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 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 2005 the total prize fund was €5,491,491 (£3,750,557). [1]
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. [2]
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.

Contents
Schedule
Challenge Tour Rankings winners
See also
External link

Schedule


The 2007 schedule is set out below. The first two events were actually played in December 2006. There are many off weeks in the early part of the season, but through the European summer there is an event every week. The numbers in brackets after winners' names show the player's total number of wins on the Challenge Tour including that event. No-one accumulates many wins on the Challenge Tour because success at this level soon leads to promotion to the European Tour.
DatesTournamentHost countryWinnerNotes
20 Nov - 3 Dec101° Campeonato Abierto Visa de la RepublicaArgentina Rafael Echenique (2)Co-sanctioned with the Tour de las Americas
7-10 DecAbierto Mexicano CoronaMexico Fabrizio Zanotti (1)Co-sanctioned with the Tour de las Americas
1-4 FebClub Colombia MastersColombia Edoardo Molinari (1)Co-sanctioned with the Tour de las Americas
8-11 FebCosta Rica OpenCosta Rica
Miguel Rodriguez (1)		Co-sanctioned with the Tour de las Americas
15-18 FebAbierto Telefonica de GuatemalaGuatemala
Jamie Donaldson (3)		Co-sanctioned with the Tour de las Americas
8-11 MarKenya OpenKenya Edoardo Molinari (2)
19-22 AprOpen di Puglia e BasilicataItaly Michael Hoey (2)First event in Europe
10-13 MayOpen International de ToulouseFrance Joost Luiten (1)
17-20 MayTelenet TrophyBelgium Nicolas Vanhootegem (3)
24-27 MayOpen Mahou de MadridSpain Ben Mason (1)
31 May - 3 JunOceânico Developments Pro-Am ChallengeEngland Ross McGowan (1)
7-10 JunVodafone ChallengeGermany Joost Luiten (2)
14-17 JunOpen de Saint-OmerFrance Carl Suneson (6)Also an official money event on the European Tour.
21-24 JunCredit Suisse ChallengeSwitzerland Peter Baker (1)
28 Jun - 1 JulEstoril Challenge de PortugalPortugal Ross McGowan (2)
5-8 JulOpen des VolcansFrance Gareth Paddison (1)
19-22 JulMAN NO OpenAustria Anders Schmidt Hansen (1)
26-29 JulFirstplus Wales ChallengeWales Colm Moriarty (1)
2-5 AugChallenge of IrelandIreland Magnus A. Carlsson (1)
9-12 AugScottish ChallengeScotland Robert Dinwiddie (1)
16-19 AugRolex TrophySwitzerland Robert Dinwiddie (2)Limited field played in pro-am format.
16-19 AugLexus OpenNorway Martin Wiegele (1)Alternate to the Rolex Trophy.
23-26 AugPostbank Challenge presented by Marcel SiemGermany Felipe Aguilar (1)
30 Aug - 2 SepECCO Tour ChampionshipDenmark Iain Pyman (6)
6-9 SepTelia Challenge WaxholmSweden Iain Pyman (7)
13-16 SepOKI Mahou Challenge de EspañaSpain
20-23 SepKazakhstan OpenKazakhstan
27-30 SepThe Dutch FuturesNetherlandsNew tournament
4-7 OctOpen AGF-Allianz Côtes d’Armor BretagneFrance
11-14 Octdoc Salbe PGA European ChallengeGermany
18-21 OctToscana Open Italian Federation CupItalyNew tournament
25-28 OctApulia San Domenico Grand FinalItalyThe tour championship.

The 2006 season can be seen here- 2006 Challenge Tour
For the latest version of the tour schedule on the European Tour's website, including links to full results, click here.

Challenge Tour Rankings winners


:''This list is incomplete''
The Challenge Tour Rankings have been calculated in Euros since 1999. Prior to that they were calculated in British Pounds.
YearOrder of Merit leaderCountryEarnings (€)
2006Mark Pilkington
Wales		119,152
2005Marc Warren
Scotland		103,577
2004Lee Slattery95,980
2003Johan Edfors94,509
2002Lee S James121,531
2001Mark Foster97,737
2000Henrik Stenson108,711
1999Carl Suneson69,642

The PGA European Tour does track career earnings on the Challenge Tour. A ranking of career earnings would be of little use 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.

See also



★ 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

★ Nationwide Tour - the analogous tour operated in North America by the PGA Tour

★ Professional golf tours

External link



★ The PGA European Tour's official website - there is a Challenge Tour subsection in most of the main sections

This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.

psst.. try this: add to faves
©2009 TripAtlas.com