Maximilian Steinlechner heads six selections for this week’s Rosa Challenge, as the HotelPlanner Tour returns to Poland.
Golf betting tips: Rosa Golf Challenge
2pts e.w. Maximilian Steinlechner at 25/1 (General 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
1pt e.w. Rocco Repetto Taylor at 50/1 (BoyleSports 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
1pt e.w. Hugo Townsend at 55/1 (SpreadEx, Sporting Index 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
1pt e.w. James Meyer De Beco at 80/1 (Paddy Power, Betfair 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
1pt e.w. Ronan Kleu at 100/1 (SpreadEx, Sporting Index 1/5 1,2,3,4,5,6)
1pt e.w. Nicolai Kristensen at 250/1 (bet365 1/4 1,2,3,4,5)
Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair Sportsbook
Poland made its long-awaited return to the HotelPlanner Tour last year and the occasion was marked by an impressive win for a player with enormous potential. Twelve months on, Angel Ayora goes into the Irish Open as a viable contender who could yet involve himself in the battle for PGA Tour cards and whether that happens or not, his future is extraordinarily bright.
I wrote last week that this year’s class don’t appear as strong – Oihan Guillamoundeguy is probably the most promising youngster playing this week and even looks a bit like Ayora, but to underline the scale of the challenge, the dominant player in 2024 went as far as contending for the US Open in June. Time will show that group to be special, with at least three in the running for those PGA Tour cards without considering whether Ayora can yet do it himself.
When players of Ayora’s talent win we don’t always learn much about the course, but anyone assuming Rosa Golf Club favours those with his raw power is probably going to be proven correct. Third-placed Jens Fahrbring said so, and the top four was completed by Dermot McElroy and Christofer Rahm. McElroy is longer than average; Rahm is a giant who seemingly hits it a good distance, too.
Now, McElroy and Rahm are not (yet) of DP World Tour standard or anything like it, their forays towards the top of even these leaderboards exceptionally rare. That’s why it’s interesting that, in separate years, both have contended at Novo Sancti Petri in Spain. I’d put that firmly among what’s a relatively small cluster of courses on the HotelPlanner Tour which set up particularly well for the bombers.
And they’re not the only ones. Clement Berardo has been second and 10th at Novo Sancti Petri, Alex Levy fifth, Deon Germishuys third, Martin Simonsen fifth, Jonathan Thomson seventh, Oliver Lindell fifth, John Axelsen ninth, Ayora ninth, Alfie Plant seventh, Aaron Zemmer 13th, Nicolai von Dellingshausen 11th and Gregorio De Leo 17th. Almost to a man, the top 20 from this event have at some stage gone very well in Spain.
As ever, the difficulty is in knowing enough about each player when we’ve no HotelPlanner Tour stats available, but that’s all part of the fun. Less fun is waiting all day for prices when every firm had them by early afternoon last week; to then see powerful youngster Luis Masaveu trimmed to 40/1 having been 100s in a place was a bit of a blow, I must say.
Instead we’ll start by leaning into that potential link with Novo Sancti Petri in the simplest way possible: by backing the winner there in early summer, ROCCO REPETTO TAYLOR.
It’s fair to say he didn’t have the amateur pedigree of his compatriot Masaveu, but Repetto Taylor went 20-4-6-2-1 on the Alps Tour to begin the year and then, following a missed cut in the Challenge de Espana, went and won just his second ever HotelPlanner Tour start.
He did it impressively, too, with a strong finish on a packed leaderboard in tricky conditions, and just as Ayora’s key to winning here was tearing apart the par-fives, so it was for him there. He’s continued to play them extremely well since, including when seventh last week, and nine starts since that shock win show precisely zero missed cuts.
Further promise in France (10th, 15th), the Austria (21st after a strong start), Brno (12th after a brilliant weekend) and Scotland (faded having been in a good position through 54 holes) has Repetto Taylor in a great spot to earn DP World Tour membership having begun the year on a satellite circuit, a serious feat last achieved (unless my memory fails me) by the highly talented Jesper Svensson.
We’re still guessing a little but he looks aggressive and powerful – he played the par-four 17th in six-under last week – and that potential connection to the course he won at makes him look a fascinating candidate. BoyleSports’ 50/1 was a lovely surprise; 33s and upwards is considered worth taking.
It must be said that this is a strong field for the circuit, featuring everyone of note bar Filippo Celli, and cases can be made for any one of the eight or nine players shorter than Repetto Taylor in the market.
My preference, in order, would be for MAXIMILIAN STEINLECHNER, Gregorio de Leo and Guillamoundeguy, and it’s the Austrian who is the pick of these capable young Europeans.
Steinlechner has played in four DP World Tour events this year and ranked 15th, 11th, 19th and 15th in driving distance, as well as seventh last time out in strokes-gained off-the-tee. He’s big and he gives it a good hit, so I think we’re fair to say he’s well above average in this field when it comes to power.
Ultimately, the putter kept him from sticking around following a good start in Denmark, but it had been above-average in Scotland before that and across these two starts in stronger company than this, every part of his game has fired at some stage.
It’s only six weeks or so since he followed a win in his native Austria with second place in the Czech Republic and while these top-ranked players have taken turns impressing this year, I do think there’s plenty more to come from this particular one, who also has the added benefit of having been 11th here last year.
