Four years after banking the biggest cheque of his professional career, Daniel Gaunt has accepted an invitation to tee it up in this week’s Made in Denmark tournament on the European Tour.

It’s been almost three years since Gaunt last played in a European Tour event, which just so happened to be the Made in Denmark tournament in its former August date in 2016.

A year earlier Gaunt had won close to 100,000 pounds by finishing runner-up to David Horsey at Himmerland Golf and Spa Resort, the venue again this week after the 2018 event was played at the home club of Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn, Silkeborg Ry Golf Club.

A two-time winner on the European Challenge Tour, Gaunt has spent the past two years playing predominantly on the TP Tour, a tour that plays almost exclusively throughout England.

The 40-year-old also recently tied for 18th on the official satellite tour of the European Tour, the PGA EuroPro Tour, this week’s start a step up as he lines up alongside the likes of defending champion Matt Wallace, Lee Westwood and local hope Thorbjorn Olesen.

The addition of Gaunt – the only non-Danish invitee in the field – takes the total number of Australians playing this week to 10, joining Scott Hend, Wade Ormsby, Jason Scrivener, Lucas Herbert, Deyen Lawson, Nick Cullen, Jake McLeod, Adam Bland and Dimi Papadatos along with New Zealand’s Ryan Fox.

In one of only 10 starts on Europe’s main tour last year Cullen was the best of the Aussie contingent in a tie for 49th while Wade Ormsby returns after skipping last year hoping to recreate his 2017 performance where an opening round of 7-under 64 took him much of the way to a tie for sixth.

The European Challenge Tour is in the Czech Republic this week for the D+D REAL Czech Challenge at Kaskáda Golf Resort where Victorian Ben Eccles and New Zealand’s Josh Geary are flying the flag for the Australasians.

Dimi Papadatos’s decision to pursue starts on the European Tour paid a handsome dividend courtesy of a late eagle at the Betfred British Masters at Hillside Golf Club.

Exempt into the tournament courtesy of his finish on the 2018 Challenge Tour moneylist but without full status, the New South Welshman made an eagle 3 at the penultimate hole of the tournament to jump up the leaderboard late and finish tied for 15th.

Beginning the final round inside the top-10, Papadatos made the turn at 1-over par, ultimately finishing seven shots behind winner Marcus Kinhult from Sweden who birdied his final two holes to best defending champion Eddie Pepperell, Matt Wallace and Robert MacIntyre by a shot.

Queensland’s Scott Hend remains in 15th position on the Race to Dubai rankings after he ended the week tied for 35th, level with Lucas Herbert in his first start for six weeks.

In bitterly cold conditions Herbert rocketed up the leaderboard on Sunday, three birdies in his opening five holes setting him up for a 3-under par round of 69 and a move upward of 23 spots.

West Australian Jason Scrivener was the only other Australian to make the cut.

Unexpected playing opportunities on the European Tour have convinced Dimi Papadatos to change tack in 2019 and ride a more fluid and unpredictable playing schedule.

Tied for 21st at the Trophee Hassan II tournament in Morocco last week, Papadatos is one of 13 Australians teeing it up in the Volvo China Open this week which is co-sanctioned between the European and Asian tours.

Originally entered to play the Challenge Tour’s Challenge de Espana this week, Papadatos’s current world ranking of 196 was enough to earn a start at Genzon Golf Club in Shenzhen. Despite not having a full card he intends to continue to pursue starts on the main tour throughout the year.

A win early in the 2018 Challenge Tour season convinced the New South Welshman to focus his energies on the secondary tour as he pursued promotion but he believes opportunities early in the season to accrue Race to Dubai points are too good to ignore.

“I feel like if I play well I can contend on the European Tour. There’s no reason not to take the opportunities now when I get them,” Papadatos said.

“If I play reasonably well the next couple of months on the main tour I’ll probably keep playing whatever I can get and play a bit of Challenge Tour in between and see what pans out.

“It’s not ideal but you’ve got to deal with it. It’s just the situation I’m in with a conditional card and trying to get onto the tour.

“I’m a chance of getting in the British Masters next week and I might go close to a start in Denmark the week after.

