Tournament History
Having been originally played in August, the Made in HimmerLand switched to May in 2019. There was no renewal in 2020 because of the pandemic so Bernd Wiesberger went two years before successfully defending the title last May.
Previously called the Made in Denmark, the Made in HimmerLand was played at Thomas Bjorn's home course of Silkeborg Ry Golfklub in 2018, but that looks like a one-off now, as once again, as was the case in 2019 and 2021, we're returning to the Backtee New Course at the HimmerLand Golf and Spa Resort for the eighth edition of the tournament.
Venue
Backtee New Course, HimmerLand Golf and Spa Resort, Aalborg, Denmark
Course Details
Par 71, 6,686 yards
Stroke Index in 2021 - 70.24
In addition to six of the first seven editions of this event, HimmerLand Golf and Spa also hosted the 1995 HimmerLand Open which was won by Denmark's most famous golfer, Thomas Bjorn. It also hosted three Challenge Tour events in the 1990s and the 2018 edition of the Made in Denmark Challenge on the Challenge Tour - won convincingly by J.B Hansen by five strokes.
Prior to the inaugural edition of this event, the course underwent a $2.5 million renovation by Philip Christian Spogard of Spogard and VanderVaart in 2012, which included the relaying of all 18 greens and the reshaping of every single bunker and there was a change to the course layout prior to the 2019 edition of this event too.
The old par four eighth hole is no longer in use and was replaced by a brand-new hole which was played as the first, resulting in holes one to seven in 2017 now being played as holes two to eight.
The course is very exposed (especially holes 11-15) and undulating, even the bentgrass greens, which were set to run at 10.5 on the stimpmeter last time.
With its two-tier green, the par three 16th signature hole is a natural amphitheatre for up to 3,500 spectators. It became the shortest hole in DP World Tour history seven years ago when it was set up at just 79 yards in round four.
The par four 18th was the hardest hole on the course but it's ranked second for each of the last two editions, averaging 4.31 and 4.27. The par four 13th ranked as the hardest in 2019 but the ninth was the toughest last year - averaging 4.32.
TV Coverage
Live on Sky Sports all four days, starting at 12:00 on Thursday
First Seven Winners with Pre-event Exchange Prices
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
What Will it Take to Win the Made in Himmerland?
We only have six editions here to evaluate and frustratingly, no stats were issued for the winner here five years ago, Julian Suri, but an examination of what stats we do have for those six renewals suggest the putting and scrambling metrics are the stats to consider.
Bernd Wiesberger ranked seventh for Putting Average last year and the runner-up, Guido Migliozzi, ranked six. Wiesberger topped the PA stats when he won here for the first time in 2019 and the 2018 winner at Silkeborg, Matt Wallace, topped the PA stats here when he finished tied for sixth in 2017. Ben Evans, who finished third, ranked third.
The first two home in the inaugural staging in 2014 had PA rankings of third and first for the week and the first and second in 2016 - Thomas Pieters and Bradley Dredge - ranked second and first for PA so putting looks to be the most important aspect of the game to consider. And just to endorse that further, nobody putted better than Terry Pilkadaris, who finished tied for second in 2015, and the winner, David Horsey, ranked 10th.
Having putted brilliantly and having ranked as highly as eighth for Greens In Regulation, Wiesberger was able to win with a Scambling ranking of just 52nd in 2019 and he only ranked 29th last year but two of the three players to finish tied for third, Jason Scrivener and Richard Bland, ranked third and fourth.
Marcus Armitage, who finished eighth, topped the Scrambling stats last year and the number one scrambler for the week has finished inside the top-six places in each of the other five renewals played here.
Is There an Angle In?
There's a fairly strong correlation with this event and the Austrian Open at the Diamond Country Club, with as many as three players - Mikael Lundberg, Bernd Wiesberger, and Marc Warren - winning at both venues.
Jose Manuel Lara, who won the first edition of the Austrian Open at the DCC in 2010, finished fourth in the Navision Open on the Challenge Tour here in 1998 and Marcus Armitage and Matthias Schwab finished inside the top-eight at both events last year.
David Horsey has repeatedly played well here and at the Golf Du Palais Royal, which hosted the Trophee Hassan II between 2011 and 2015. He's won at both tracks and Michael Hoey, who's also won at the Golf Du Palais Royal, finished fourth here on the Challenge Tour in 2018. And Wiesberger was fifth at the Golf Du Palais Royal in 2013.
In addition to winning here and at the Golf Du Palais Royal, Horsey has also finished second in Austria and last week's halfway leader, Alejandro Canizares, ties the three tracks together nicely too.
