Soboba Golf Classic

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After a week off we return to California for the Soboba Golf Classic in San Jacinto. This is the first year that the event is being held in April, it was previously played in September.

Sobaba Springs Country Club is a 7,101 yard, Par 71 course with only three Par 5s (two on the front nine and one on the back). Water features on eleven of the holes so I will be looking for players who are both long and accurate off the tee.The golf course greens are small, puting the demand on GIR and accurate shots to score while eleven of the holes here are Par 4s so a decent average in that department will serve well too.

My picks are as follows.

Brad Fritsch - Fritsch has finished in the top ten of 50% of the Nationwide tournaments he has played in this year, with a 5th in the Louisiana Open last out and a 7th in panama. He sits a respectable 16th in Driving Accuracy this season while ranking 5th in Driving Distance and more impressively 1st in Greens in Regulation. My only worry with Fritsch is his relative poor performance on Par 4s with an average of 4.07 in four outings this year. He is a course virgin here but has a fine record in California and with a similar set of stats and results to that of market betting leader Paul Claxton, who is quoted at 25/1, I am willing to chance his larger price. 0.5pts e/w @ 66/1 SkyBet

Justin Hicks - A man who can boast course form is Hicks with a respectable 8th here at Sobaba in 2009 and a not so great 47th in 2010. However, the most noticeable thing about these two previous outings is the fact that he has managed to go low both times. In 2009 he carded a 66 and went one better in 2010 with a 65. His form so far this season has been reasonable with an 18th in Louisiana, a Missed Cut, a 9th in Panama and another Missed Cut. In terms of stats, he ranks 3rd in DA, 4th in GIR, 28th in DD, 5th in Birdie Average and 5th in Par Breaking. He seems made for this course. 0.5pts e/w @ 80/1 Paddy Power

Andrew Svoboda - An electric start to the Tour with a 2nd place in Colombia petered out slightly for Svoboda in both Panama and Chile as he finished no better than 40th. However, his last outing in Louisiana saw him return to the top ten once again with a sterling set of stats to match. Ranking 7th in DD, 21st in DA, 10th in GIR and 25th in Putting Average, he looked back to his best and helped him maintain his overall season stats of 7th DD, 30th DA, 10th GIR, 4th Par Breakers, 26th Par 4 Birdie or Betters, 3rd birdie Average and 8th in Scoring Average. These stats seem to indicate he is becoming a rather complete player and couple this with a little course experience in the for of a 21st place here in 2010 with all four rounds of par or better and i feel we have a contender. 0.5pts e/w @ 55/1 Various

Total Staked - 3pts