Rollentausch bei Tommy Fleetwood. Der Engländer ist der Caddie seines Stiefsohns Oskar auf der Challenge Tour. (Quelle: Getty)
Tommy Fleetwood, one of the most famous names in professional golf, is returning to his roots on the Challenge Tour this week – not as a player, however, but as a caddy for his stepson Oscar at the UAE Challenge in Abu Dhabi.
Although it has been over a decade since Fleetwood himself competed in a Challenge Tour event, this tour remains a special place for the current world number 11. In 2011, he secured his first Challenge Tour victory at the Kazakhstan Open and finished the year in first place on the money list, which enabled him to move up to the DP World Tour. The decision to caddy for Oscar shows not only the bond within the Fleetwood family, but also an appreciation for the foundations on which Fleetwood’s own career was built. The family moved to Dubai two years ago and live at Jumeirah Golf Estates, the venue for the DP World Tour, where Oscar is a member and trains as part of the Tommy Fleetwood Academy under the watchful eye of his coach Jackson Bell.
ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – APRIL 25: Tommy Fleetwood caddying for his stepson Oscar Craig (not pictured) during day one of the UAE Challenge at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club on April 25, 2024 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Octavio Passos/Getty Images)
Oscar, just 17 years old, has already won a number of amateur events in the UAE and after his victory at the Ras Al Khaimah Men’s Open has rightly secured a place at this year’s UAE Challenge event at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club. As one of 30 invitations awarded by the Emirates Golf Federation, he will have the chance to compete against rising stars from the DP World Tour and put his skills to the test.
Challenge Tour Kolkata Challenge live (Photo: Getty)
NMB Championship 2024 Live Scores
The NMB Championship in the season 2024 is being played in Port Elizabeth, South Africa at the Humewood GC. The tournament starts at the Thursday, 22nd of February and ends at the Sunday, 25th of February 2024.
The NMB Championship is part of the Challenge Tour in the season 2024. In 2024 all players competing for a total prize money of $350,000.
The course for the tournament at Humewood GC plays at Par 72.
The Challenge Tour ends its four-part start to the year in South Africa with the NMB Championship in Port Elizabeth. Two tournaments in India will follow in March before the tour moves on to the UAE in April.
Challenge Tour live
The Challenge Tour is a professional golf tournament series that acts as the second tier below the DP World Tour. It serves as a development league and offers aspiring golfers the opportunity to develop their skills at a higher level, gain experience and qualify for the European Tour.
The Challenge Tour is internationally orientated, with tournaments held in various European countries and outside Europe. This offers players a varied experience on different golf courses and in different competitive conditions. The tour attracts golfers from all over the world who are interested in furthering their careers in professional golf.
As with the Korn Ferry Tour, the top players on the Challenge Tour qualify for the higher tour, in this case the European Tour, at the end of each season. This is usually based on the Tour ranking, with the best players receiving a Tour card. This promotion is a key goal for many players on the Challenge Tour, as it allows access to more prestigious tournaments, higher prize money and greater visibility in the world of golf.
Overall, the Challenge Tour is a crucial step for many golfers who want to make the leap to the highest level of European golf, the European Tour. It offers a mix of challenge and opportunity that is crucial for the career development of golfers.
The Dimension Data Pro-Am in the season 2024 is being played in George, South Africa at the Fancourt Golf Estate. The tournament starts at the Thursday, 15th of February and ends at the Sunday, 18th of February 2024.
The Dimension Data Pro-Am is part of the Challenge Tour in the season 2024. In 2024 all players competing for a total prize money of $370,000.
The course for the tournament at Fancourt Golf Estate plays at Par 72.
The Challenge Tour is playing its third of four tournaments in South Africa to kick off the year. In addition to last week’s winner Mikael Lindberg and defending champion Oliver Bekker, the field also includes five German golfers.
Challenge Tour live
The Challenge Tour is a professional golf tournament series that acts as the second tier below the DP World Tour. It serves as a development league and offers aspiring golfers the opportunity to develop their skills at a higher level, gain experience and qualify for the European Tour.
The Challenge Tour is internationally orientated, with tournaments held in various European countries and outside Europe. This offers players a varied experience on different golf courses and in different competitive conditions. The tour attracts golfers from all over the world who are interested in furthering their careers in professional golf.
