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The 2018-19 European Tour season is six months old and finally it makes its first stop in Europe! It should be easier to handicap this Tour from now until the rest of the season, but not this week as this event is played on a course not used on Tour since 1982. But Hillside Golf Club is a great golf course. Arguably the best links course not have hosted the Open Championship, though it was used for Final Qualifying from 2014 to 2017. It should be a great spectacle this week. The Club was founded over 100 years ago, but it was not until the 1950s that the course took the form that will be recognisable this week. With the acquisition of new land, Fred Hawtree overhauled the course, particularly its famous back nine. While the opening nine holes are flat, running along the railway line and then back to the clubhouse, the second nine are played along corridors of some of the highest dunes found on any golf course. With no Tour event held here since 1982, there are no course stats on which to base any angles, but there are obvious comparisons to Royal Birkdale which borders this course and to Royal Lytham and St Annes which is only seven miles across the Ribble Estuary. Both have hosted the Open Championship multiple times. Those events were held in mid-summer when the fairways were firmer, but they lend a couple of angles to consider on a course such as Hillside. Angles to consider 1. Links form essential It’s an obvious angle, but in the absence of any course form, then form on this type of golf course should be a good indicator of course suitability this week. Thankfully, there is plenty of traditional seaside links golf played on the European Tour with the Open Championship and Dunhill Links Championship each year, plus the Scottish and Irish Opens being played on links courses most years. 2. Greens in regulation a key stat Seaside links courses are generally defended by wind and deep bunkers and Hillside is no exception to this rule. As such, course management and ball control, particularly height, are key ingredients in any good score around a links course. The closest stat for this is greens in regulation. When Jordan Spieth won the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale two years ago, he ranked outside the top-40 for both driving distance and driving accuracy, but 3rd in greens in regulation. When Ernie Els won the last Open to be played at Royal Lytham & St Annes (2012), he ranked 13th for driving distance and 44th in driving accuracy, but 1st in greens in regulation. It will be a key stat this week. Selections The above angles have been used to create a shortlist from which the following players have been selected. Ross Fisher There can be little doubting Fisher’s links credentials. He has been the runner-up twice in the last three years in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (he was also runner-up in that event in 2008), plus he finished 7th around Gullane Golf Club in the 2015 Scottish Open. He also fits the second angle in terms of greens in regulation, ranking 15th on the European Tour in that category. Once Ryan Fox and Jordan Smith in this week’s field rank higher than Fisher. Victor Dubuisson Dubuisson is another with a good record in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship with top-5 finishes in 2012 and 2017 and a top-10 finish around Gullane. He can also point to a top-10 finish at Royal Liverpool Golf Club in the 2014 Open Championship, so even though he is not an obvious links player, his ball control and recovery skills have seen him play well on these courses. He also ranks highly in the greens in regulation stats and has been playing well since returning from injury with four top-20 finishes in his last six starts. Martin Kaymer This is Kaymer’s first start on the European Tour since January when a couple of top-25 finishes against very strong finishes showed that he is still competitive, particularly against a much weaker field as this week’s. As with the others, his links record is largely borne of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship which he won in 2010 and has three further top-10 finishes. More notably, perhaps, he has two top-15 finishes in the Open Championship and won his first Major, the 2010 PGA Championship, around the links-style Whistling Straights course. Fabrizio Zanotti The final selection’s links credentials are the weakest of the quartet. His most notable success on this type of course came in the 2012 Irish Open at Royal Portrush. But with good greens in regulation stats (ranked 24th on the European Tour, as well as 13th in strokes gained: tee-to-green) and very good form this year, he could be one to play well in the mild conditions this week. Tips 1-3; -1.44pts 0.75pts e.w. Ross Fisher 45/1 (BetFred 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10) 15th 0.75pts e.w. Victor Dubuisson 30/1 (BetFred 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10) 23rd 0.75pts e.w. Martin Kaymer 66/1 (BetFred 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10) 8th 0.75pts e.w. Fabrizio Zanotti 50/1 (BetFred 1/5 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10) 53rd
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