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 2007 the total prize fund was €5,282,301.
Players who are successful on the Challenge Tour qualify for membership of the European Tour the following year. The top 10 Challenge Tour players effectively win full membership of the tour (there are many different exemption categories and it isn't a clear-cut in/out issue), while the next 35 receive more limited privileges. 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 there are three third-level developmental tours, the Alps Tour, the EPD Tour and the PGA EuroPro Tour, each of which is based in a different region of Europe. 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.
[edit] Schedule
The 2009 schedule is set out below.[2] The numbers in brackets after winners' names show the player's total number of wins on the Challenge Tour including that event. It is rare for someone to accumulate many wins on the Challenge Tour because success at this level soon leads to promotion to the European Tour.
[edit] 2009 Money Leaders
| Rank | Player | Country | Events | Prize money (€) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Edoardo Molinari |  Italy |
7 | 60,790 |
| 2 | Robert Coles |  England |
7 | 59,280 |
| 3 | José-Filipe Lima |  Portugal |
3 | 59,120 |
| 4 | Gary Boyd | England |
6 | 47,176 |
| 5 | François Calmels |  France |
9 | 38,647 |
| 6 | Florian Fritsch |  Germany |
4 | 32,700 |
| 7 | Andrew Butterfield | England |
7 | 32,464 |
| 8 | Carlos Rodiles |  Spain |
4 | 31,275 |
| 9 | Richard McEvoy | England |
7 | 30,784 |
| 10 | Lee S. James | England |
8 | 29,294 |
As of 28 June 2009.[3]
[edit] 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Cali | Italy |
£28,383 |
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.
[edit] 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. It should be noted that 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 purse (€) |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
[edit] See also
- 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
- PGA EuroPro Tour - a third-level tour based in the United Kingdom
- Professional golf tours
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ European Tour - Exemption Categories
- ^ "Challenge Tour Schedule 2009". europeantour.com. http://www.europeantour.com/default.sps?pageid=100&pagegid={3FA014AB-B5D6-4C8E-8AD2-CB7CCD59FBAF}&seasonid=84. Retrieved on 2009-03-23.
- ^ "Challenge Tour Rankings". europeantour.com. 28 June 2009. http://www.europeantour.com/default.sps?pagegid={9E8C659F-E8C3-4458-8CC2-CABA46370DCF}. Retrieved on 2009-06-28.
- ^ 2002 statistics include one abandoned tournament with a planned purse of €130,000.
[edit] External links
- PGA European Tour's official site - there is a Challenge Tour subsection in most of the main sections
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