As with the Korn Ferry Tour, the top players on the Challenge Tour qualify for the higher tour, in this case the European Tour, at the end of each season. This is usually based on the Challenge Tour ranking, with the best players receiving a Tour card. This promotion is a key goal for many players on the Challenge Tour, as it allows access to more prestigious tournaments, higher prize money and greater visibility in the world of golf.
Overall, the Challenge Tour is a crucial step for many golfers who want to make the leap to the highest level of European golf, the European Tour. It offers a mix of challenge and opportunity that is crucial for the career development of golfers.
The Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open in the season 2024 is being played in Cape Town, South Africa at the Royal Cape Golf Club. The tournament starts at the Thursday, 8th of February and ends at the Sunday, 11th of February 2024.
The Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open is part of the Challenge Tour in the season 2024. In 2024 all players competing for a total prize money of $350,000.
The course for the tournament at Royal Cape Golf Club plays at Par 72.
The Challenge Tour plays its second of four tournaments in South Africa in Cape Town to kick off the new year. After the four events in southern Africa, the tour travels on to India in March.
Challenge Tour live
The Challenge Tour is a professional golf tournament series that acts as the second tier below the DP World Tour. It serves as a development league and offers aspiring golfers the opportunity to develop their skills at a higher level, gain experience and qualify for the European Tour.
The Challenge Tour is internationally orientated, with tournaments held in various European countries and outside Europe. This offers players a varied experience on different golf courses and in different competitive conditions. The tour attracts golfers from all over the world who are interested in furthering their careers in professional golf.
As with the Korn Ferry Tour, the top players on the Challenge Tour qualify for the higher tour, in this case the European Tour, at the end of each season. This is usually based on the Challenge Tour ranking, with the best players receiving a Tour card. This promotion is a key goal for many players on the Challenge Tour, as it allows access to more prestigious tournaments, higher prize money and greater visibility in the world of golf.
Overall, the Challenge Tour is a crucial step for many golfers who want to make the leap to the highest level of European golf, the European Tour. It offers a mix of challenge and opportunity that is crucial for the career development of golfers.
The new TaylorMade Golf Team-Members. (Photo: TaylorMade)
TaylorMade Golf Company, an industry leader in product innovation and technology, announced today the signings of some of the youngest and hottest prospects on the Challenge Tour to play TaylorMade equipment from 2024. With an average age of 22 they join an already incredibly talented stable of athletes plying their trade on both the DP World Tour and Challenge Tour as part of Team TaylorMade.
Four new players for Team TaylorMade Golf in the 2024 season
Angel Ayora
Angel, who won the first stage of Qualifying School at Donnington Grove Golf Club at the end of September, 2023, joins Team TaylorMade after he secured his Challenge Tour card for 2024. At just 19-years-old from Spain, Angel played both the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open and ISPS Handa Australian Open at the beginning of the 2023/2024 DP World Tour season, making the cut on both occasions, finishing 33rd and tied-21st, respectively.
Angel Ayora sings with TaylorMade. (Photo: TaylorMade Golf)
Angel is one the quicker players so getting him dialled in was very important. Tour Representative Sam Day started with a heavier driver shaft which offered him more control with little to no trade-off in club speed. Because of the better strikes and more connected feel with the driver, he was able to gain ball speed and play something that is designed to be more stable. His miss is to the right, so going down in head loft and using the FCT sleeve to change loft and face angle helped fix this problem (9.0 head set two clicks higher playing at 10.5 – the more loft added to a driver will close the face angle and therefore less likely to miss right). During golf ball testing, the soon-to-be-released 2024 TP5x was testing 3mph quicker with the driver, and when it came to irons, Sam actually moved his iron lofts a full 1 degree weaker to help him get better spin rates and land angles into the greens. Angel constantly works with his coach to increase his peak height, and with the new ball and iron lofts he gained 20 feet with his longer irons helping that stopping distance coming into greens.
Former French Number One Amateur, Martin Couvra, joins Team TaylorMade after becoming only the seventh player in history to win on the Challenge Tour as an amateur. Following his victory at the Challenge de España in September, 2023, Martin made the decision to turn professional. Martin finished the 2023 season ranked 46th on the Road to Mallorca rankings, solidifying a full Challenge Tour card for 2024 for the 21-year-old.