Back then, Steinlechner hadn’t been doing much and it proved his best result over the final 10 events of his season, so better can be expected now returning to Poland. His strength really does look to be his driver and if that proves to be key as it was for Ayora, then his chance is as good as anyone’s.
Next is HUGO TOWNSEND, and here we return to Novo Sancti Petri where he was third in June, his best result of the season.
Townsend really ought to have won that event having bogeyed three of the last four from 14-under, Repetto Taylor swooping late and only needing 13-under to nab the title from a young Swede who has been on the radar for a couple of years.
Two top-10s since then were mixed in with a couple of bad rounds but over the last three tournaments he’s played, Townsend has found a pleasing level of consistency, only denied a third straight top-15 finish by a poor start to round three in his native Sweden.
Great week in Sweden. Should do more of these events IMO. 👍
Pleasure to play today with Hugo Townsend.. he’s a serious player, worth keeping an eye on him folks 👀
As for me, I had a career day with my irons today. The reason? Two bottles of rose last night. #Carnoustie2.0🤪 pic.twitter.com/vdmqHA7IcQ
— Eddie Pepperell (@PepperellEddie) June 11, 2023
Perhaps that’ll prove another harsh lesson learned as he teed off on home soil within striking distance of the leaders and scored poorly early on, but free from that pressure he played the final 27 holes in a bogey-free seven-under to confirm that his game is ticking over very nicely.
Townsend is big, the one set of stats we have offer encouragement as to his driving, and in that one DP World Tour event he’s taken part in he caught the eye of playing partner Eddie Pepperell, who marked him down as a player to look out for.
The son of Ryder Cup player Peter Townsend, he’d be a timely winner and he’s drifted to a nice price on account of the added strength at the top of the betting. This tougher test could suit more than last week’s shootout, which went the way of a 2,000/1 shot, and I like him at 40/1 and bigger having been second in Poland on the NGL last year.
Look to Crans for a Kleu
Class-droppers always catch my eye, even those seemingly struggling on the big tour like Josh Berry, or De Leo whose two missed cuts since a top-five in Denmark have both been by a single shot. With a course-record 61 to his name here last year, he was hardest to leave out.
Preference though is for RONAN KLEU, another capable youngster.
The Swiss was runner-up in the Amateur Championship to Christo Lamprecht a couple of summers ago and while unable to keep up with the giant South African off the tee, he gives it a good rip himself.
He has fond memories of Poland, where he was part of the winning Swiss team in a good amateur event in 2019, and I like how he played back home last week in a strong European Masters, finishing 24th in by far his best effort yet at Crans.
Ranking seventh in strokes-gained off-the-tee having been fourth in the same category in last year’s renewal, those numbers combined with the way he cut down the par-fives (eight-under for 12 of them) offer enough encouragement to take a chance on a player whose penultimate HotelPlanner Tour start saw him finish runner-up in the Irish Challenge.
Again, he did his scoring on the par-fives there (10-under) as he has for most of summer and while there’s much we can’t know, those fond memories of Poland combined with a confidence-boosting performance in the European Masters make him one to chance.
Last year, he played well the following two weeks after that step up in class without quite finishing the job, but he’s improved since.
Albin Bergstrom and the wiry Lucas Vacarisas both made the shortlist but I’ll finish with JAMES MEYER DE BECO and NICOLAI KRISTENSEN.
Meyer De Beco has gone 5-MC-14-5 across his last four starts, both top-fives seeing him play in the final group on Sunday. That’s someone in excellent form, picking up valuable experience, and I’m surprised bookmakers haven’t been more cautious when pricing him up.
Perhaps this reflects some poor play at the beginning of the year but the Belgian, a three-time winner on the Pro Golf Tour last year, has missed a number of cuts narrowly, including at Novo Sancti Petri, and I do like players who’ve dominated a grade below this one.
Nick Bachem and Sami Valimaki are recent examples from that circuit specifically who’ve gone on to win on the DP World Tour, Hurly Long did everything but, Nicolai von Dellingshausen is another former order of merit winner who is an established DPWT champion, Thomas Rosenmuller has made it to the PGA Tour, and if you go back far enough you’ll find the name of Martin Kaymer, too.
Meyer de Beco was just denied the order of merit but a couple of members of the top five went on to earn cards at Q-School and the player in seventh has won on this circuit, so it remains a very good source of future champions and this youngster has threatened to become the latest.
Grouped for the first two rounds with a former amateur teammate to add a further layer of comfort, he’s a straightforward selection.
Kristensen isn’t but he’s probably my favourite bet.
Last week’s missed cut followed two poor efforts on the DP World Tour, but I thought he was a huge eye-catcher. Kristensen shot 75-66 and not only that, he made a 10 at his third hole of the tournament, bogeying the next to be six-over through four.
To end his two rounds under-par for the event shows how well he played thereafter, and there’s also a hidden element to his Rosa Challenge performance last year as he was 14th through three rounds at a time when his game was in poor shape.
Who’s to say it’s any better now but it certainly was for a round and a half last week and while he’s no world-beater, it could pay to remember that his Road to Mallorca rankings over the past four years read 34-32-33-28.
This is a consistently very good HotelPlanner Tour player, and while he’s been below his best this season having ended the last one with fifth place in the Grand Final, the fact that he’s got a play-off loss at Novo Sancti Petri to his name means he’ll do for me at huge odds.
Posted at 2200 BST on 02/09/25
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
