Lauri Ruuska will be aiming to reclaim the Vierumäki Finnish Challenge, supported by the Finnish Golf Union, when he tees off at Vierumäki Resort this week.
The 31-year-old made history in 2023 as the second Finnish player to win on home soil, capturing his maiden HotelPlanner Tour title with a commanding seven-shot victory. That week also saw him etch his name in the record books as just the fourth player in Tour history to post a sub-60 round, firing an incredible 59 in the opening round.
Despite an inconsistent 2025 campaign on the Road to Mallorca, Ruuska is hoping a return to familiar surroundings can spark a turnaround.
“It was very cool to win here two years ago,” he reflected. “It was a relief because I had been on the Tour for a long time without a win, and to do it in my home country with friends and family watching was special. Good memories bring confidence, and hopefully I can lean on them to find my form again.”
Joining Ruuska in a strong field are Road to Mallorca Number One Josh Berry, three-time PGA TOUR winner Jonas Blixt, last week’s Irish Challenge champion Oihan Guillamoundeguy, and South Africa’s Daniel van Tonder, who is chasing automatic DP World Tour promotion with a third win of the season.
The action begins tomorrow at 7:30am local time. Ruuska will play alongside Berry and Blixt, with their group set to start at 1:20pm.
About the HotelPlanner Tour
The HotelPlanner Tour, formerly the Challenge Tour, had its first official season in 1989, and has developed into a proven training ground, where the champions-in-waiting compete across the globe for a place on the DP World Tour.
Many players who have progressed from the HotelPlanner Tour have gone on to become Major Champions – including Justin Rose, Matt Fitzpatrick and Brooks Koepka – and Ryder Cup stars, such as Tommy Fleetwood, Robert MacIntyre, Nicolai Højgaard and Tyrrell Hatton.
Using its vast international schedule and relationships with golf federations and PGAs, the HotelPlanner Tour is widely accessible to professionals from across the globe, giving players from developing golfing nations the opportunity to test their skill amongst some of the most talented up and coming stars in world golf.
HotelPlanner, a leading travel technology company, has been the title partner of the HotelPlanner Tour since the start of the 2025 season.
About the European Tour group
The European Tour group administers the DP World Tour, the HotelPlanner Tour, the Legends Tour and the G4D Tour and, as the Managing Partner of Ryder Cup Europe LLP, stages golf’s greatest team contest, the Ryder Cup, in partnership with the PGA of America.
The European Tour group has Strategic Partnerships with the PGA TOUR, the Sunshine Tour, the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, the China Golf Association (CGA), the Japan Golf Tour Organization (JGTO), the Korea Professional Golfers’ Association (KPGA), and the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India. These partnerships provide global pathways for players from across the world to compete internationally on the DP World Tour, the main men’s professional golf Tour of the European Tour group which was established in 1972, as well as the HotelPlanner Tour.