Martin Couvra sings with TaylorMade. (Photo: TaylorMade Golf)
Martin likes to see a fade with the driver so he likes to see the ball starting left and falling to the right. Tour Representative Mark Thistleton worked with Martin a lot around face angle, and they found that the more Mark opened the face, the more fade Martin produced, reacting to what he saw at address. Couvra settled on a 10.5 head set a little lower playing at 10 degrees with a little open face angle that gives him the look of a fade club at address. Mark then worked on wedge options to better fill his distances after spotting that Martin previously carried a 52 & 58 degree Hi Toe wedge and left himself a 20-metre gap between PW & 52. Martin ended up in the new MG4 50 & 54 wedges to have his approach play dialled in ahead of the season. They both spent a lot of the session working with the new TP5 ball, which Martin loved right away. Martin is not one of the longer hitters out there and found speed especially in the top end of the bag with the new ball which he was sold on right away.
Two-time Walker Cup star and Wake Forest University graduate, Mark Power (23), has put his trust in TaylorMade equipment as he starts the next phase of his career. Prior to heading to the US College system in 2019, Mark was a three-time winner of the Irish Boys Order of Merit (2016, 2017,2018) and two-time winner of the Irish Open Boys Championship (2016, 2017). Mark graduated in 2023 before making his professional debut on the DP World Tour at the Horizon Irish Open last year, finishing tied-33rd. He also made the cut at the ISPS Handa Australian Open this season on the DP World Tour and will ply his main trade on the Challenge Tour this year.
Mark Power sings with TaylorMade. (Photo: TaylorMade Golf)
Mark likes to play with a draw, and with the new Qi10 LS driver he was able to match the correct amount of launch and spin to make his go-to shot a lot easier and perform better. His drop-off in spin with his previous gamer was penalising his miss shot and therefore performance off the tee. Again, during ball testing, Mark gained 2mph ball speed switching into the 2024 TP5x golf ball from the 2021 TP5, and this was a massive step forward for him. Tour Representative Sam Day looked at the wedge and putter performance with the new ball to make sure the feel and sound married up with performance, which it did. The soft feel and low spin numbers he gained at the top end of the bag made this a clear winner.
North Carolina State University scholar, Max Steinlechner (24), from Austria, completes the roster for 2024. Max, a former Austrian Number One Amateur, had a stellar amateur career before heading off to play for the Wolfpack. He won the Austrian International Amateur Championship as a 17-year-old with a score of 11-under par, and won the Austrian Boys Strokeplay Championship for three consecutive years between 2015-2017. Max played the majority of his golf on the Challenge Tour in 2023, where he will look to build on a strong foundation moving into 2024.
Max Steinlechner sings with TaylorMade. (Photo: TaylorMade Golf)
Max is very much a feel player and likes to focus on feel when testing clubs almost as much as performance. He does not change equipment easily or without validation, but he very quickly fell in love with the Qi10 driver. Tour Representative Mark Thistleton tested a couple of new shaft options, settling on the new Graphite Design VF in a 60 TX, tipped 1.25”, which is a little more than standard. Max has lots of speed and an extremely good ball striker, he offers precise feedback and any small changes Mark made to his equipment were seen instantly in the resulting ball flight. During pre-season was Max’s first testing session with a TaylorMade Golf Ball. This made up a huge part of the testing procedure, testing the range of TaylorMade golf balls, diligently looking at the numbers and giving his precise feedback on sound and feel. Mark and Max soon concluded that the soon-to-be-released 2024 TP5x ball was the perfect fit for his game. It controlled his spin in the long game and offered great feedback and feel through the rest of the bag.
“The golfing world all sees the success stories at the top with the likes of Rory, Tommy and Nelly when they win golf tournaments. But what they don’t see is how much work goes on behind the scenes in Team TaylorMade to find and develop the next generation of top class players. We believe this crop of talented young players from across Europe all have what it takes to compete and succeed on a world stage in the very near future. Each has their own successes as an amateur to be proud of, but more than that, we see a maturity and an attitude in these guys that stands them apart from their peers and because of this they are a great fit for the TaylorMade family. We are excited to continue this journey with them and look forward to seeing the individual success stories from each of them over the coming months and years.”
