The Legends Tour is back at this extremely popular destination in the Swiss mountains, boasting a field that contains six past champions, seven former Ryder Cup players and the top two players on this season’s Order of Merit.
James Kingston won the title last year on the way to topping the Order of Merit, and the South African is loving being back to defend his title.
“It’s always a great feeling returning to a place where you’ve had success and a place you really enjoy – and how can you not when you look around you and see all these mountains. It’s a beautiful golf course, an unbelievable hotel and the way we get looked after this week makes it one of the special weeks on tour. It’s a great spot to return to.”
“It’s one of those courses that even though it’s not the longest you’ve still got to keep the ball in play. The greens get quite spinny at times, so you’ve got to have control over your short irons. It’s a little bit risk and reward. There are some holes where you can take it on and reap the benefits if it comes off. It’s a course that you feel like you want to overpower it, but it doesn’t always allow you to when you make a mistake.”
The other five former Swiss Seniors Open winners teeing it up this week are Jose Coceres (2019), Jean-Francois Remesy (2018), Philip Golding (2017), Paul Wesselingh (2013) and Peter Fowler (2011).
Peter Baker cruised to a seven-shot victory at the Irish Legends two weeks ago and he’s hoping to continue his hot form this week, especially on the greens.
“I played well and putted well (in Ireland). Everything went my way. It was nice to get a week like that, because you never quite know if you’ll have a week like that at all. Hopefully it gives me a bit of confidence to kick on for the rest of the year. Hopefully the putter is still friendly, and we’ll try and keep doing what I did in Ireland. It if happens, then that’s great.”
Adilson da Silva regained top spot on the Legends Tour Order of Merit from Baker courtesy of a tied-51st finish at last week’s US Senior Open, and he’s enjoying his first visit to Bad Ragaz.
“I really like it. It’s nice and tight and the greens are really good. If you can get it in play with the tee shots, then it’ll give you plenty of opportunities. It suits my eye and there’s a nice peaceful and calm atmosphere to the whole place.”
The Brazilian is happy to be back at the top of the Order of Merit and very keen to remain as number one:
“It’s nice to be on the top and try to stay there. It’s a nice fight and creates a good feel to keep it going.”
Golf Club Bad Ragaz is a par-70 layout that measures 6,164 yards, with five par-3s and a trio of par-5s on the card. The tree-lined fairways and small greens require a disciplined strategy and pin-point accuracy – a task that has been made trickier by dry conditions in recent weeks firming up the ground. There has been rain in the middle of this week to soften things a little, but the forecast for the tournament days is dry with temperatures reaching 30°C.