The Spaniard won the 2014 edition of the Trophee Hassan II, he led here after round one (sat second at halfway) before finishing ninth in 2019, and he led through rounds one, two and three in Austria last year.
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 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 last year but Englishmen, Richard Bland and Jordan Smith, finished tied for third alongside Jason Scrivener.
Winner's Position and Exchange Price Pre-Round Four
2021 - Bernd Wiesberger - led by a stroke 2.186/5
2020 - Event Cancelled
2019 - Bernd Wiesberger - led by a stroke 2.9215/8
2018 - Matt Wallace 5th - trailing by two 4.84/1
2017 - Julian Suri 2nd - trailing by two 7.06/1
2016 - Thomas Pieters T2nd - trailing by one 3.711/4
2015 - David Horsey - led by a stroke 2.1011/10
2014 - Marc Warren - tied for the lead 2.3211/8
In-Play Tactics
Eventual winner, Marc Warren, trailed Bradley Dredge by fully seven strokes at the halfway stage in the inaugural event in 2014 but they were level after round three. The Welshman had led by four after two rounds and having such a big lead probably wasn't ideal given he hadn't been in-contention for a very long time.
In spite of the nature of Warren's win, I made a note at the time that I thought the course would suit frontrunners after that first edition and that's been the case since.
Wiesberger won wire-to-wire last year, as did David Horsey in 2015, despite a two-over-par 73 in round four, Thomas Pieters was never outside the front three places at any stage in 2016, and the first five home were all inside the top-seven places at halfway. Although he was only tied for 17th after the opening round, Suri never trailed by more than three strokes all week long and Wiesberger was two off the lead after round one, three back at halfway and in front after three rounds in 2019. All six DP World Tour course winners have sat first or second with a round to go.
Hansen led after day one on the Challenge Tour in 2018 and he was three strokes clear with a round to go after bouncing back following a poor second round.
As already mentioned, the par four finishing hole is tricky so if you're betting in-running on Sunday, bear that in mind. Anyone in the clubhouse will have an advantage over anyone still to play the 18th. David Horsey was just a shot behind Suri through 71 holes in 2017 but he was beaten by four after making a triple-bogey seven there.
The draw for the first two rounds may prove vital so keep an eye on the forecasts. There was a disparity of almost two strokes in 2016 and 2.98 strokes in 2017. Those drawn PM-AM enjoyed the advantage six years ago but it was the other way around in 2017.
The PM-AM starters shot an average of 0.8 less than the AM-PM starters last year.
Market Leaders
Last week's playoff protagonists, Thriston Lawrence and Matt Wallace, head a wide open market with the latter named the early 26.025/1 favourite, as he bids to emulate the absent Bernd Wiesberger, and win the title for a second time.
Wallace won the 2018 edition at Silkeborg but he led here after round one in 2017 before finishing sixth and he was only a stroke outside the lead after round one on his only other appearance here, in 2019, when defending the title, before eventually finishing 41st.
He topped both the scrambling and Putting Average stats last week and he also topped the Strokes Gained Putting and Around the Green stats, gaining more than nine strokes with the flatstick.
With course, current and the relevant statistical form all in place, he's a worthy favourite.
Back-to-back winners are rare and although it was impossible not to be impressed with the manner of Lawrence's victory in Switzerland, converting from the front is stressful and it would be some feat to go in again, especially given his limited course form. Lawrence shot rounds 79 and 77 when missing the cut here back in 2014.
Selections
I'm quite happy to have a small bet on Matt Wallace at 27.026/1. He did very little wrong on Sunday in Switzerland and as highlighted above, he ticks all the right boxes.
Last year's Austrian Open winner, John Catlin, finished 12th here in 2019 (his only previous appearance) and he was in-contention at the ISPS Handa World Invitational a couple of weeks ago before a poor final round saw him eventually finish 13th behind Ewen Ferguson. Odds of around 50.049/1 look fair.
Denmark's Nicolai Hojgaard caught the eye in Switzerland last week (shot 28 on the back-nine on Saturday) where he putted nicely and he was seventh in Austria last year, suggesting the track could suit him.
This is his fifth appearance in the Made in HimmerLand and his event form figures don't read especially well. He missed his first three cuts before finishing 40th last year but those first three appearances were his first, fourth and fifth appearances on the DP World Tour spaced over three years when he was still a teenager so they can be readily dismissed.
Selections:
Matt Wallace @ 27.026/1
John Catlin @ 48.047/1
Nicolai Hojgaard @ 60.059/1
I'll be back tomorrow with the Find Me a 100 Winner picks.
*You can follow me on Twitter @SteveThePunter