- Challenge Tour
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This article is about the golf event series. For the former second tier snooker series, see Challenge Tour (snooker).
Contents
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
Main article: 2011 Challenge TourThe 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
- List of golfers with most Challenge Tour wins
- Nationwide Tour – the analogous tour operated in North America by the PGA Tour
- Alps Tour – a third-level tour played in France, Italy and several nearby countries
- EPD Tour – a third-level tour based in Germany
- Nordic League – a third-level tour based in Scandinavia
- PGA EuroPro Tour – a third-level tour based in the United Kingdom
- Professional golf tours
Notes and references
- ^ European Tour - Exemption Categories
- ^ "Tournament Schedule". PGA European Tour. http://www.europeantour.com/challengetour/tournament/Season=2011/index_full.html.
- ^ "The Challenge Tour in numbers". PGA European Tour. 28 January 2011. http://www.europeantour.com/challengetour/news/newsid=133444.html. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ 2002 statistics include one abandoned tournament with a planned purse of €130,000.
External links
- PGA European Tour's official site - there is a Challenge Tour subsection in most of the main sections
Challenge Tour seasons Challenge Tour events Tournaments in playing order
Gujarat Kensville Challenge · Abierto Internacional Copa Antioquia · Barclays Kenya Open · Allianz Challenge de France · Mugello Tuscany Open · Madeira Islands Open · Telenet Trophy · Kärnten Golf Open · Allianz Open Côtes d'Armor Bretagne · Saint-Omer Open · Scottish Hydro Challenge · The Princess · Acaya Open · Credit Suisse Challenge · English Challenge · Norwegian Challenge · ECCO Tour Championship · Rolex Trophy · Kazakhstan Open · M2M Russian Challenge Cup · Allianz Golf Open Grand Toulouse · Fred Olsen Challenge de España · Allianz Golf Open de Lyon · Roma Golf Open · Apulia San Domenico Grand Final
Men's Professional Golf Tours Principal tours Other tours carrying ranking points Canadian Tour · Challenge Tour · Korean Tour · Nationwide Tour · OneAsia Tour · Tour de las Américas3rd Tier Tours Alps Tour · eGolf Professional Tour · EPD Tour · Gateway Tour · NGA Pro Golf Tour · Nordic League · PGA EuroPro TourOther Tours Japan Challenge Tour · Professional Golf Tour of India · Omega China Tour · SAS Masters Tour · TPG TourSenior Tours Categories:- Professional golf tours
- Transnational European sports competitions
- Challenge Tour
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