Diamond CC, Atzenbrugg, Near Vienna, Austria. Designer: Jeremy Pern, 2000; Par: 72; Length: 7,458 yards; Water Hazards: 13; Fairways: Poa/Rye; Rough: Poa/Rye; Greens: Bent/Poa, 10.6′ on the stimp.
Course Overview. The course at the Diamond Country Club is located 20 miles west of Vienna in Atzenbrugg and is a relatively flat and exposed par 72 that measures 7,458 yards after a few changes made over the past few years.
Half of the holes here feature water – including 2 par-3 holes to island greens – and the premium around Diamond CC is very much on finding greens in regulation after a successful tee shot into the fairway; anything else will leave players struggling for par with tough scrambling conditions around the putting surfaces.
Hitting greens is far, far easier from the fairway here and whilst the card would suggest that longer hitters may enjoy the layout, finding the short grass from the tee is still important and demands a level of strategy from all players on a number of holes.
In normal summertime conditions, the greens at Diamond CC are amongst the best on the European Tour and the mildly undulating bent/poa surfaces offer a little respite to those who are less adept with the putter.
For me this tournament will be primarily about who can hit the most greens in regulation and find some confidence with the flat stick to make the birdies required to hit a score in the middle teens under par, give or take. If played from its tips this week though, cool and wet conditions may well make this layout a tougher test than normal.
Tournament Stats. We’ve published some key statistics for this week’s event that will help to shape a view on players who traditionally play well at the Shot Clock Masters and Lyoness Open, which were both played at this venue from 2010 onwards, plus last year’s Austrian Golf Open: Current Form | Course/Event Form | First Round Leader Stats | Combined Stats.
Predictor Model. Our published Predictor Model is available here. As always you can build your own model using the variables available.
Winners & Prices. 2020: Marc Warren, 150/1; 2018 (Shot Clock Masters): Mikko Korhonen, 28/1; 2017 (Lyoness Open): Dylan Frittelli, 40/1; 2016: Ashun Wu, 160/1; 2015: Chris Wood, 12/1; 2014: Mikael Lundberg, 250/1; 2013: Joost Luiten, 25/1; 2012: Bernd Wiesberger, 25/1; 2011: Kenneth Ferrie, 55/1; 2010: Jose Manuel Lara, 66/1.
Weather Forecast. The latest weather forecast for the area is here.
Pleasant Austrian summer weather usually greets the players when they tee it up here at the Diamond Country Club, however that’s not going to be the case this week. Overnight temperatures falling to around freezing will struggle to get close to 50 Fahrenheit in the afternoons, and there’s a risk of sleet and snow showers – particularly for the first 2 days.
The breeze is forecast to be at its strongest on Thursday at around 15mph, gusting 20mph+, before it slowly falls away over the weekend.
Tournament Trends & Key Factors.
Analysing the final stats of the past 9 winners at Diamond CC gives us a little more insight into the type of player suited to this test:
- 2018, Mikko Korhonen (-16). 78.6% fairways (3rd), 81.5% greens in regulation (4th), 100% scrambling (1st), 1.73 putts per GIR (27th).
- 2017, Dylan Frittelli (-12). 66.1% fairways (9th), 72.2% greens in regulation (13th), 70% scrambling (3rd), 1.73 putts per GIR (14th).
- 2016, Ashun Wu (-13). 50% fairways (29th), 76.4% greens in regulation (6th), 64.7% scrambling (6th), 1.64 putts per GIR (2nd).
- 2015, Chris Wood (-15). 66.1% fairways (12th), 80.6% greens in regulation (6th), 71.4% scrambling (3rd), 1.68 putts per GIR (5th).
- 2014, Mikael Lundberg (-12). 53.6% fairways (25th), 72.2% greens in regulation (20th), 65.0% scrambling (4th), 1.67 putts per GIR (4th).
- 2013, Joost Luiten (-17). 82.1% fairways (2nd), 87.5% greens in regulation (1st), 55.6% scrambling (31st), 1.73 putts per GIR (20th).
- 2012, Bernd Wiesberger (-19). 64.3% fairways (26th), 76.4% greens in regulation (12th), 70.6% scrambling (3rd), 1.64 putts per GIR (2nd).
- 2011, Kenneth Ferrie (-12). 62.5% fairways (14th), 79.2% greens in regulation (4th), 66.7% scrambling (1st), 1.74 putts per GIR (20th).
- 2010, Jose Manuel Lara (-17). 75.0% fairways (1st), 77.8% greens in regulation (7th), 62.5% scrambling (11th), 1.65 putts per GIR (4th).
