• Climate should suit English contenders

• Don't look far down leaderboard after round three

• Spaniard backed at big price on Betfair Exchange

Tournament History

Previously called the Made in HimmerLand, and before that the Made in Denmark, the Danish Golf Championship has been in existence since 2014 but this is only the 10th edition of the event as the 2021 tournament was lost to the pandemic.

Rasmus Hojgaard defends the title but we're off to a new venue this year. The Backtee New Course at the HimmerLand Golf and Spa Resort has hosted eight of the previous nine editions but this year it's at the Lübker Golf Resort in Aarhus.

Venue

Lübker Golf Resort, Aarhus, Denmark

Course Details

Par 71, 7,026 yards

The Robert Trent Jones II designed Lübker Golf Course consists of three nine-hole loops - Sand, Sky and Forest. This week's event is staged over the Sky and the Sand courses.

According to the club's website, when Lübker Golf Course opened in 2008, it was hailed as "the best new golf course in the world" and has remained one of the best in Europe.

Lübker is described as a parkland/heathland course and the Sky 9 features more trees and water than the Sand 9, which is slightly more exposed.

Lübker has hosted four Nordic Golf League events, and it also staged the ECCO Tour Championship on the Challenge Tour back in 2011 but there are only 18 players in this week's field who have played here previously.

Weather Forecast

TV Coverage

Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at midday on Thursday

First Nine Tournament Winners with Pre-event Exchange Prices

2023 - Rasmus Hojgaard -13 36.035/1
2022 - Oliver Wilson -21 320.0319/1
2021 - Bernd Wiesberger -21 27.026/1
2020 - Event Cancelled
2019 - Bernd Wiesberger -14 120.0119/1
2018 - Matt Wallace -19 38.037/1 (playoff) (Silkeborg Ry Golfklub)
2017 - Julian Suri -19 80.079/1
2016 - Thomas Pieters -17 14.013/1
2015 - David Horsey -13 120.0119/1
2014 - Marc Warren -9 28.027/1

Trent Jones Course Form Worth Considering

Form at other Trent Jones II courses is fairly sparse so Matt Cooper's each-way column is a must read.

Matt details a number of courses used previously and the Robert Trent Jones II website has a list of courses used for tournament golf is worth a look.

Will the French Form Continue?

As highlighted in Monday's De-Brief, last week's Czech Masters winner, David Ravetto, is the first Frenchman to win on the DP World Tour this season but he wasn't the only Frenchman to contend in Prague.

Frederic Lacroix and Adrien Saddier finished tied for third and having the Olympics staged in Paris just a few weeks ago may well have inspired all three of them.

Now that Ravetto has won, there are two reasons for the French contingency to be inspired and we may see a bold showing again by the them.

Is There an Identikit Winner?

Denmark's climate isn't too dissimilar to that endured year after year by the Brits so it's perhaps not surprising that an Englishman and a Scotsman fought out the finish in 2022 and someone from the British Isles finished first or second in each of the first six editions.

An Austrian and an Italian filled the first two places in 2021 but Englishmen Richard Bland and Jordan Smith finished tied for third alongside Jason Scrivener and three Scotsmen contended last year.

Richie Ramsy finished third and Robert MacIntyre and Marc Warren finished tied fourth.

In-Play Tactics

What little history we have at the venue suggests we might not be able to scan too far down the leaderboard after round three.

Christian Jacobsen won here over 54 holes on the Alps Tour in 2022, having trailed by five with a round to go. But the man he beat in a playoff, Jeppe Kristian Andersen, had been tied for the lead with a round to go and the other four course winners were up with the pace.

Bjorn Akesson was trailing by a stroke in 2023, as was the ECCO Tour Championship winner in 2011, Daniel Denison, and the other two course winners were leading by one with a round to go.

Danes Dominate the Market

Denmark's Rasmus Hojgaard is looking to defend the title but it's his twin brother, Nicolai, that heads the market and that makes sense.

Now playing on the PGA Tour, and having played in last year's Ryder Cup, Nicolai is arguably the better player of the two and the Official World Rankings suggest that's the case.

At 48, Nicolai is the highest ranked player in the field, whereas Rasmus is down in 101^st place.

The two-time winner, Bernd Wiesberger, is the third favourite and the only other man in the field trading at less than 20/121.00 but I'm happy to swerve them all.

Nacho a Tasty Price

With so little to go on, I'm happy to keep the powder dry until we've had a look at the venue, but I have got a least one selection for the Find Me a 100 Winner column and I was more than happy to follow Matt Cooper in on Nacho Elvira.

His 28^th place finish at the Czech Masters was an encouraging performance given he'd started slowly and that he'd missed his three previous cuts and as Matt points out, this venue may well suit him nicely.

Now read Danish Golf Championship Each-Way Tips: 80/1 Nacho Elvira can seal the deal

*You can follow me at @SteveThePunter