2011 Oliva Nova Winners- Men's Ken Benz, Ladies Merlin Palm

The final day saw the unfortunate expected rain come and it posed a great challenge for the international field at the 2011 Oliva Nova Open. The rain started early in the morning and continued throughout the entire day, Hi5 Pro Tour officials had a tough job but managed with squeegee’s to complete the 54 hole event at Oliva Nova. Tournament Director Wayne Hachey and his team kept the competition going. “We could have easily said, the day is canceled, but my partner Nigel German and I are committed to preparing these young players for the main tour and we know they will face these conditions on the main tour. We were literally pushed to the limit today but it would be totally unfair to the players who fought all day through the tough conditions and then to have the day canceled, however we still have to maintain FAIR conditions for all players” commented Hachey.

In the end it was Ken Benz, the newly turned professional from Zurich, Switzerland who played in fine fashion despite the torrential rain fall. Ken stared the day 1 shot behind, but birdied 3 out of the first 4 holes to take the lead over Joachim Hansen (DEN) and James Watts(ENG) who both shared the lead after 36 holes. Benz was rock solid today with his performance and his only mistake came at the 17th where he doubled the par 5, but he quickly answered with another birdie on the 18th. Benz’s final round of 69 included 5 birdies in very adverse weather conditions and gave him a comfortable 3 shot margin of victory over Joachim Hansen.  Tied for 3rd was European Tour veteran Jose Manuel Carriles who scored the only other sub par round of the day with 71 and James Watts from England who both ended at -4.

In the ladies division, amateur Merlin Palm from Estonia was the decisive winner with rounds of  72,78,82 and a 7 shot margin of victory over Rhian Wyn Thomas of Wales.