Unfortunately no stats were captured for the 2020 Austrian Open as the European Tour got to grips with Covid protocols immediately after lockdown was eased a little.
In those years where calmer conditions have blessed the event, players who can maximise strokes gained as a result of their tee-to-green performance have tended to prevail.
Putters need to be warm without being red hot and a decent second-shot performance coupled with a putting average in the 1.7 region may well be enough for the winner here this week.
Incoming Form: In terms of recent results prior to victory, Marc Warren had shown very little prior to lockdown to suggest that success was pending. 45th at the South African Open was his only outing before golf was halted and he’d failed to finish inside the top-50 at all in the year prior.
2018 Shot Clock Masters champion Mikko Korhonen arrived here having missed the cut at the Italian Open the week before his victory, however 15th at Wentworth prior to that with an eye-catching display with his irons suggested his game was in good shape.
Dylan Frittelli had recorded a couple of runner-up finishes in the recent past before missing two consecutive cuts prior to winning the last Lyoness Open before the event’s demise. Ashun Wu had been solid if unspectacular with 8 out of 10 cuts made in 2016 and a best of 16th prior to victory
In 2015, Chris Wood arrived off the back of a top-20 in Ireland that followed a decent 4th place finish at Wentworth. In 2014, Mikael Lundberg had shown little incoming form of note with 28th at the Spanish Open two events before being his best finish of what had been a poor season up to that point.
Kenneth Ferrie had finished 8th at Gleneagles on his penultimate start which was his best result for some time and Jose Manuel Lara had finished 4th the week before in Holland – his best effort for over a year. Joost Luiten and Bernd Wiesberger were both more obvious winners, Luiten had finished inside the top-11 on three occasions in recent events and Wiesberger had won the Ballantine’s Championship earlier that year:
- 2020, Marc Warren: MC/MC/MC/MC/MC/DQ/MC/65/MC/75/56/45
- 2018, Mikko Korhonen: MC/22/61/MC/MC/3/MC/41/26/15/MC
- 2017, Dylan Frittelli: MC/48/2/8/16/12/29/19/5/2/MC/MC
- 2016, Ashun Wu: 16/52/24/60/MC/35/60/31/MC/48
- 2015, Chris Wood: MC/MC/3/29/31/49/4/16
- 2014, Mikael Lundberg: 66/MC/MC/MC/35/MC/MC/39/28/60
- 2013, Joost Luiten: 6/MC/49/27/MC/22/15/21/8/MC/11
- 2012, Bernd Wiesberger: 19/57/7/1/53/MC/17/MC/47/MC
- 2011, Kenneth Ferrie: 61/MC/67/MC/70/35/69/MC/8/50
- 2010, Jose Manuel Lara: MC/MC/MC/MC/MC/WD/MC/MC/MC/4
Course Form (back to 2010): None of the winners here had a massive amount of experience of Diamond CC prior to victory, however shorter-priced winners Wiesberger, Luiten and Wood had all finished 12th or better on their one and only start here; coupled with their season-long form they were each fairly obvious winners:
- 2020, Marc Warren: 56/21/31/WD
- 2018, Mikko Korhonen: 19/45/24/9/2
- 2017, Dylan Frittelli: DQ/MC
- 2016, Ashun Wu: Debut
- 2015, Chris Wood: 12
- 2014, Mikael Lundberg: 30/60
- 2013, Joost Luiten: 3
- 2012, Bernd Wiesberger: 5
- 2011, Kenneth Ferrie: MC
- 2010, Jose Manuel Lara: Debut
Although this has been a hastily organised event, we thankfully have enough course history to give us a good starting point for this week. For me, this task is primarily about tee-to-green performance, maximising GIR and making sufficient putts on these excellent surfaces to get over the line.
The field here isn’t strong save for those at the very top of the betting. Diamond CC has produced a mix of short and long-priced winners though over the years and given the vagaries of this week’s event, the favourites are by no means a shoe-in.
The early spot in the calendar creates a different dynamic this year with firm, fast and pleasant conditions thrown out of the window, replaced with cold and damp late-winter weather.
Undoubtedly this will make the track play longer than normal, should it be played from its tips, however I suspect that this will make it tougher for all rather than simply favouring the bombers and the one constant here is the course and its requirements for quality ball-striking. To that end I’ve backed a small team of players here this week who have some positive memories of Diamond CC and/or the kind of game which should suit this layout.
Austrian Golf Open – Featured Bookmaker:
