Challenges always present opportunities to those willing to take a bit of a risk. The European Tour is not an organisation to back away from challenges, thus they took a previously empty period in the 2021 schedule and created the new ‘Canary Islands Swing’. The Tenerife Open is the second of three tournaments in the mini-series of events and the first edition of this tournament since Jarmo Sandelin finished one stroke ahead of Paul Eales and the late, great Seve Ballesteros in 1995.
Back in 1995, the tournament was known as the Turespaña Open De Canaria and was held in Gran Canaria. The revamped tournament moved to Golf Costa Adeje in Tenerife. It’s a course which is usually a temporary home to holidaymakers, not top class professionals but it has hosted European Tour events before including the 2003 Open de España so is by no means a pushover, especially when the coastal winds get up enough to make life interesting.
Past Winners
| Year | Course | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Golf Costa Adeje | Dean Burmester |
2021: Dean Burmester
The European Tour has not been a regular visitor to the Canary Islands. Some of the players would, therefore, have been surprised by the topography and feel of the courses used during the first two weeks of the Canary Islands Swing introduced by the European Tour for 2021. A number of the South African contingent were pleasantly surprised by how at home they felt in the Canaries and Dean Burmester took advantage of that familiarity to win the 2021 Tenerife Open just a week after his compatriot Garrick Higgo won the Gran Canaria Open.
This was the first edition of the Tenerife Open since 1995 so there were several unknowns but from the moment players began getting a feel for Golf Costa Adeje there was a feeling that we’d see low scores. So it proved to be with Burmester racking up birdie after birdie on his way to a score of 25 under par. His week was bookended by stunning rounds of 63 and 62 which, added to the 68 and 66 he shot on Friday and Saturday respectively, was enough for him to win by five strokes.
The joy of a return to winning ways on the European Tour was made all the greater for Burmester as it was clear from some way out that he would win. It is a great feeling to be able to relax and really take in the victory, savouring every moment of the last few holes. Only a catastrophe would have seen him surrender the lead he built up on Sunday and his compatriots were gathered around the 18th green poised with a bottle of champagne to spray some, time before he strode victoriously down the final fairway.