thomas Pieters from Belgium, who won the 2015 Dutch Open, is a strong contender among them.  Defending Champion from Sweden, Kristoffer Broberg, returns to seek another surprise victory along with the number two player from Germany, Matthias Schmid.

 

All eyes were fixed on Joost Luiten last year who was in search of his third Dutch Open title.  Alas, for the 36-year old from Bleiswijk, Holland he missed the halfway cut.  Instead it was another Dutchman, Darius van Driel, who finished as the best Dutchman in a tie for 4th spot with Belgium’s Thomas Detry.  Let’s hope that of the 14 Dutch players competing this year that someone will top that position.

 

Early birds on the tee

 

The players with the honour of teeing-off first at 07.30 are Ricardo Santos (Portugal), Robert Rock (England) and Frederic Lacroix (France).  By the way, Joost Luiten is playing at 13.30 with Ryan Fox (New Zealand) and defending champion Kristoffer Broberg.

 

Thirty-five year old Broberg teed-off with an 8-shot lead over the rest of the field at Bernardus Golf on Sunday last year.  He triumphed with a 3-shot victory with which he was delighted.  In the first three rounds he made a total of 23 birdies, one eagle and two bogeys which equalled the 23-under par record for 54 holes in a European Tour event.  Although he may not have played as much golf as he would have liked since then, he is looking forward to defending his title at Cromvoirt, and certainly with the happy news of a new baby in the family.

 

Nearly 7,000 metres of heathland course are laid out in spectacular fashion at Bernardus Golf with a challenging par of 72.  We look forward to seeing you there!

 

 

Wendy Hoad

Editor

 

 

MAIN PHOTOGRAPH:  Sweden’s Kristoffer Broberg defends his Dutch Open title at Bernardus Golf, Cromvoirt, Holland.