Wil Besseling (born 9 December 1985) is a Dutch professional

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

er. Besseling was born in

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. He won the Dutch Amateur Match Play Championship in 2001, just two years after taking up the sport. The highlight of his amateur career came in 2006, when he won 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, it is named after Dwight D. Eisen ...

in partnership with

Joost Luiten Willibrordus Adrianus Maria "Joost" Luiten (born 7 January 1986) is a Dutch professional golfer who plays on the European Tour. Early life and amateur career Luiten was born in Bleiswijk and started playing golf at 6 years old at Golf Centrum R ...

and Tim Sluiter, and also finished with the lowest individual score. After turning

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

at the end of 2006, Besseling played on the EPD Tour, one of the developmental golf tours based in Europe, during 2007. He finished 5th on the 2007 Order of Merit, having been in the top 20 in all but two events, with seven top tens and one victory. At the end of the year, Besseling attempted to gain his card on the

European Tour The European Tour (currently known as the DP World Tour for sponsorship reasons), legally the PGA European Tour is the leading men's professional golf tour in Europe. The organisation also operates the European Senior Tour (for players aged fift ...

via the

qualifying school In professional golf, the term qualifying school is used for the annual qualifying tournaments for leading golf tours such as the U.S.-based PGA and LPGA Tours and the European Tour. A fixed number of players in the event win membership of the ...

. He was unsuccessful, and had to settle playing on the second tier

Challenge Tour The Challenge Tour is the second-tier men's professional golf tour in Europe. It is operated by the PGA European Tour and, as with on the main European Tour and the European Senior Tour, some of the events are played outside Europe. History The ...

in 2008. He won his first title on that tour at the second tournament of the season, the Club Colombia Masters, when he was a runaway winner, finishing seven strokes clear of the field. He also collected three runners-up prizes during the year, and ended the season in 15th place on the money list to graduate directly to the European Tour for 2009.

Amateur wins

*2001 Dutch Amateur Match Play Championship

Professional wins (4)

Challenge Tour wins (1)

¹Co-sanctioned by the

Tour de las Américas The Tour de las Américas (TLA) was the principal men's professional golf tour throughout Latin America and the Caribbean from 2000 through to 2012 when it was superseded by PGA Tour Latinoamérica. History Top level tournament golf in Latin Ameri ...

Challenge Tour playoff record (0–2)

EPD Tour wins (1)

Hi5 Pro Tour wins (1)

*2008 Hi5 Pro Tour Al Torreal

Other wins (1)

Results in major championships

"T" = tied

Team appearances

Amateur *

European Boys' Team Championship The European Boys' Team Championship (Jean-Louis Dupont Trophy) is a European amateur team golf championship for men up to 18 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1980 and it has been played annually since. S ...

(representing the Netherlands): 2002, 2003 *

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):

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

European Youths' Team Championship The European Youths' Team Championship was a European amateur team golf championship for men under 22 organized by the European Golf Association. The inaugural event was held in 1961. It was played every year until 1982, then every second year. It ...

(representing the Netherlands): 2004, 2006 *

(representing the Netherlands):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

(team winners and individual leader) *

St Andrews Trophy The St Andrews Trophy is a biennial men's team golf tournament contested between teams of amateur golfers representing Great Britain & Ireland and the Continent of Europe. It takes its name from St Andrews in Scotland. It was first played in 1 ...

(representing the Continent of Europe): 2006

References

External links

* *
Wil Besseling
– profile on the Golfteam Holland site (in Dutch) {{DEFAULTSORT:Besseling, Wil Dutch male golfers European Tour golfers Sportspeople from Hoorn 1985 births Living people 21st-century Dutch people