After admitting to being frustrated with his start to the season, Christian Braeunig is determined to put himself in contention more regularly on the European Challenge Tour, starting with this week’s KPMG Trophy.
The German missed the first two cuts of the year but bounced back with a tied fifth finish at the Challenge de España, beginning the final day just one shot off the lead.
The 25 year old currently sits 52nd on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah and tees it up at L’Empereur Golf and Country Club this week in a confident frame of mind.
“I had a pretty rough start to the season by missing two cuts in Kenya and China, which was pretty painful to be honest,” he said.
“The two tournaments both had pretty high prize funds so that was frustrating. I didn’t really feel like I played badly so I just kept going and then I finished fifth in Spain. That was really nice and then I finished 27th last week, which was pretty good.
“I was five under in the last round which was good but I just made a couple of pretty unnecessary mistakes in the first three rounds. Overall I’m very happy with my game at the moment.
“The first three rounds in Spain were definitely my best performance of the season. I only made one birdie and one bogey so I just didn’t really hole any putts.
“It was a little pressured playing in the last group but the first three rounds were really good. I just hope I can get into that position a couple more times this year and we’ll see.”
After arriving in Belgium on Tuesday, Braeunig was handed the chance to play the course in Wednesday’s Pro-Am and he believes it’s a track which suits his game.
“The course is quite tricky,” he said. “It’s very hard as well so you’ve got to be careful with the bounces. You’ve got to be in the middle of the fairway just to keep it on the fairway.
“It’s nice; the greens are good and I think the key is to just keep it on the fairway here. There’s no need to hit driver here too much.
“I hit the ball pretty far so I don’t have to hit driver on most of the holes, so that makes it easier and much more comfortable to be hitting two iron or three wood off the tee.
“I just want to try and stick to my game plan and try not to get too aggressive, then just try and play as well as I can.”
Joining Braeunig in Belgium this week is Road to Ras Al Khaimah Number Three Jens Fahrbring and his fellow countryman Simon Forsstöm – whose sole Challenge Tour victory came at the 2016 KPMG Trophy.
Among the home contingent are Kevin Hesbois, Lars Buijs, Laurent Richard and amateurs Giovanni Tadiotto and Aurian Capart.
