Denmark’s Frederik Kjettrup is a HotelPlanner Tour winner after sealing a memorable victory at the English Trophy held at The Caversham in Berkshire from September 7-10.
The Dane birdied the 72nd hole on a low-scoring week to post his second 67 of the weekend to reach 21 under par and finished one stroke clear of Swiss player Ronan Kleu.
Kjettrup secured his first win on the HotelPlanner Tour after having made the cut just once so far this season, at the Blot Play9, where he finished in a tie for second.
Playing the tournament on an invite, he propelled himself up to 15th on the Road to Mallorca Rankings with the win, and earned a spot in next week’s Open De Portugal and the Abu Dhabi Challenge, before the season-ending playoffs in China and Mallorca.
An opening round 68 sent the 26-year-old well on his way before a second round 65 took him to 11 under par, one stroke off the lead, heading into the weekend. A five-under 67 on moving day saw the Dane take the solo lead at the end of round three.
After a tense front nine for the players at the top of the bunched leaderboard on the final day, Kjettrup made the turn on level par after a dropped shot at the second was gained back at the par-five seventh.
However, three birdies in a row after making the turn, and another at the par-five 14th saw the Dane get within one stroke of clubhouse leader Kleu.
After dropping a shot at the par-four 16th, the trophy looked to be in Kleu’s hands, however an excellent tee shot at the par-three 17th set Kjettrup for another birdie attempt, which he duly converted.
Tense finish
Needing to birdie the last to win, Kjettrup seemed to let the nerves get the better of him when a tentative approach shot left him a lengthy putt for victory, but he bravely sunk the 30-footer to claim the title.
Speaking after the win, Kjettrup said: “I don’t think it’s quite sunk in yet. It was a weird finish, making a 30-foot slider downhill to win it by one on the last hole, but it feels amazing.”
He added: “I played poorly on the front nine, if I’m perfectly honest. It was frustrating, but I was proud of how I just kept doing my thing and stayed in there and eventually got back in the fight to clinch it.”
The highest-placed English player was Andrew Wilson, who tied for fourth on -18 after a closing 65, which moved the 32-year-old from Darlington up to seventh in the season’s ranking.
For all the scores from The English Trophy, click here.
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