Guido van der Valk (born 26 January 1980) is a Dutch

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Amateur career

Van der Valk had a successful amateur career. He represented

The Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

in the

Eisenhower Trophy The Eisenhower Trophy (World Men's Amateur Team Championships) is the biennial World Amateur Team Championship for men organized by the International Golf Federation. Since the tournament was first played in 1958 Eisenhower Trophy, 1958, it is nam ...

. Van der Valk turned had several offers for athletic scholarships in the United States but rejected them to turn professional.

Professional career

In 2002, van der Valk turned professional. He joined the

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour, currently titled as the HotelPlanner Tour for sponsorship reasons and also sometimes referred to as the European Challenge Tour, is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European To ...

and finished 36th in the standings in his debut season, the highlight being a second-place finish behind Iain Pyman at the BMW Russian Open. After two disappointing seasons he joined the

Asian Tour The Asian Tour is the principal men's professional golf professional golf tours, tour in Asia except for Japan (which has its own Japan Golf Tour). It is also a full member of the International Federation of PGA Tours. Official money events on ...

in 2005. In 2007 he just missed out on retaining his card by finishing one place out at 61st in the Order of Merit; Thammanoon Sriroj in 60th earned just $455 more. However, van der Valk rectified this the following year by enjoying his most successful Asian season to date in 2008, finishing 52nd on the Order of Merit. In 2011, van der Valk posted his best result to date on the Asian Tour, losing out in a five-man playoff to Himmat Rai at the

ISPS Handa Singapore Classic The ISPS Handa Singapore Classic was a golf tournament on the Asian Tour from 2010 to 2012 at the Orchid Country Club in Singapore. It was played for the first time in September 2010. The purse was United States dollar, US$400,000 in 2010 and 2012 ...

. Two weeks later he won on the

Asian Development Tour The Asian Development Tour, founded in 2010, is a professional golf tour. It is the development tour for the Asian Tour. Players who fail to earn Asian Tour cards through qualifying school may play on the tour. Currently, the top ten players on th ...

at the PGM-MIDF KLGCC Classic. Going into the final event of the main tour season, the Thailand Golf Championship, he was 83rd on the Order of Merit, but he finished T6th to climb to 59th and retain his card. It was the first time he had retained his card automatically since 2008.

Professional wins (11)

Asian Development Tour wins (1)

¹Co-sanctioned by the Professional Golf of Malaysia Tour

Philippine Golf Tour wins (8)

Other wins (2)

*2004 ABN Amro, Dutch PGA Championship

Playoff record

Asian Tour playoff record (0–1)

Team appearances

Amateur *

European Amateur Team Championship The European Amateur Team Championship is a European amateur team golf championship for men organised by the European Golf Association which was introduced in 1959. The championship was played in odd-numbered years from 1959 to 2007 and has been ...

(representing the Netherlands):

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

(representing the Netherlands):

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valk, Guido Van Der Dutch male golfers European Tour golfers Asian Tour golfers Sportspeople from Lelystad Sportspeople from Manila 1980 births Living people 21st-century Dutch sportsmen