Adendorf/Germany − While Niklas Adank secured the title at the Castanea Resort Pro Golf Tour Championship in Adendorf straight away in his first tournament as a professional, Antoine Schwartz successfully defended first place in the Order of Merit and claimed his ticket for the 2017 European Challenge Tour. He managed the promotion alongside Julian Kunzenbacher from Bielefeld, Christopher Mivis from Belgium and Max Kramer (Fulda) in 2^nd to 4^th place in the final Order of Merit. The fifth starting place was battled for in Adendorf with Mathieu Fenasse, another Frenchman; he pushed Patrick Kopp from Olching into 6^th place in the Pro Golf Tour Order of Merit in the last 2016 tournament.

The players from France had shown a strong presence on the Pro Golf Tour all year round, and they did so at the end of the season too. For the second time in a row, the Castanea Resort in Adendorf was the host to the Pro Golf Tour Final and Mathieu Fenasse dominated the competition on the first two days. With rounds of 66 and 69 strokes, the number 7 in the Order of Merit took first place on the leader board after rounds 1 and 2 and set about well and truly shaking up the Pro Golf Tour 2016 overall ranking; winning the tournament would have catapulted him to first place in the season’s ranking.

SKY report about the 2016 FINALE in Adendorf

After a final round of 75 he shared fourth place in the tournament anyway and collected enough points to claim his ticket for the Challenge Tour in the very last minute. Niklas Adank and Max Eichmeier finally decided who won the tournament among themselves having both shared first place with 8 under par after 54 holes. At the fourth extra hole in the play-off it was finally Adank who seized his chance after a sensational stroke onto the green and also won his first professional tournament on his home course at the same time. Besides the prize money of EUR 7,800, just as many ranking list points were added to his account. “It’s an incredibly fantastic feeling to be able to win on your own course,” Adank comments on his perfect tour début; he had become a professional just in time for the tournament.

Antoine Schwartz was also over the moon having been promoted to the next league as number 1 in the Order of Merit after four years on the Pro Golf Tour. “I have learnt a great deal on the Pro Golf Tour and feel well prepared for what now awaits me”, said the champion. The high quality of the golf courses in particular and the constantly growing competition as well as the strength of the players on the tour is a good school: “The Pro Golf Tour is an outstanding Satellite Tour and I am really happy that I decided to continuously play here”, says Schwartz, who accepted the huge trophy for the overall win from Erwin Langer; Langer Sport is a shareholder of the Pro Golf Tour, which is run by PGA of Germany.

The Castanea Resort in Adendorf once again proved to be a superb venue for the tour final and provided a just as well prepared as selective championship course alongside a perfect infrastructure. The Pro Golf Tour Final will also be held in Adendorf in 2017.

The 2016 Pro Golf Tour ranking list tournaments, where 590,000 euros of prize money was distributed at 19 events, have come to an end with the Castanea Resort Pro Golf Tour Championship 2016. The year now finishes with the Pro Golf Tour Qualifying School for the 2016 season at Paderborner Land GC from 11 to 14 October.