European Tour - The Belgian Knockout

The European Tour returns to Belgium this week for the first time since the year 2000.

The Belgian Knockout will take place at Rinkven International Golf Club which is situated on the outskirts of Antwerp.

Belgium's own Thomas Pieters hosts the event which is certainly not one of the tour's most prestigious but with an unusual format and the Ryder Cup around the corner it should prove an interesting addition to the 2018 schedule.

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Rinkven International Golf Club boasts two championship courses, extensive practice facilities and a stunning modern clubhouse (as pictured above).

The courses combine woodland and parkland holes and feature multiple water hazards. The North course, a 6124m (6697 yard) par 72, is the longer of the two and will favour more powerful hitters. The South course, a 5986m (6546 yard) par 71, requires a little more shotmaking ability.

Rinkven International is no stranger to high profile tournaments - in recent years it has played host to the European Amateur Championships and a Challenge Tour event.

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The format for this week's event is highly unusual - the video above should provide some idea of how it's going to work.

The initial field will consist of 144 players who will play 36 holes of traditional strokeplay on a course made up of hole 1 and holes 11-18 of the South course and holes 10-18 of the North course.

The top 64 players will then go through to the matchplay stage on Saturday. It's not standard matchplay however... having been split into two groups the remaining competitors will go head to head over 9 holes in a strokeplay/matchplay format. So whoever shoots the lowest score over 9 holes wins and progresses to the next round. Just to make things a little more complicated one group will play on the front 9 and the other on the back 9, and players will be seeded according to their standing after the first two rounds.

Not the easiest to understand but as long as the golf is good then who cares right?!?

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The field this week does not feature a whole lot of big name players and will give the opportunity for some up and coming Challenge Tour pros to gain valuable experience.

The host, Thomas Pieters, would have to be amongst the frontrunners if his role this week does not distract him too much from getting the job done on the golf course. His last win came two years ago and with the Ryder Cup looming he could certainly do with a positive result.

Former Ryder Cup team members Robert Karlsson and Chris Wood also tee it up this week along with the in form Adrian Otaegui and Jorge Campillo so there should be some great golf on show and the event format will definitely make things interesting.

For an in-depth look at who should do well this week and why I would highly recommend Ben Coley's (Sporting Life) betting preview which you can find here.

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