The Road to Mallorca continues this week with the Swiss Challenge held at Golf Saint Apollinaire, and here’s everything you need to know for the week ahead.
A unique venue and location
The Swiss Challenge this year will be held in France, close to the Swiss and German borders in the vicinity of Basel, located on the banks of the river Rhine. Golf Saint Apollinaire comprises of three courses, with two being championship courses and one nine-hole course, designed by golf architect Kurt Rossknecht who has incorporated narrow fairways into the beautiful wooded forest that surrounds the picturesque area.
Established previous champions
The Swiss Challenge has proved to be a wonderful grounding for many of the players who have gone on to enjoy further success. One stand-out is Spaniard Rafa Cabrera Bello, who won the event in 2008. The 37-year-old is now a three-time European Tour winner, including a Rolex Series title at the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open in 2017. Not only has Cabrera Bello been successful on the European Tour but he represented Spain at the 2016 Summer Olympics and also earned automatic selection for the 2016 Ryder Cup at Hazeltine.
Two players eyeing automatic promotion
Two players will be eyeing automatic promotion at the Swiss Challenge this week, German Marcel Schneider and Portuguese Ricardo Gouveia. Schneider is the most recent winner on the Challenge Tour having won the Open de Portugal in dramatic fashion last week, holing a 30-foot eagle putt to seal a one-stroke victory only two months on from his first victory on the Road to Mallorca at the Kaskáda Golf Challenge. Ricardo Gouveia will also be hoping to secure his third victory of the Road to Mallorca and earn automatic playing privileges on the Race to Dubai next year, having been victorious at the Italian Challenge and the Made in Esbjerg Challenge – Presented by FREJA & Total.
