Omnium Suisse

The Omnium Suisse is the Swiss National Championship for Professionals. This year the tournament was hosted at Golf Club Breintloo near Zurich. My game was really good heading into the tournament and I was full of confidence. The first round didn't go to plan and I had to be satisfied with an opening 75. On day two my game improved and even though I didn't make a lot of putts I finished with a 73 which was enough to make the cut. The third day was a 36-hole and my game was really improving. With a 71 in the morning I was able to move up some spots on the leaderboard. Keeping up the good ball striking in the afternoon and finally performing on the greens I was able to schoot my lowest score of the season with a five-under 67. This was enough for a third place finish and some price money!
 
Memorial Oliver Barras
 
The day after the Omnium I was already on my way to Crans-Montana for the 55th Memorial Olivier Barras. The winner of this event qualifies for the Omega European Masters (European Tour Event in September). Therefore, the field was very strong as usual with players from the European Challenge Tour, Alps Tour, etc. entering the event. On day one, my game wasn't very good but thanks to solid short game and putting I was able to turn in a good result of 72. The second day my game was much better and with a round of 70 I was able to make the cut of the top 30 Professionals. Sadly my putts did not want to drop on the final day and I shot a round of 73 which put me into T18.
 

Saint-Malo Mixed Open

I didn't think I would get a chance to play this event as it was a co-sanctioned tournament from the Alps Tour and the Ladies European Tour. Only 60 players of the Alps Tour were allowed to enter the event. After getting a phone call on Tuesday  afternoon confirming that I was in the tournament, I packed up my things and took on the ten hour drive to Northern France through the night. A quick practice round on Wednesday afternoon showed that the course fit my game pretty well but my driving wasn't as good as usual. On day one I played solid golf and shot an even Par 72 which put me one shot behind the cut of the top 40 players. I started the second day well but couln't get the birdies to drop. On the back nine two bad drives cost me a couple of bogeys and put me outside the cut with a final result  of 75. 
 
It was a couple of full weeks with a lot of tournament golf so I am looking forward on a week of practice befroe heading to the next event in Germany. I'm looking positive into the future, knowing that I am on the right track and seeing the improvements in my game.

Thanks for all the support!

​-PW

The Alps Tour started the European tournaments with the Abruzzo Open at Miglianico Golf and Country Club near Pescara, Italy. I drove to the tournament on Monday night and was able to play the practice round on early Tuesday morning. Further, I was fortunate enough to have my wife Tiffany on the bag during this week. The course in Italy was quite a bit more narrow the the ones we played in Egypt. This meant I had an advantage if I was able to continue my solid driving performances. I had a late teetime for the first round but got off to a very good start. Solid golf and a few birdies meant I was near the top of the leaderboard early on. However, I finished with a couple mistakes on the last two holes and three dropped shots for a score of 72. Heading into the second round on Thursday morning, I started with some great golf once again. With a very solid round and a late birdie I was able to post a result of 70 and therefore make the cut. This was a very important step and meant I was able to play for the prize money. My ball striking wasn't quite as good as the first two rounds but with solid short game and putting, I was able to turn in a round of 71 shots. This was good enough for a T41 finish and some important Order of Merit points.
I'm looking forward to build off of this good result and will continue to work hard on my game with the goal to become even more consistent.

Thank you for all the support and wishes!

-PW

The first two tournaments are in the books. The journey to Egypt went smooth and I had three days to prepare before the first tournament. The conditions were perfect for the Ein Bay Open. This also meant the results were very low. After a solid round of 71, I started well into the tournament. A few mistakes here and there on the second day lead to a 74 however, which was not low enough.

I used the time before the second tournaments to work on my short game. Happy with my improvements I was excited to get the Red Sea Little Venice Open underway. The afternoon group on the first day had more wind and my late tee time was definitely a disadvantage. However, I fought hard and was able to bring a solid result in difficult conditions into the clubhouse. On the second day the wind picked up once again and I got off to a terrible start, dropping five strokes on the first four holes. This was too much. The long working days made me a bit tired and I wasn't able to save my round, as I had done the day before.

It was still a great experience and I learned a lot from these first two tournaments. For my next tournaments I will travel back to Egypt on March 22nd. I am already looking forward to the upcoming tasks.

-PW

I was able to secure my Alps Tour Card for 2019 in December through the Qualyfing School in Malaga. Posting a great score of five under par, 67, on the first day meant I was able to move into the final with a T15 finish. In the field of 144 players I finished T80 as I wasn’t quite able to fulfill my potential. However, I am extremely pleased that this means I will be able to play a full schedule on the Alps Tour in 2019!

After taking a few days off over Christmas spending time with the family, I am now back practicing every day. As the weather in Switzerland is not too good right now I am mainly focusing on technique training on the simulator, mental training and fitness. I am glad I get to go to Spain for a week at the end of January to get my game ready for the first event.

