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Finn Sami Valimaki should be well-suited by the test
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This might be where Matthew Southgate finally wins
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Julien Guerrier could add to French love for Mauritius
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Main Bet: Sami Valimaki 1pt each-way @ 40/1
Hello and welcome to this week's column which I started writing in Mauritius itself, sat beside the sparkling Indian Ocean while sipping a glass of white wine, and am completing it in a coffee shop at Heathrow airport.
Yes, last week I was at the Legends Tour's MCB Tour Championship and unfortunately I'm not hanging around for this week's Mauritius Open.
As such I am unlike the winner at Constance Belle Mare Plage, Thomas Bjorn, who admitted that he had played no golf for a month ahead of thrashing the field by seven shots.
However, the Dane also added that the par-5 set-up on the senior circuit allowed him to make hay while, in stark contrast, when he plays on the DP World Tour he is consistently found out by them, his waning powers unable to keep pace with the youngsters.
That might be a problem he encounters again this week.
I didn't have the opportunity to venture up to this week's course Mont Choisy Le Golf but I did speak to a couple of local pros I know and asked plenty of questions of it.
Both started their appraisals (independently) with the words "The wind is the only real defence" and both added the thought that without any significant breeze "they'll tear it apart".
Digging deeper they explained that the targets are relatively wide (to cater for the typical wind) and that the set-up of the card further enhances the chances of going low.
There five par-3s and four of them are below 200 yards; there are also five par-5s and the long hitters will enjoy that none are over 600 yards; two of the par-4s are genuinely short (at 318 and 359 yards) and the rest are all between 400 and 450 yards.
One of my sources proved to be a man after my own heart saying: "It's a bit linksy in the way it looks because there is long grass to define the layout and the shaping is linksy." Then he added the clincher: "But it's Bermuda grass so doesn't bounce like linksland."
The other observed that the bunkering is rather unique with very few greenside sand traps and then the early holes feature mostly pot bunkers and the later holes mostly bigger ones.
The notion of this being a blowy course (the wind should be a factor - the forecast says so and it has been breezy throughout the last nine days), of being linksy in visual nature (and also somewhat in playability), plus the fact that the grass is grainy Bermuda makes me think of Al Mouj in Oman.
In one utterly preposterous sense they are neighbours. Land neighbours, that is, because Mont Choisy is in the north of Mauritius and there is nothing but Indian Ocean between it and Al Mouj in Oman's capital Muscat.
Rather less ludicrously, Kurt Kitayama completed the Mauritius-Oman double at Anahita and my moles also told me that Mont Choisy is more like Anahita than the other previous host of the Mauritius Open (Heritage).
With Kitayama having good efforts at Le Golf National (linksy), Congaree (linksy), Renaissance (linksy) and PGA National (windy) it feels like we could be on to something.
And that leads me to Sami Valimaki.
The Finn made his breakthrough at this level in the 2020 Oman Open, soon after finishing seventh at the linksy 13th Beach in Australia.
He hit a flat spot last season but has kicked off the new campaign in nice style, playing all four rounds in the three South African tournaments including second at the Joburg Open.
Now that he is at a course that ought to really suit him he can press again.
Next Best: Matthew Southgate 1pt each-way @ 40/1
I'm going to stick with Al Mouj as a pointer for the next pick of Englishman Matthew Southgate who shared the first and third round lead there in 2018 before finishing ninth.
His links pedigree is well flagged, taking in quality finishes in the Open plus seconds in the Irish Open at Portstewart and in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
But his modern links and links-like performances have been good even beyond Al Mouj.
He's been fifth in the Open de France at le Golf National (a course he counted among his favourites in a tour blog) and ninth at The Renaissance.
He's made 11 of his last 13 cuts, an unprecedented run of consistency from him, and if he is to finally win (he's had a few chances now) a links or links-like test is likely to be the spot.
The wind might need to blow, however. It's all good to go at the moment but the circumspect might like to double-check the forecast on Wednesday evening before confirming.
Final Bet: Julien Guerrier 1pt each-way @ 66/1
The course designer this week is Peter Matkovich and he is also responsible for the links-like Ebotse in South Africa which features regularly on the Sunshine Tour.
Jayden Schaper really should have won there earlier this year and he also has good course experience from his amateur days but even for a highly-rated talent I'm wary at the short price.
JC Ritchie has won at Ebotse, has multiple wins in blowy Cape Town and could be inspired by Ockie Strydom's win last week, but he's a bit short.
I came very close to adding Mathieu Pavon who has a fine record in Mauritius and at Al Mouj.
But in the end the third man is a different Frenchman: Julien Guerrier.
He's a former Amateur Champion who has struggled to get the win on the main tour but he's banged on the door at spot which bode well: Hillside, Dom Pedro, Verdura and Al Mouj.
He also landed a top 10 on his only visit to Mauritius.
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