Max Orrin has played just 23 events on the European Challenge Tour, yet already he holds the enviable record of two wins. But the promising Englishman is hoping to bring more consistency to his game as he looks forward to this week’s Swiss Challenge presented by Association Suisse de Golf.
The 21 year old doubled his Challenge Tour trophy haul four weeks ago at the Made in Denmark Challenge, winning in cold and windy conditions to prove his victory at the NBO Golf Classic last year was no fluke.
I’ve missed three of the last four cuts but I’ve got a win. It’s not easy when you’re not making cuts but you know that if you have a good week and everything comes together you can get it over the line.
At such a young age, the former Walker Cup player is already showing serious promise and confidence is certainly not an issue for the friendly and outgoing Orrin.
But, as he arrives to a Golf Sempachersee course upon which he carded a final round 66 last year, the Kent player is hoping he can steady the ship after a record of one victory but two missed cuts in his opening four events on Europe’s top developmental tour.
“This year I’ve missed three of the last four cuts but I’ve got a win,” he said. “It’s not easy when you’re not making cuts but you know that if you have a good week and everything comes together you can get it over the line.
“The course quite tight this year. The thick rough is up, the greens are really good and the course is in great condition. I had a good finish last year so I have good memories of the Sunday here and I have done some good work where, after I missed the cut in Czech Republic, I went to see my coach.
“I hope not I can put three or four good rounds together and give myself a chance come Sunday.”
Orrin came agonisingly close to sealing graduation to The European Tour last year when, a week after his triumph in Oman, he put himself firmly in contention at the Grand Final after opening with a three under 69.
All was going swimmingly until he suffered a nightmare on the final hole of the third round in Dubai, putting two balls in the water and sinking to a nine on the par five 18th.
Orrin has bounced back from that disappointment this year, however, and is now confident that he can seal the deal later this year and make the step-up to the big leagues.
“I had come for the win in Dubai and played well for pretty much 36 holes so everything was easy at that point,” he said. “My golf was good and nothing was really going wrong and then, through maybe a bit of loss of concentration or didn’t think enough about the shot at the last hole, I had a nine.
“So I went from being in a great position to get my card and everything was going really well, it was quite a big shock and took a little time to get over. I obviously had Q-School the week after so it didn’t give me much time to forget about it.
“I went into Oman was down in the Rankings so I was just trying to get some status for the following year and give myself a chance to play another season on the Challenge Tour, so to from having low expectations to all of a sudden having a chance to graduate, it was a positive.
“Not getting a card was obviously a negative but it made me work that bit harder this year. I wanted to get off to a better start than I did last year. I haven’t quite been as consistent as I’d have liked but I’m in a good position on the Rankings and hopefully I can push on now and get a few more good results.”