As of right now I am scheduled to play my first two events of 2019 in Egypt. The Ein Bay Open will be the first on February 19th – 21st and is followed by the Red Sea Little Venice Open on February 25th – 27th. Both tournaments will be hosted at the Sokhna Golf Club near Suez.

Last weekend I played my first event as a Professional Golfer. The 54-hole tournament was held at Lucerne Golf Club over two days. I started the Championnat Suisse Centrale with on a good note, however three dropped shots on 15 and 16 meant I had to settle for a 1-over Par round of 74. In the afternoon I got off to a hot start, making birdies on each of the first four holes. I continued to push hard and managed to shoot a round of 7-under, 66, just one shot shy of the course record! This put me into a tie for first place in the Pro category after two rounds. On Sunday I struggled on the easy Par 5s and couldn't take advantage of some good birdie chances. Making birdies on 16 and 17 meant I was able to fight my way back to an Even Par finish and into solo second. I'm very satisfied with my first tournament as a Professional and will take some momentum heading to Italy next Saturday for the Stage 1 of the European Tour Qualifying School. Thanks for all the support!

-PW

After a long summer, filled with amateur tournaments around Europe, I have finally entered the preparation stage for the European Tour Qualifying School. As a first step, I have changed my status from Amateur to Professional golfer and joined the Swiss PGA. This has been my goal for years and I am very excited to get the journey started. My goal is to ultimately gain a full Tour Card for a major Tour and play on the biggest stages in the World.

But first things first. This weekend (September 15th-16th), I will be playing my first Professional event with the Championnat du Suisse Centrale at Lucerne Golf Club. It's a course that I know well and have shot some low numbers over the years. It will be a great experience and I am really looking forward to this. The big tournament however will be the first stage of the European/Challenge Tour Q-School in Bogogno, Italy on September 25th-28th. It's great to see improvements as I have been working tirelessly on my game and will continue to do so. I'm doing everything I can to make sure I'm ready for the big week.

​I'm excited that I was able to find some sponsors and partners that have agreed to help me finance my first three years of Pro golf! The costs that come with a season on Tour are incredibly high and I wouldn't be able to do it without the support of sponsors. Thank You!

I will continue to work hard every day to achieve my goals. Thank you for all the support!

-PW

After coming back from Belgium and Germany I was able to enjoy some days on Riederalp where I was competing in some club tournaments and getting my short irons and wedges ready. The amazing scenery of the Alps was certainly the energy boost I needed and I was ready for the Swiss International to start. The tournament was held at Golf Club Domaine Imperial near Geneva. The course has been voted as one of the Top 50 in Europe and is definitely one of my favourites.
The tournament started with a rainy day on an already very soft course which meant it played a lot longer than usual. A solid round of golf was only hurt by a rough four-hole streak which led to a somewhat disappointing 75. The second day my game was hot straight out of the gate and I got off to a 3-under start through 7 holes. Some struggles with the putter on the back nine and a couple below-average irons meant a round of 72. This was enough to make the cut in the 100-player field. The 36-hole final day started out a little rough but my short game and putting kept me in the game on the front 9. Then finally my irons and wedges started to heat up and I was able to create a high number of birdie chances. I was able to use many of those but on the last nine holes of the day the greens started to be a little bumpy and I missed a few short putts. Rounds of 72 and 71 on the final day propelled me up into a T25 finish.
Overall, I'm very happy with my game and the result. With some smaller tournaments coming up to stay competitive I'm moving into the preparation phase for Qualifying School.

​-PW

Just got back from two weeks on the road first at the Belgian International Amateur Championship and then at the German International Amateur Championship. Played some good golf at Royal Antwerp Golf Club but the rounds were broken up by too many bogeys and dropped shots. My game was solid off the tee and the Putter was solid for the first three rounds. Overall, mostly happy with my performance and the T35 finish. This made me excited and  positive for the German International at Golf Club Neuhof near Frankfurt.
I started the tournament with a solid round but sadly gave away two shots on the last two. The course has water hazards and out of bounds on almost every hole and requires accurate irons off of most tees. The whole week my tee shots were very good. Sadly, my approaches were not nearly good enough to give me many birdie chances. This meant my short game and putting needed to step up big time. For most part I was extremely happy with that part of my game. It was simply not good enough to contend however, as I was constantly fighting and putting myself in difficult spots. This was very unusual as my iron game is one of my main strengths. 
I'm very glad to see my putting and short game improve and I'm positive that I will get my iron game back with some good practice over the next 10 days before playing at the Swiss International Amateur Championship at Golf Club Domaine Imperial near Geneva.

Thanks for all the support!

​-PW