Challenge Tour

Challenge Tour

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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 Seniors Tour, some of the events are played outside of Europe. World ranking points are awarded for high finishes in Challenge Tour events.

The tour was introduced in 1986 and was initially called the Satellite Tour. The Order of Merit was introduced in 1989, with the top five players on it winning membership of the European Tour for the following season. The following year the tour was renamed the Challenge Tour. Up to 1993 the Challenge Tour Rankings were based on each players' best several results, but since 1994 it has been a straightforward money list, with all results counting. In 2008 the total prize fund was 6,017,393.

Players who are successful on the Challenge Tour qualify for membership of the European Tour the following year. The top-20 players in the rankings are said to have "gained their tour card"; in reality, the top 15 qualify for most tournaments, 16-20 somewhat fewer, although the categories are re-ranked midway through the season. The final 5 places were added for the 2005 season - previously the top-15 only qualified. Players finishing 21-45 may also gain qualification for occasional low-prize money European Tour Events. Players who win three Challenge Tour events in a season are fast-tracked onto the main tour immediately.[1]

One competitive level down from the Challenge Tour are four third-level developmental tours—the Alps Tour, the EPD Tour, the PGA EuroPro Tour and the Nordic League, each of which is based in a different region of Europe. These circuits are now collectively known as the Satellite Tour. Each season the top five players from the Order of Merit of each of these tours wins a place on the Challenge Tour for the following season. The Challenge Tour also has an annual qualifying school.

Schedule

The 2011 season begins in January with a new tournament, the Gujarat Kensville Challenge in India. This is the first Challenge Tour event to be held in India, and the third in Asia after the Kazakhstan Open and the Qingdao Golf Open. The tour then takes in tournaments in Colombia and Kenya, before arriving in Europe at the end of April for the Turkish Challenge. From then on the tour stays mainly in Europe, encompassing one further new tournament, the Acaya Golf Challenge Open in Italy, and two tournaments co-sanctioned with the European Tour, the Madeira Islands Open BPI - Portugal, in Portugal, and the Saint-Omer Open, in France. There are four further French tournaments in the schedule, which all also form part of the Allianz Golf Tour, the official tour organised by the French Golf Federation. The season ends with the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final in October.[2]

Challenge Tour Rankings winners

The Challenge Tour Rankings have been calculated in Euros since 1999. Prior to that they were calculated in British Pounds.

Year Player Country Earnings
2010 Álvaro Velasco  Spain 134,297
2009 Edoardo Molinari  Italy €242,980
2008 David Horsey  England €144,118
2007 Michael Lorenzo-Vera  France €128,927
2006 Mark Pilkington  Wales €119,152
2005 Marc Warren  Scotland €103,577
2004 Lee Slattery  England €95,980
2003 Johan Edfors  Sweden €94,509
2002 Lee S James  England €121,531
2001 Mark Foster  England €97,737
2000 Henrik Stenson  Sweden €108,711
1999 Carl Suneson  Spain €69,642
1998 Warren Bennett  England £81,053
1997 Michele Reale  Italy £51,679
1996 Ian Garbutt  England £37,661
1995 Thomas Bjørn  Denmark £46,471
1994 Raymond Burns  Northern Ireland £43,584
1993 Klas Eriksson  Sweden £48,366
1992 Paul Affleck  Wales £39,769
1991 David R Jones  England £35,533
1990 Giuseppe Calì  Italy £28,383
1989 Neal Briggs  England

The PGA European Tour does track career earnings on the Challenge Tour. A ranking of career earnings would be of little value as a measure of success, since the objective of players on the tour is to leave it as soon as possible by winning promotion to the main tour.

Schedules by year

The table below summarises the development of the tour since 1999, which was the year that the euro became the currency of record for the tour. Individual tournaments have purses fixed in a mixture of British pounds, euro and U.S. dollars, so year on year changes in the total prize fund reflect exchange rate fluctuations as well as prize fund movements in constant currencies.

Year Ranking tournaments Total prize money (€)
2010 25 4,826,454[3]
2009 24 4,693,649
2008 33 6,017,393
2007 32 5,282,301
2006 30 4,799,014
2005 30 5,493,413
2004 29 4,370,149
2003 28 4,676,787
2002 26 3,982,797 [4]
2001 29 3,888,135
2000 23 2,593,986
1999 27 2,196,529

See also

Notes and references

External links


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