Dormy Open: Jesper Svensson's three key holes at Upsala Golf Club

From Nordic League, via HotelPlanner Tour (then Challenge Tour) to DP World Tour and now onwards to the biggest stage of them all; PGA Tour. Jesper Svensson is one of the players who has managed to climb all the way - just as the field in Dormy Open at Upsala GK hopes to do. Jesper knows his home course Upsala GK inside out, so here are his best tips on which holes are key to success.

Hole 4

"Hole 4 immediately comes to mind. As a home player, I've had a slight edge on this one. It's quite a challenging par four really, but if you hit it long enough, you can carry the ditch straight from the tee and be left with just a wedge in. You take the risk from the tee because even playing it safe doesn't guarantee a par with that green."

Hole 16

"Of course, the final holes become crucial. You can almost save an entire round on 16-17. A very scoreable par-five followed by a driveable par-four where you can make something good happen. On 16, you want to aim a bit more right with the drive than you might think. It's very easy to hit it too far left and go through the fairway. Keep it well right and then an iron club in."

Hole 17

"Hole 17 is a short par four of around 270 metres, and there you just have to go for it. I don't think I've ever hit driver there, as there's usually a bit of helping wind, so I believe I've even hit a 3-iron there once. So it's very reachable. When we won the Team Championship at Upsala, I know we all had a very strong finish on the final holes."

What is your favourite hole at Upsala GK?

"A favourite hole for me is usually one where I tend to make birdie, so it would probably be one of the par-fives. But I think the 12th is a really good hole. It's a par-five where you need to hit a good drive, it's quite long and you're often playing into the wind, so you really need an excellent second shot if you want to reach the green. There's a bit of risk and reward with that second shot."

What advice would you give to players on the HotelPlanner Tour, having made the journey to the PGA yourself?

"Everything is much closer than you might think. If you play well on any tour, you'll fit in at the next level too. It's just about playing well consistently over a longer period to get through that needle's eye to the next level. One thing I've felt this year is that you start looking for things and think you need to make such big changes, but really it's much closer than you think. You just need to keep working on what you believe is right."

Last time we spoke, you had just earned your PGA Tour card. How has your first year been?

"From a golf perspective, everything is incredibly good - the courses and the tournaments themselves. It feels a bit surreal to actually be a player there. It's been a good season, but I still have some work to do in the Fall Series. I think I'm about 10 places outside full category now with six or seven tournaments left. So I'm heading back after the Irish Open to play over there again."

What's the biggest difference compared to the DP World Tour?

"There's much more going on around the tournaments, and the courses are better. The player services are really good, and there are always lots of spectators, which is fun. The players are better too, of course. The fields are tighter and the competition is stronger, so a mediocre week in Europe where you might have finished 25th-30th, you might just make the cut if you're lucky. You really need to play at the next level consistently. You definitely notice that a miss costs more than it did last year. But we keep working on it all the time. The biggest difference is probably approaching the green - mistakes become a bit more costly."

Fanny Persdotter