-Mark Thistleton, Tour Representative, TaylorMade Golf
The European Challenge Tour today announced its global 2023 Road to Mallorca schedule, featuring a record overall prize fund and a minimum of 29 tournaments, staged across three continents in 18 different countries.
Players will compete for total prize money of €8,200,000 on the 2023 Road to Mallorca, which will begin with the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open in February, the first of four co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Tour in South Africa.
India returns as a host country for the first time since 2013 with two events in March, the Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge followed by The Challenge presented by KGA.
The Challenge Tour also returns to the United Arab Emirates in April for the first time since 2018 with back-to-back events, including the Abu Dhabi Challenge, as part of the European Tour group’s long-term partnership with the Emirates Golf Federation.
The Challenge Tour will head to Spain in May for the Challenge de España, which will kick-start a run of 20 tournaments in 22 weeks and see the Road to Mallorca travel through 15 countries in Europe, including Italy for the Italian Challenge at Golf Nazionale, the venue which will then host the first two days of the 2023 Junior Ryder Cup in September.
The 2023 season will conclude with the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A, at Club de Golf Alcanada from November 2-5, as the top 45 players on the Rankings battle it out for one of the life changing 20 DP World Tour cards.
Those 20 players who benefit from this formal pathway to the DP World Tour will then be eligible for the DP World Tour’s Earnings Assurance Programme, guaranteeing them minimum earnings of $150,000 for the 2024 season if they play in 15 or more events.
The top five graduates will also benefit from the John Jacobs Bursary, similarly designed to provide security and a strong platform for their first season on the European Tour group’s top tier.
Jamie Hodges, Head of Challenge Tour, said: “Our expansive global schedule gives our members the opportunity to play for a record total prize fund and benefit from our formal pathway to the DP World Tour, as we continue to provide an incredible platform for the next generation of golf’s superstars.
“I would like to thank the integral support of our promoters, national federations, and tournament sponsors, who have helped make this possible. The fact that 20 of our current national federations and promoters have extended their support through to next year is testament to their commitment and the strength of our Tour heading into 2023.
“We are also very grateful for the commitment of Rolex, The R&A, and DP World through their title partnership of the DP World Tour, all of whom have helped us to provide this comprehensive global schedule for some of the brightest talents in world golf.”
In 2022, 25 former Challenge Tour players won on the DP World Tour – including 2021 graduates Ewen Ferguson and Yannik Paul, while five finished inside the top ten on the DP World Tour Rankings in Partnership with Rolex. Sean Crocker became the 200th former Challenge Tour player to win on the DP World Tour when he secured a wire-to-wire victory at the Hero Open, while the total number of wins by Challenge Tour alumni is now 544.
The full 2023 Road to Mallorca International Schedule can be viewed below or by clicking here.
Clément Sordet wins his fifth title on Challenge Tour. (Photo: Sunshine Tour)
The Frenchman bounced back brilliantly from two bogeys in his opening four holes to card a five under par round of 67, setting the clubhouse target at 21 under par, before Conradie joined him at the top of the leaderboard to force a play-off at Zebula Golf Estate & Spa.
Sordet birdied the first extra hole to defeat home favourite Conradie, who could only make par, and his victory in victory in South Africa sees the 29-year-old climb 19 places to fourth position on the Road to Mallorca Rankings, while Conradie catapults to eighth.
Overnight leader Deon Germishuys finished one shot off the pace, while Englishman Marco Penge was fourth on 19 under par.
Challenge Tour: First win since 2017
Sordet was delighted to secure his first victory since the 2017 NBO Golf Classic Grand Final, a year in which he finished second on the Challenge Tour Rankings behind Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen, admitting he has struggled with his game over the last few years.
“It feels surreal right now to get the win and it will take time to sink in,” he said. “The last few years have been tough on the DP World Tour and it is nice to return to the Challenge Tour and pick up a victory so early on in the season.
“I’ve played amazing all week and it is nice to finish with a birdie in the play-off to get that fifth win on the Challenge Tour.
