Bernd Wiesberger is looking forward to the challenge of taking on Golf Resort Bad Griesbach’s Beckenbauer Course this week with little prior knowledge after heavy flooding resulted in the cancellation of the practice round and Pro-Am – the right decision according to the Austrian.
Torrential rain struck the local area of Bad Griesbach over the weekend and the Rott river which runs through the course broke its banks and covered several fairways.
The three-time European Tour winner is feeling at home this week at a Bavarian venue which is close to the border of his home country, and he believes the rare fact that no player will have played the course before Thursday’s first round will make it an intriguing first couple of days.
“It is a very comfortable week for me,” he said. “I had a nice little drive over yesterday from home, unfortunately in the rainy weather, which is why we’re not getting any practice on the course. It is unfortunate but is probably the sensible thing to do.
“It’s a great tournament and the greenkeeping staff do an amazing job. All in all it’s a comfortable week for me – I can get here whenever I want to in the car which makes it quite easy.
“I’m probably going to walk a couple of holes tomorrow. I played last year so I know the course but I’m definitely going to spend a lot of time out there and see how the greens look and how they held up because it will be hard to hit a shot into the green without knowing how it is going to react.
“I’ll probably check a few of the greens and look at a few yardages but everybody is on a level playing field without having played the course so it’s going to be interesting.”
Last year, the 30 year old opened with a stunning 64 to share the lead but incredibly then missed the cut after a second round 76.
He clearly knows how to shoot a low one around here though, and after a runner-up finish at the KLM Open two weeks ago he is feeling confident on a course he thinks provides an enjoyable challenge.
“I enjoyed playing well again at the KLM Open and it was important for me,” he said. “I had a good couple of days off, a bit of work at home and I feel quite rested for what lies ahead for the rest of the year. I’m swinging it nicely and hitting them good so I hope that feeds into the tournaments for the rest of the year.
“I had a good first round out here, it gives you some opportunities. You definitely want to play the couple of par fives well early in the back nine which gives you a stretch of holes where you can get some momentum.
“I would say holes like three, four and five are quite long holes where par’s a good score – you want to hit the fairways there and make sure you get off the tee well, that’s a stretch that could bite you a little bit but we’ll see how it plays this year.”