“I was surprised I got a start in Morocco so by the looks of things I might get a few more starts than first anticipated.

“I get to play The Open and Dunhill Links off my Aussie category so they’re two good opportunities to get some ranking points up.

“I’ll just have to play it by ear at the moment.”

Players in this week’s Challenge Tour event in Spain are competing for €200,000 in prize money while Papadatos will be vying for a slice of almost €2.7 million at the Volvo China Open.

It goes to show why the risk is potentially worth the reward but he hasn’t ruled out a return to the Challenge Tour later in the year.

“This year I’m going to miss the first few events but it’s very top-heavy at the back-end of the year on the Challenge Tour,” said Papadatos, who earned conditional status by finishing 21st on the Challenge Tour moneylist in 2018.

“As long as you can make the final three events on the Challenge Tour you’re a good chance of getting your card for the next year.

“I just booked a return flight to come home in November but other than that I’ve got no idea when I’ll come back to Aus. I’ll just have to see how it’s all going.”

Joining Papadatos in the field in China this week are Jason Scrivener, Jake McLeod, Scott Hend, Sam Brazel, Wade Ormsby, Zach Murray, Daniel Nisbet, David Gleeson, Deyen Lawson, Min Woo Lee, Marcus Fraser and making his first start since wrist surgery last November, 2013 Volvo China Open champion Brett Rumford.

Ben Eccles is the sole Australian playing the Challenge Tour’s Challenge de Espana in northern Spain this week along with Kiwi Josh Geary.

Australia’s Dimitrios Papadatos talks candidly about the many highs and lows he has already experienced in his professional career – and how he keeps going after a number of setbacks.

Four years ago at Q-School I needed a double bogey to get a European Tour card, but I made a triple. I was playing really well that week and after almost six rounds I knew I was one inside the mark with three holes to go. Then I narrowly missed a birdie putt on 17 – but I still knew I was one inside the mark playing the last. You don’t really think about that though – you just want to make a birdie or a par and then get out of there. I hit my drive far out to the left, I was trying to hit it too far, and it rolled up under the lip of a bunker. I tried to play out but I hit it into the lip and it popped up and plugged next to me. I thought ‘surely this can’t be happening’ and ‘we’re in some trouble’. I hit it out on to the fairway, then spun it back to 50 feet, and I thought at the time I had that putt for a bogey to get my card. I gave that a bit of a run past the hole – and then obviously wasn’t the happiest person standing over my double bogey putt – so I missed that one too. I saw the cut went back so I had just missed a putt for my card.

It was a nightmare really. I continued to play poorly for a while after that, and although I had been playing poorly for a while before that week, it was really frustrating and a hiccup in my career for sure. You have to dig deep after moments like that, though, and although I let myself be down for a while, I told myself to ‘snap out of it and look at the bigger picture’. If that’s a bad thing to happen in your life it’s not too bad, I knew I’d get another opportunity the following year and I knew I’d still get a lot of opportunities to play the game that I love. It wasn’t the end of the world, even though it felt like it for a little bit.

When I won my first pro title in New Zealand in 2014 it was a pleasant surprise. But after that I struggled with my game and played really poorly for the rest of the year. I was playing terribly, flying around the world missing cuts, in Asia, invites here and there, and coming last in a few events.

It does take its toll after a while and it does beat you down big time. When you have those long stretches flying and travelling and putting so much time and effort in – along with the financial pressure as well – it gets really difficult getting through that. By the end of 2014 I was all over the shop. I went to European Tour Q-School that year and didn’t make it, then I went to Japan Q-School and pulled out after three rounds too, then I missed the cut by one at the Australian Open, so it was a really tough time.

Even though those bad times are hard, the winning feeling is very special. Winning on the Challenge Tour was awesome. I saw it as a great opportunity to earn my card as I had no status going into 2018 – I was just playing back in Oz – and I somehow got an invite to play in Portugal. I got a call on the Saturday, threw my passport in the bag, and made the journey from Perth to Portugal to see if I could turn things around – and I went on to win. I only packed for one week and I ended up staying in Europe for maybe ten or 11 weeks in a row.

