Thomas Björn returns to the scene of his first professional title this week as Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort hosts the inaugural Made in Denmark, the first European Tour event in the country for 11 years and a celebration of the country’s achievements on the world stage.
Björn won the Himmerland Open on the European Challenge Tour in 1995, one of three victories that year as he topped the rankings, before capturing Danish golf’s first European Tour victory a year later in the Loch Lomond World Invitational.
The country now has 29 European Tour victories to its name, with Björn the proud owner of 15 of them, and he is one of 17 Danes in the field in Aalborg, alongside emerging talent such as Lucas Bjerregaard, who is attached to the host venue.
Björn was joined by HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark for Wednesday’s pro-am, with the group attracting large crowds. The tournament itself is expected to be watched by more than 70,000 spectators.
Thomas Björn said: “It’s been a while since we have had a tournament in Denmark and from all angles it looks like it is going to be a very successful event. The most important thing for all the Danish players is that we can come home and have a celebration of Danish golf. We want to celebrate the success we have had on the golf course, but we also want to show that while we are a small country we have the capability of holding an event at this level. From the start, we have trusted this was going to be a good event and we are now all very excited about the next four days.
“There is a buzz and an excitement, which we have not had for a long time in the country. For us as players that is a great thing.”
“Where I am from is about an hour from here so I will have a lot of local support. All my family and friends will be here. There should be 70,000 plus here this week, which is great. I’m glad the Danish golf fans are making this tournament a success,” said Lucas Bjerregaard. “We’ve not had a European Tour event since 2003 so it is special. We have nine European Tour players from Denmark now and hopefully this event will help us get more and will inspire some kids to get out there.”
Thobjørn Olesen added: “I’m looking forward to the tournament starting and getting out on the course. In Denmark people are really good at supporting their own guys. It’s a long time since we had a European Tour event in this country so the people are excited to get out there and see some Danish golfers and some of the other guys. Hopefully they will be cheering us on and hopefully some of us can shoot some good scores.”
European Tour www.europeantour.com
Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort www.himmerlandgolf.dk