Aalden/Netherlands – He would not let this trophy be snatched away from him at any price: Frederik Schott had led the premiere of the FaberExposize Gelpenberg Open for two days, opening the tournament with an eagle and a round of 65, and following it up with a 69 on the second day. But then his alarm clock did not go off and Schott missed half the usual three-hour preparation time before the final round. “As a result, I was a bit sleepy on the first few holes,” said Schott, who conceded bogeys on 2, 5 and 7 and also recorded birdies on 4 and 8, but still fell far behind on the leader board.

Switzerland’s Robert Foley, Felix Schulz from Austria and, from the back nine onwards, Portugal’s Tomas Gouveia take turns at the top of the leader board. But while they all make small mistakes on their way back to the clubhouse, conceding bogeys and double bogeys, Frederik Schott, now wide awake, putts a birdie on the 13th and an eagle on the 16th. On this 450-metre par 5 he manages a 300-metre drive, with the 9-iron he then plays the ball one and a half metres to the flag from 142 metres and putts an eagle, which now puts him in the lead with Gouveia at 10 under par. When the Portuguese concedes a bogey on the 18th hole a few minutes later, Schott took his chance and brought his first tournament victory as a professional home in his premiere on the Pro Golf Tour this year.

Magnificent greens

“This tournament was tremendous fun,” said the champion. “The course is fantastic, the greens are just magnificent – I am really incredibly happy!” Especially since the triumph is also a dream come true: “I actually wanted to play the entire season on the Pro Golf Tour and had my sights set on winning a tournament in my first year. The fact that the win worked out is really brilliant!”

As contrary to what was planned, Schott is playing on the Challenge Tour this year and, as a promising PGA of Germany Tour player, receives starting places in numerous tournaments on an exchange basis. And performed so well from the start that he will almost complete a full season on the Challenge Tour, including the Big Green Egg German Challenge powered by VcG next week at Wittelsbacher GC Rohrenfeld-Neuburg. Schott: “I played the course fairly aggressively, attacking often and hitting my driver. I also wanted to prepare for the tournament in Neuburg a bit here in Holland – that worked really well.”

Also because the tournament title sponsor FaberExposize and the host club DGC de Gelpenberg made a first-class premiere on the Pro Golf Tour in Aalden, the Netherlands, possible from A to Z, with an outstanding tournament set-up, numerous spectators and a golf course that was as selective as it was sportingly fair.

Season finale

Round 1 of the Castanea Resort Championship is now on the agenda in exactly four weeks, on 4 October 2021, – the grand season final of the Pro Golf Tour. The Castanea Golf Resort in Adendorf will then be the venue for the record prize money of 50,000 euros, the overall victory in 2021 and the promotion places to the Challenge Tour in 2022. The top 72 players on the Order of Merit are eligible to take part, provided they have competed in at least three Pro Golf Tour tournaments this year. Their new number 1 after a shared 7th place with Jannik de Bruyn in Aalden is German PGT double winner Nick Bachem, who pushes Frenchman Mathieu Decottignies Lafon into second place.