I was in a pretty good position going into the Challenge Tour Grand Final last year – but I got disqualified. I had spent a lot of time inside the top 15 but I really struggled going into some of the bigger events in China and Kazakhstan, so I dropped off to 19th in the rankings and had a bit of ground to make up on the top 15.

image: http://www.europeantour.com/mm/Photo/Tournament/Tournaments/36/58/59/365859_M08.jpg

I needed a few things to go my way and they definitely didn’t. I started off well, I was three under through nine, but then I made a triple on the tenth after hitting it in the hazard, so I had a bit of a mess there. I parred the 11th, and then on the 12th I drove it into the water and after my approach I threw my eight iron into the ground after hitting it into the water again, which I felt was fair enough as I’d had enough by then!

I checked the club to see if it was damaged. It didn’t look damaged at the time, so I put the club back in the bag and finished the following hole. Then on the next par five I hit it in the fairway trap, and as I was trying to lay up from the bunker – again not being too happy with myself as the other guys were waiting to play their fairway shots – I pulled out my eight iron again and hit it straight down on to the fairway. It wasn’t until the 17^th hole when I had the club out again that I noticed in my set up the eight iron wasn’t sitting right on the ground. Because I didn’t ground my club in the bunker I couldn’t tell that it was bent, and after noticing that I had bent the club I told my caddie that I’ll report it to the officials at the end of the round as we only had two holes left and I didn’t want to make a fuss.

I was pretty sure I was going to be DQ’d. And after that I had a 14-and-a-half-hour flight home to think about it. I was quite angry at the result and how I finished the year, but I did see the positives. I know this game is going to keep beating me down, but I am slightly getting numb to it and I know there is probably more to come!

After I came home, I qualified for The Open. I had initially planned to go back to Q-School in Europe, but I decided to cut my losses and play a few events in Aus and try and end the year well – which I did by finishing second at the Aus Open. I have always dreamed of playing in Majors and competing against the best players in the world, so I can’t wait.

I don’t know what keeps me going. You just get up and you get through it. You have goals of being on the European Tour and playing at a high level and you just have to keep remembering what you have done before – I was fortunate in that I won early and had a few good results which gave me a lot of faith. I don’t do it all the time, but I know that if I play well I can compete.

You just have to keep things in perspective. You can have a bad day in golf – I am one who often gets frustrated on the course and have a quick reaction to it – but I never let it affect the rest of my life and I always try to enjoy myself. I will always strive to be the best that I can be and work really hard, but you always have to remember that it’s just a game of golf and it’s not that bad. As bad as you want it, and as hard as you work, you have to enjoy the process of getting there too.

Courtesy of  Europeantour.com

Dimi Papadatos has claimed his fourth Professional victory with a stunning win in the European Challenge Tour’s Portugal Open.

The three-time ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia winner carded a final round 3-under 69 to come from one behind on a difficult final day and eventually win by two.

Windy conditions made scoring tough all week but Papadatos, who only decided late last week to tee up in the event, showed his mettle with scores of 73-66-73 to give himself a chance heading to Sunday.

“It feels pretty good and a big relief, especially after the last couple of days,” said Papadatos.

“It’s been very windy and difficult, you had to grind out results in such a bunched field when it’s very hard to break away and get in front.

“But I was fortunate enough to do that in the end.”

Papadatos took the lead with back to back birdies at the third and fourth and extended it with a third birdie of the day at the 10^th.

A bogey at the par-5 16^th slowed his momentum temporarily but he hit back with a birdie two at the 17^th to cruise to victory.

“I played the course well today. I was very solid finishing long par putts, and I didn’t threaten to make many birdies as I was hitting it poorly today,” he said.

“But I hung in there and my short game was good and I took a couple of opportunities when I got them.

“I’ve had a couple of wins back in Aus and I’ve never won in Europe, so it’s maybe not the biggest but it’s definitely the most important as it’s going to get me going over here.”

With the win moving him to ninth on the Road to Ras Al Kjaimah money list the NSW Central Coast native has taken a big step towards playing rights on the main T9our next season.

