Oosthuizen aiming to become King of the Mountains - European Tour

SWALEC wales challenge
Kaleka confident of strong Strasbourg showing
In-form Frenchman Alexandre Kaleka will hope to
revive memories of his victory on home soil last
season when he tees up at this week’s ALLIANZ
Europen de Strasbourg-Golf de la Wantzenau.
Kaleka won on his professional debut last year at
another ALLIANZ-sponsored event, the Golf Open de
Lyon, but was unable to build on his fine start and
narrowly missed out on graduation to The European
Tour at the end of the season.
After an impressive run of recent results, including
third place at the Rolex Trophy, Kaleka currently sits
in tenth place in the Challenge Tour Rankings; and
another strong performance at this week’s €150,000
event – which is the final tournament before the
lucrative Kazakhstan Open – would bolster his claims
for a place on The 2011 Race to Dubai.
Kaleka will not have the advantage of local knowledge,
having never played the 6,887 yards, par 72 course at
Golf de La Wantzenau, but should be able to count on
some local support.
He said: “I’ve never played the course before, but I’ve
heard from some of the guys who have that it’s very
nice, with quite a lot of water. I’ve been playing very
well for the last few weeks, so I’m confident of getting
another good result. I’ve played quite well since the
start of the season, but any time I missed the cut I
only seemed to miss it by one shot. So it’s been quite
frustrating. At the English Challenge I only made the
cut by one shot, and I ended up finishing fourth. So
just one shot can sometimes make such a difference,
because I often play my best golf at the weekend.
“Hopefully that’s the case in Strasbourg, because it
would be great to win again in France. If I can play
well there and then in Kazakhstan, hopefully it should
be enough to finish in the top ten of the Rankings
and get onto The European Tour. It’s not going to be
easy, but I’ll try my hardest. Last year I don’t think I
was quite ready to step up, but this year I have more
experience so I think I’m ready. I don’t know what it
will be like on The European Tour because I’ve never
played a main Tour event before, so it might take a
year or two for me to know whether I’m ready to play
at that level. But I’m confident I can do well.”
A number of Kaleka’s fellow Frenchmen have claims
on their best form, in particular dual Open de France
champion Jean-François Remesy.
His compatriot Julien Guerrier will head to Strasbourg
in good heart, having performed with distinction on
The European Tour last week in the Johnnie Walker
Championship at Gleneagles, where he finished in
joint 19th place.
Michael Lorenzo-Vera, who pipped England’s Ross
McGowan to first place in the Challenge Tour Rankings
in 2007, is another player hoping to recapture some of
his old sparkle.
The ALLIANZ Europen de Strasbourg appears on the
schedule for the first time since 1998, when John
Senden of Australia – who would later triumph on
the US PGA Tour – claimed his second Challenge Tour
title.
Set in the heart of the picturesque Alsace region in
the east of France, Golf de la Wantzenau rewards
accuracy, with most fairways lined by trees and with
a number of water hazards strategically positioned to
punish errant shots.
Julien Guerrier
CARD OF THE COURSE
HOLE YARDS MTRS PAR
1 380 348 4
2 413 378 4
3 428 391 4
4 183 167 3
5 514 470 5
6 338 309 4
7 188 172 3
8 573 524 5
9 427 390 4
OUT 3444 3149 36
10 414 379 4
11 378 346 4
12 217 198 3
13 531 486 5
14 423 387 4
15 361 330 4
16 510 466 5
17 170 155 3
18 439 401 4
IN 3443 3148 36
TOTAL 6887 6297 72
Course Record:
To be established
Architect:
Jeremy Pern and Jean Garaialde,
1991
Prize Fund:
€150,000
Alexandre Kaleka