In-form Scot sets up chance to secure automatic HotelPlanner Tour promotion

The St Andrews-based player carded a bogey-free four-under 68 in the closing circuit to land a two-shot success in the Cardrona Classic presented by Martin Gilbert at Cardrona Hotel, Golf & Spa near Peebles.

Franssen also won the Blairgowrie Perthshire Masters presented by Petrasco earlier in the year and will secure his HotelPlanner Tour card straight away if he can add a third title triumph in a single season on the Scottish circuit.

“It’s a cool thought and it is nice to have that in the back of my mind after just six events,” he admitted. “But there’s still a long way to go as winning isn’t easy.”

The chance for players to secure the instant step up to the DP World Tour’s feeder circuit was set up through the Tartan Pro Tour becoming an official Satellite Tour this year.

“It’s an amazing opportunity,” added Franssen. ”It’s great that it has become a Satellite Tour for the HotelPlanner Tour. It’s unreal for the guys who are only playing in Scotland.”

In addition to a top prize worth £4315, Franssen also secured a spot in the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A, which is taking place this year at Schloss Roxburghe near Kelso.

“That’s a nice bonus,” he admitted. “I’ve played in that the past few years at Newmachar. It’s a great event and I am buzzing to be in it again.”

Having opened with rounds of 69 and 65 before adding his polished final-day effort, Franssen finished with a 14-under total as he won on this occasion from both Graeme Robertson and Chris Maclean.

“Yeah, it was a great win,” he said. “It was a tough week weather-wise, so I was ecstatic to pull through in the end.

“It was great to finish with a bogey-free round. I find it quite a stressful course off the tee. It is fairly wide but, if you miss the fairway, it’s a lost ball.

“I didn’t check the leaderboard but, when I posted my score and thought about how windy it was, I reckoned I’d be in with a good shout.”

On the back of his eye-catching start to the season, Franssen tops the Order of Merit ahead of three-time HotelPlanner Tour winner heading into next week’s Downfield Masters presented by Piper Sandler.

“I think my putting has improved, I think that’s probably the biggest difference this year,” he admitted. My friend James Blake who caddies for New Zealander Kazuma Kobori on the DP World Tour bought a putter on ebay.

“It was too short for him, which was lucky for me. I went in for a putter fitting at Auchterlonies and the guy said ‘listen mate, I could sell you a L.A.B. putter but the one you’ve got is probably better for you’.

New putter has ‘kind of freed me up’

“That gave me the belief that it was the right stick for me. Ever since then, it has kind of freed me up and I’ve just been working on trying to get a smoother stroke, which has been going well so far.

“I’m usually a pretty streaky putter but this season it has become a lot more steady and from inside eight feet it’s been great, which is a nice change.”

The Cardona event on the circuit run by Paul Lawrie was sponsored by former Aberdeen Asset Management CEO Martin Gilbert.

“I played with Martin in the Dunhill Links a few years ago when he was partnering Marc Warren,” said Franssen, who is looking forward to playing in this week’s Gleneagles Pro-Am. “He’s done so much for Scottish golf and it is great that he was sponsoring this event on the Tartan Pro Tour.”