WHEN Sebastian Heisele earned the 19th European Tour card at Q-School last year he had his eyes opened to a new world on the European Tour. The German, who is a three-time Club Champion at Emirates Golf Club having began his golfing journey in the UAE, was understandably excited about a potential reunion at the Majlis for this year’s Dubai Desert Classic but was denied a spot in the field as a sponsors invite.
Q-School breakthrough
“Because I’m a graduate of last year’s Q-School I don’t have status going into the Rolex Series events or the bigger events – anything generally with a prize-fund of over €2m – which included the desert swing and the early events in China because the fields are already full,” he explains. “I asked for a sponsors invite into the Desert Classic this year but that didn’t happen for whatever reason, they didn’t want to support me, so that makes me more determined to play well the rest of the year.”
Race to Dubai
The 28-year-old finished in a share of fourth at the Open de Portugal last week and needs a few more results like that if he is to achieve his goal of finishing in the top 100 in the Race to Dubai.
DP World Tour Championship radar
“Going into this year, knowing my status wouldn’t get me into the biggest events, I wanted to focus on finishing in the top 100 in the Race to Dubai and securing my card for next year,” he says. “That way I’ll have better status next year and a better chance of getting into some more events. The DP World Tour Championship is a big carrot at the end of each year and it would be nice but it’s not really on my radar for this season unless something nice happens like a win!”
Road to Oman
Heisele finished 28th on last year’s Road to Oman after a full season on the Challenge Tour but after successfully navigating through Q-School he’s at the top table of European golf – but how do they compare?
“Well, because I haven’t really had a taste of the bigger events on the European Tour I can’t really make the comparison that well between the two tours,” he says. “Obviously the caliber of player is greater than on the Challenge Tour but in the European Tour events I’ve played this season there hasn’t been a lot of rough, so fairways are wide open and it’s set up a little easy. You are tracked everywhere a lot more and there’s far more attention on you on the European Tour, that’s for sure.
Rory McIlroy
“I warmed up alongside Rory McIlroy at the SA Open in January so that was cool to suddenly find yourself on the range next to guys who you used to watch on television.”
David Leadbetter Academy
While Heisele hasn’t got his sights set on a DP World Tour Championship debut just yet, he is looking forward to one day going back to Dubai and competing against the world’s best. Having grown up in Dubai and gotten down to a scratch handicap Heisele found his playing opportunities limited, so he left to join the David Leadbetter Academy in Florida. From there he took a scholarship at the University of Colorado and established himself as one of the leading players before turning professional in 2012. He made his way across various satellite tours in Europe before earning a spot on the 2015 Challenge Tour.
Rayhan Thomas
“Over the past few years the scene in Dubai has gotten a lot better for up and coming players,” he says. “If you look at a guy like Rayhan Thomas, he is definitely benefitting from the playing in the events on the MENA Tour because he’s competing against a good level of player. I never really had that in my time in Dubai. I progressed through the Junior Development Programme at Emirates Golf Club – and that was great – but once I got to a certain level there wasn’t much else for me from a competition point of view.”
Flying high
Heisele, who is a towering figure at 6’ 7”, has made steady progress over the past few years as a touring professional and looks set to establish himself on the European Tour for many years to come, so don’t be surprised to see him teeing it up on merit at next year’s Desert Classic.