“The only thing I could control out there was my game. The leaderboard was packed up the top, but I just had to focus on my score because I knew I was playing well. I was focused on creating birdie chances and I managed to do that pretty well today, so I am very happy.”
The Frenchman used his power to his advantage on the first play-off hole and it paid off after hitting the green in two to set up an eagle opportunity.
“In the play-off I knew I could hit it further than the other guy so I believed my strength was going for the green in two. I hit a nice three-iron on the green and managed to two-putt for birdie.”
JC Ritchie leads the Road to Mallorca Rankings
German Freddy Schott and South African CJ du Plessis shared fifth place on 17 under par, while Road to Mallorca Number One JC Ritchie, four-time DP World Tour winner Matteo Manassero, Englishman Todd Clements, Italian Jacopo Vecchi Fossa and South African JJ Senekal share seventh place on 16 under.
Ritchie still leads the Road to Mallorca Rankings following back-to-back victories at the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open and Jonsson Workwear Open, while Germany’s Alexander Knappe occupies second place following his victory at the season-opening Dimension Data Pro-Am. Belgium’s Christopher Mivis sits in third place, while Sordet and Oliver Hundebøll complete the top five.
The Road to Mallorca remains in Limpopo for the Limpopo Championship taking place at Euphoria Golf Club and Koro Creek Golf Club from March 31- April 3.
JC Ritchie wins back-to-back on Challenge Tour. (Photo: Sunhine Tour)
The ten-time Sunshine Tour winner posted a one under par final round of 71 at Durban Country Club to reach 26 under par and claim his second victory in as many weeks after successfully defending his Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open title last week.
Ritchie admitted he found it much tougher today but remained resilient to record two closing birdies and finish six shots clear of Belgium’s Christopher Mivis, who at one stage came within touching distance of the lead, reducing Ritchie’s advantage to two after an eagle at the 14th hole.
“It was tough out there today,” he said. “I’ve never played this golf course with this much wind before so I knew it was going to be different and the golf course showed its teeth today. I found it tough early on but luckily towards the end of the round I was able to figure it out and get the job done.
Challenge Tour: Birdie-birdie-finish for the win
“My girlfriend came up to me after the 14th hole and asked me if I wanted to know the scores,” he added. “She told me Mivis was 22 under and that surprised me. I had a game plan for the last three holes for the week and that was to make par at 16 and run, I felt like I could create a birdie opportunity at 17 and then 18 owed me one. I wanted to birdie it yesterday but found a bad lie in the bunker. Getting two birdies on the way home made it extra special.”
The 28-year-old was delighted to record back-to-back Challenge Tour victories and after finishing 24th on the 2021 Road to Mallorca Rankings, he understands the importance of getting an early advantage over his competitors.
“It feels special to win back-to-back on the Challenge Tour,” he said. “Playing the whole of last year on the Challenge Tour, I know how tough it is and you could rock up thinking that five under par will be enough to win and someone will shoot 20 under par. To beat these guys means everything to me and shows how far I’ve come.
“This gives me a lot of confidence for the season. I have always felt my game was good enough to win in Europe and take the next step.”
Mivis back-to-back runner-up
Mivis posted a six under par round of 66 to claim second place for the second consecutive week, one shot ahead of Iceland’s Haraldur Magnus who claimed third place on 19 under par. Englishman Ross McGowan and South African duo Jaco Prinsloo and Keenan Davidse shared fourth place on 16 under par.
Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin shared seventh place with Frenchman David Ravetto on 15 under, while England’s Steven Tiley, Swede Mikael Lindberg and South African Hennie Otto finished in a tie for ninth place on 14 under par.
Ritchie on top of the Road to Mallorca
Ritchie moves to the top of the Road to Mallorca Rankings following back-to-back victories, while Alexander Knappe occupies second position following his victory at the season-opening Dimension Data Pro-Am. Mivis moves into third on the Rankings, while Daniel Hillier and McKibbin complete the top five.
The Road to Mallorca now heads to Bloemfontein for the Mangaung Open, taking place at Bloemfontein Golf Club and Schoeman Park Golf Club from March 3-6, 2022.
