Adendorf – He proudly raised the mighty cup for the overall victory high up into the sky in the waning light of the day with a huge grin on his face and pointed his forefinger to show the number one. Philipp Mejow from Berlin is finishing the 2015 season Pro Golf Tour Order of Merit as the number 1, he collected 35,310.72 points over 22 tournaments, more than any of his competitors. “At the start of this year I could never have dreamt that it would go so well. Standing here now as the number 1 is pretty damn cool and makes me really proud,” says Mejow after the last putt of the season. Even more so as winning the order of merit was pretty tough work for the 27-year old even at the end: Benjamin Rusch from Switzerland, number 4 in the ranking before the tournament started in Lower Saxony’s Adendorf and also already sure to qualify for promotion like Mejow, played a powerful season final recording rounds of 65, 67 and 69 strokes and celebrated a confident start-finish victory with 15 under par. He forced Mejow to counter with this as he had to come at least sixth if Rusch won to not lose his first place in the ranking to the man from Weinfelden.

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However, it was in precisely this situation that Mejow proved the class of a champion. With nerves of steel he was also able to pull his best golf out of the bag this week at the Castanea Resort in Adendorf, which was the venue for the Pro Golf Tour final for the first time and will also be a host in 2016 and 2017. With rounds of 68, 70 and 68 strokes, 10 under par overall, he was finally able to secure the second place in the tournament and 4440 ranking list points, tantamount to the overall victory. “This is the best day in my golfing life,” said the champion who was able to celebrate two victories this season. “It was an amazing year on the whole and I had great fun playing on the Pro Golf Tour!” Benjamin Rusch, who celebrated his third tournament success this year in Adendorf, moved up to rank second in the order of merit as a result of the 7400 ranking list points that went hand in hand with the win and he was also extremely delighted: “It was my first year as a professional and I was absolutely thrilled to be able to play in this final. This win is of course the icing on the cake to a very good golf season now.”

The final tournament’s top two players, and the Dutchman Reinier Saxton and Martin Keskari from Frankfurt whose promotion was already definite before the Tour Championship, are now going up a league. The Finn Teemu Bakker defended his fifth place in the ranking with tremendous fighting spirit against the attack by the Dutchman Robin Kind. After 72 and 73 strokes on the first two days it initially looked as if Bakker might possibly have to hand over his ticket at the very last minute. However, with a final round of 70 and 74 by Kind, Bakker also removed all doubt and was visibly relieved in the end: “I was actually the only one who had something to lose at this tournament. I am really happy now that it was enough, it means a great deal to me!”

“We are very happy to have a first-class venue for our tour final with the Castanea Resort in Adendorf, which guarantees both an outstanding infrastructure as well as challenging, selective golf course; all of these are important prerequisites for a successful season final,” says Rainer Goldrian, Managing Director of the Pro Golf Tour. And Peter Klaus Müller, General Director of the Castanea Resort Hotels in Lüneburger Heide adds: “We are delighted for the winner and everyone involved and we are very proud to have been present this year in the thick of the action where exciting decisions are made for the top rankings in the Pro Golf Tour Order of Merit. Marion groß Osterhues, Golf Manager at the resort explained at the presentation ceremony: “By organising the tour final we have driven our commitment, in particular to professional golf, even further. The successful conclusion makes us extremely proud of our golf course, what we offer and all the facilities including the hotel business.”

Camera & Editing: Marzena Walicka

Fotos: Stefan Heigl

The 2015 Pro Golf Tour ranking list tournaments, where 680,000 euros of prize money was distributed at 22 events, have come to an end with the Castanea Resort Pro Golf Tour Championship 2015. The year now finishes with the Pro Golf Tour Qualifying School for the 2016 season at Paderborner Land GC from 13 to 16 October.