The European Tour heads for the tropical paradise of Mauritius this week and the tri-sanctioned AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open. The best players from the European, Asian and Sunshine Tours will do battle for the title.
The AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open is sanctioned by the European, Asian and Sunshine Tours. The tournament will be contested this week at Heritage GC in Domaine de Bel Ombre on the beautiful island of Mauritius.
This will be the third hosting of this event, won in 2015 by George Coetzee at the Heritage GC and by Jeunghun Wang last season at Anahita. An excellent field has gathered this time out including a number of top South African players.
2017 European Tour winners Dylan Frittelli and Dean Burmester will make an appearance, as will 2015 AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open winner George Coetzee and 2010 Open champion Louis Oosthuizen. From the European Tour, Darren Clarke, Jamie Donaldson and Nicolas Colsaerts tee it up, and former European Tour winners SSP Chawrasia and Scott Hend will start.
George Coetzee swing sequence:
Designed by Peter Matkovich, a Zimbabwean professional golfer turned renowned course architect, the championship course at The Heritage offers a great variety of holes from driveable par-4s to long and sweeping par-5s. There are tremendous vistas of the surrounding mountains and down towards the coast and interesting wildlife to keep an eye out for, from mongoose to fruit bats!
The weather forecast for the week looks pretty good with only a passing shower or two to worry about. Temperatures should be in the high 20s centigrade.
Venue: Heritage GC, Domaine de Bel Ombre, Mauritius
Date: Nov 30 – Dec 3
Course stats: par 71, 6,987 yards
Purse: €1,175,000
Defending champion: Jeunghun Wang (-6)
TV Coverage:
Thursday 30 – Sky Sports Golf from 6.30am
Friday 1 – Sky Sports Golf from 6.30am
Saturday 2 – Sky Sports Golf from 8.30am
Sunday 3 – Sky Sports Golf from 8.30am
Player Watch:
Dylan Frittelli – The 27-year-old South African has been on great form on the European Tour in recent weeks. He was tied second in the Turkish Airlines Open and then tied fourth in the DP World Tour Championship. He won the Lyoness Open earlier this year.
Alexander Bjork – The Swede has been on a good run, making four straight cuts. He was tied 17th in the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai and he was tied second last week in Hong Kong.
Nicolas Colsaerts – The big-hitting Belgian has earned almost €700,000 in his last five starts on the European Tour. He has the power to take this course apart. If he can keep his driving under control, he should have a chance.
Key hole: 9th – A tremendous risk/reward par 4 measuring just over 300 yards. It will be tempting for the players to go for the green on this one but water waits short and left for anything veering off line. If the tee is moved up a little, expect the odd eagle on this hole but also expect to see the odd disaster too.
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