The European Challenge Tour has today announced a record-breaking global schedule for the 2022 season which will see the Road to Mallorca’s total prize fund surpass the €8,000,000 mark for the first time. The first 20 players will earn DP World Tour cards for the 2023 season.
The 2022 Road to Mallorca will consist of 31 tournaments staged across three continents in 18 different countries.
It includes a return to Scotland for the first time in four years when the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A takes place in the final week of May. The event, which will be held in association with 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie, will be the first of 19 tournaments in consecutive weeks where the Road to Mallorca will weave through 15 countries and end in France, from September 29 – October 2.
The comeback of the Road to Mallorca to China in the Challenge Tour Schedule 2022.
The Challenge Tour also returns to China for the first time since 2019 with back-to-back events, including the Foshan Open, where players will be given a final chance to earn their spot in the season-ending Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A.
The Grand Finale of the Challenge Tour 2022 takes another bite from the venue of 2021.
The finale of the 2022 Road to Mallorca will return to Club de Golf Alcanada, the setting for the 2019 Grand Final, where the top 45 players on the Road to Mallorca Rankings will compete for one of 20 life changing DP World Tour cards for the 2023 season. The top five graduates will also receive the John Jacobs Bursary, announced last month as part of DP World’s title partnership of the European Tour group’s main Tour.
The 2022 schedule includes seven co-sanctioned events with the Sunshine Tour, including a maiden visit to Tanzania for the Mount Kilimanjaro Klassic at Kilimanjaro Golf & Wildlife Estate with Tanzania set to become the 52nd country to stage a Challenge Tour event.
Jamie Hodges, Head of Challenge Tour about the 2022 schedule:
“I am incredibly proud to unveil our schedule for the 2022 Road to Mallorca season, which boasts the biggest total prize fund since the Challenge Tour’s inception in 1989.”
“This expansive global schedule would not be possible without the incredible support of our promoters, national federations and tournament sponsors, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank them.
“We are also very grateful for the commitment of Rolex and The R&A, as well as DP World through their title partnership of the DP World Tour, all of which has helped us raise prize funds and increase playing opportunities for our members, further strengthening the Challenge Tour’s reputation as the perfect platform for players to achieve global success.”
The full 2022 Road to Mallorca International Schedule:
Date
Tournament
Venue
February 10-13
Dimension Data Pro-Am
Fancourt Golf Estate, George, South Africa
February 17-20
Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open
Royal Cape GC & Rondebosch GC, Cape Town, South Africa
February 24-27
Jonsson Workwear Open
Durban CC & Mount Edgecombe CC, Durban, South Africa
March 3-6
Manguang Open
Bloemfontein Golf Club and Schoeman Park Golf Club, Bloemfontein, South Africa
March 24-27
SDC Open
Zebula Golf Estate & Spa and Elements Private Golf Reserve, Limpopo, South Africa
March 31 – April 3
Limpopo Championship
Euphoria Golf & Lifestyle Estate and Koro Creek Bushveld Estate, Limpopo, South Africa
April 7-10
Mount Kilimanjaro Klassic
Kilimanjaro Golf & Wildlife Estate, Arusha, Tanzania
May 5-8
Challenge de España
TBC
May 12-15
Czech Republic Event Confirmed
TBC
May 26-29
Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A
Newmachar GC, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
June 2-5
Czech Republic Event Confirmed
TBC
June 9- 12
Spain Event Confirmed
TBC
June 16-19
Czech Republic Event Confirmed
TBC
June 23-26
Open de Bretagne
Golf Bluegreen de Pléneuf Val André, Pléneuf, France
June 30-July 3
Italian Challenge
TBC
July 7-10
Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge
Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil, Le Vaudreuil, France
July 14-17
Euram Bank Open
GC Adamstal, Ramsau, Austria
July 21-24
Big Green Egg German Challenge powered by VcG
Wittelsbacher Golfclub, Neuburg an der Donau, Germany
July 28-31
