It had to be Jorge Campillo. From Cáceres. Land of conquerors. The golfer from Norba discovered an unprecedented route on the 18th hole at Gut Altentann (par 5) during the second round of the Austrian Alpine Open on Friday. The idea began to take shape on Thursday night. Like a midsummer night’s dream, not at all torrid in Austrian lands, a light bulb went off in Campillo’s head. “What if we play the 18th hole via the 17th fairway?” he wondered.
The thought lingered in his mind for a while, but he quickly set to work to shape it. The first step was a call to Jesús Legarrea, his caddie. “We need to check on Google Maps how the 17th fairway goes, its width and so on, to see if it’s viable,” the player suggested. Lega took 10 seconds to have all the answers. He’s a caddie, what did you expect? They’re used to working under pressure and making quick calculations. “The 17th fairway is 36 metres wide,” he said. The next step was to check the 18th fairway. More or less the same width, even a tad less, with the difference that there’s out of bounds on the right and water on the left. On the 17th fairway, however, there’s only the danger of water, in this case, on the right. After the checks, they shook hands over the phone. “If tomorrow we’re in a situation of need or it’s not clear, we’ll play via the 17th.”
When Campillo reached the 18th tee, he wasn’t exactly in a critical situation. He was at -3, with the cut almost assured, as it eventually closed at -1, but he wasn’t exactly in a celebratory mood either. An out of bounds puts the double bogey and even the triple bogey at risk. The final straw, however, came from the scene Jorge found there. Just as he arrived at the tee, Alex del Rey, in the group ahead, hit. Out of bounds on the right. In fact, that’s where the Madrid player lost the cut. Immediately afterwards, Marc Warren, the Scot playing with him, did the same: drive to the 18th fairway and out of bounds on the right. As if a push was needed to make the decision…
Still, there was one last check to be made. Could there be a local rule this week preventing playing the hole via the 17th fairway, declaring that area out of bounds? With this in mind, Campillo called a referee. A local one arrived and gave the green light. Thus, the Jorge Campillo route at Gut Altentann was inaugurated. Jorge himself explains it:
“I think it’s better to play this hole from the left. On the right, it’s a tense shot, with water on the left and out on the right. The left is 36 metres wide and the right is less and also has the out in play.“ And then, it’s a better entry and the hole is 30-40 metres shorter. It’s narrower, true, but shorter. Especially, if you’re going for par, it’s easier that way. The shot is also a straight one, as the 17th fairway is right in front of the 18th tee.”
With this in mind, Campillo hit a 4-iron to the fairway (of the 17th), played to position with the second shot and left the wedge two metres away. The birdie putt slipped away. It would have been a better way to conquer the route had he made it, but it’s not bad in any case.
There was one last journalistic check to be made. It wouldn’t be the first time a conqueror thinks they’ve discovered a new route only to find evidence later that other humans had been there before. We’ve reviewed all the tee shots on the 18th from the 153 players who have played the two rounds, at least up to the 18th. Well, it turns out only two more have gone via the 17th. One was Tom Vaillant, although he was playing with Nacho Elvira, and the Spaniard assures he missed the shot, hitting a hook. It went to the 17th fairway, but it wasn’t what he intended. The other is the amateur Lukas Boandl. It made sense as a local player. Maybe he knew that route beforehand. What happens to many conquerors. However, several professionals and caddies consulted by TenGolf assure that seeing where Boandl’s ball is, 314 yards from the tee, clearing a bunker… it’s most likely he did it unintentionally, missing the shot like Vaillant. For now, the new route is christened as the Campillo route, until Boandl or anyone else claims their rights.
As for the tournament, the afternoon hasn’t changed much. Marcel Schneider (-11) has stayed on top with a two-shot lead over Nicolai Von Dellingshausen (-9) and three over Callum Tarren (-8). The best Spaniard is Eugenio Chacarra (-6), while Albert Boneta (-3), Jorge Campillo (-3), Rafa Cabrera Bello (-2), and Pablo Larrazábal (-1) have also made the cut. By the way, Pablo played level par this Friday, sinking two birdie putts that together don’t reach a metre and a half. It’s just a sign that his tee-to-green game is very good, that the greens were tricky in the afternoon, and that if he sharpens his game a bit, he could cause more than one surprise over the weekend.