The top 15 at the end of the year earn status in Europe with the leading money winner receiving a full card, and with limited opportunities prior to this win, Papadatos made the difficult decision to not defend his TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship title played on the same weekend.

The decision clearly paid dividends for the 2017 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Player of the Year.

“I’ve been trying the last two or three years to get myself going in Europe and onto the main Tour, so this is a big step forward and it’s going to help me out a lot,” Papadatos said.

“It was a tough decision not staying to defend my WA PGA win. It’s always great to go back to where you have won but I knew I had to take the opportunity in Portugal as I had very limited starts in Europe this year so I had to go and make the most of it.

“I flew into Portugal on Monday lunchtime and only booked my flights last Friday, so this tournament wasn’t even on my radar, I was just going to come over for Walton Heath for the US Open qualifier, but with my category, I happened to get in here.

“I was second reserve for Spain next week, so the win might sneak me in there now.”

Ben Eccles was the only other Australian in the field this week but missed the cut after a disappointing opening 77.

Dimitrios Papadatos was crowned the 2017 ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia Player of the Year and this week begins the first of two title defences in 2018 when the Oates Vic Open tees off from 1-4 February at 13th Beach Golf Links.

Papadatos began his 2017 season with a two shot victory at 13th Beach Golf Links at last year’s Oates Vic Open before he won his third Professional title at the TX Civil & Logistics WA PGA Championship in Kalgoorlie leading to him being named the Player of the Year during the Greg Norman Medal Dinner at the Australian PGA Championship.

“I was very happy to receive that, I obviously had a good start to the year with a couple of wins and a good finish in New Zealand,” said Papadatos.

“It wasn’t the back end of the season that I was hoping for but I’ve done a bit of work in the last month so hopefully I can turn it around this week.”

After a busy international schedule playing predominately on the European Challenge Tour as well as events on the Asian Tour, the 26-year-old took some well deserved time off before beginning his 2018 season this week.

“I’ve been pretty relaxed, I haven’t been playing the best, I did a bit of fishing over Christmas hopefully that will help me out,” joked Papadatos.

“I well and truly switched off for a couple of weeks, but the last month or so has just been trying to sort everything out in my full game, a bit of exercise and some more practice, just trying to iron out the creases.”

The New South Welshman is no stranger to defending one of the bigger events on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia having his first Professional victory at the 2014 ISPS HANDA New Zealand Open; he says being a defending champion doesn’t mean much when the next tournament rolls around, particularly this early in the season.

“There are some expectations given I won last year and that sort of stuff but I don’t really worry about that too much,” added Papadatos.

“Everyone starts off the same, especially this early in the year. Each week is a fresh week.”

The Oates Vic Open signals Papadatos’ first competitive hit out of the year and while he admittedly says he hasn’t hit peak form, he’s looking forward to seeing how he measures up prior to a run of five tournaments on the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia.

“It’ll be good to see where my game is at this week. I didn’t have any smaller events leading in to this week and this one’s a pretty big one to start off with so you want to be pretty sharp straight up,” added Papadatos.

“It’s a tough field this week and tough courses but hopefully my game is on.”

The Oates Vic Open is one of the most unique Professional golf tournaments in the world with both the men and women playing on the same courses in the same week.

This year the tournament’s growing popularity has seen the prize money increased to AUD $1.3 million to be split equally between the men and women.

“It’s great and with the increase in prize money the tournament’s only going to get bigger and bigger,” added Papadatos.

“There are grandstands out here this year so I’m expecting some pretty big crowds which is always nice as a player, I’m looking forward to it.”

The Oates Vic Open will be played from 1-4 February at 13th Beach Golf Links with a field of 144 players vying for a prize purse of AUD $650,000.

The winner will receive Official World Golf Ranking Points and become fully exempt on to the ISPS HANDA PGA Tour of Australasia for the remainder of this season plus a further two years.

Those unable to make the trip to 13th Beach Golf Links this week will still be able to watch the weekend’s action with the return of the Oates Vic Open live stream through PGA TV

For more information on the broadcast schedule, visit pga.org.au.