Irish Challenge
TBC
August 4-7
Vierumäki Finnish Challenge
Vierumäki Resort, Vierumäki, Finland
August 11-14
Made in Frederikshavn Challenge
Frederikshavn Golfklub, Denmark
August 18-21
Dormy Open
Österåkers Golfklubb, Stockholm, Sweden
August 25-28
Indoor Golf Group Challenge
Allerum Golfklubb, Helsingborg, Sweden
September 1-4
B-NL Challenge Trophy by Hulencourt
Hulencourt, Genappe, Belgium
September 8-11
English Trophy
TBC
September 15-18
Open de Portugal at Royal Óbidos
Royal Óbidos Spa & Golf Resort, Vau Óbidos, Portugal
September 22-25
Swiss Challenge
Golf Saint Apollinaire, Folgensbourg, France
September 29 – October 2
France Event Confirmed
Golf International de Pont Royal, Mallemort, France
October 13-16
China Event Confirmed
TBC
October 20-23
Foshan Open
Foshan GC, Guangdong, China
November 3-6
Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A
Club de Golf Alcanada, Port d’Alcudia, Mallorca, Spain
Lucas Bjerregaard of Denmark tees off on the 13th hole during the final round of the Portugal Masters at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course(Getty Images)
PGA Tour: World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba
Viktor Hovland, from Norway came to defend his title this weekend and succeeded. Hovland signed four rounds of 67-65-62-67 to achieve a new tournament record of 23-under par. The young star wins his third title on the PGA Tour at the age of 24. Fourteen clubs were too many for him. Hovland let Danny Lee use his driver on the range, and he wracked it. The Norwegian played his best golf with a borrowed driver.
The first Scandinavian names on the leaderboard shows at T45. Henrik Norlander and Alex Noren finished with a total of 8-under par.
PGA Tour
World Wide Tech Championship
Course
Riviera Maya, Mexiko at the El Camaleon Golf Club.
Emily Pedersen, from Denmark, tried to defend champion in Saudi Arabia, but after four rounds of (73-71-67-71), the trophy slipped through her hands. Pedersen finished T17 on the leaderboard with a total of 6-under par. The best Scandinavian performance comes from Sanna Nuutinen (FIN). Nuutinen made a T9 with rounds of (71-65-73-69) for a total of 10-under par. This weekend, the Finnish player pocketed the amount of $19,452.11. Linnea Strom (SWE) and her mate Anna Nordqvist (SWE) wrapped up the event with totals of 9-under and 6-under par respectively.
The Swedish made a Top 20. Those 3 strokes difference mean a couple of thousand dolars. Strom collects $16,426.22 for a T13, while Nordqvist will take home the amount of $14,048.75 for a T17. The Aramco Saudi was not the best tournament for the Scandinavian, but that could easily change for the upcoming ones.
Denmark must be proud. Two of their golfers showed on the top of the leaderboard. Both hand by hand, Nicolai Hojgaard and Lucas Bjerregaard shared the silver medals with a total of 17-under par. What a crazy performance these two had this weekend in Portugal. Only Thomas Pieters of Belgium climbed up one more spot to win the European Tour tournament. Pieters finished 2 strokes ahead of the Danish, with a total of 19-under par.
EU Tour
Portugal Masters 2021
Course
Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course – Vilamoura, Portugal
Prize Money
1.5 Million Euro
Champion
Thomas Pieters
Scandinavian players
Nicolai Hojgaard(T2), Lucas Bjerregaard(T2), Kristoffer Broberg(T12)
The Challenge Tour Grand Final was played in Mallorca, Spain at the T-Golf & Country Club. Markus Helligkilde brought all medals home. The Danish player not only won the tournament, but also the Challenge Tour Ranking. Helligkilde added enough points to move up to #1 after the Grand Final. His mate, Niklas Nørgaard MØLLER (DEN), signed excellent rounds of (72-69-69-70) for a total of 4-under par and a T8 position. Also tied for the 8th place, Jesper KENNEGARD (SWE).
The Grand Final tested the steel nerves of most of the players that were competing to earn their pass to the European Tour next season. The environment was great, and the ceremony ended with a group picture of all 20 classified to the Main Tour.
Challenge Tour
Challenge Tour Grand Final
Course
T-Golf & Country Club Poniente – Mallorca, Spain
Prize Money
450,000 Euro
Champion
Markus Helligkilde
Scandinavian players
Markus Helligkilde(1), Niklas Nørgaard MØLLER(T8), Jesper KENNEGARD(T8)
