The stunning manner of Kristoffer Broberg’s meteoric rise to The European Tour is clear to see in the Challenge Tour’s 2012 end-of-year statistics.
The Swede played just seven events, making his Challenge Tour debut at the ALLIANZ Open Côtes d’Armor Bretagne in May, where he finished tied ninth, before going on to win four of his next six tournaments in an incredible spell.
His third win, at the Rolex Trophy in August, which sealed an automatic pass to The European Tour, was the performance which etched his name in the 2012 record books.
His combined opening two rounds of 193 (-23) in the prestigious limited-field tournament at Golf Club de Genéve was the best opening two days of any player all year, while his winning score of 261 (-27) was the lowest winning score of the season.
That was just two shots shy of the lowest 72-hole score in Challenge Tour history, recorded by Ivó Giner, who won the Golf Club Padova – Terme Euganee International Open in 2003 with a total of 259 (-29).
Also at this year’s Rolex Trophy, Sihwan Kim of South Korea recorded the lowest final two rounds of the year as his combined weekend score of 167 (-20) earned him a runner-up finish and his best result of the season.
As the stakes got higher towards the end of the season, more records began to drop, and Brooks Koepka recorded a season-best seven under final round 65 to storm to his maiden victory at the Challenge de Catalunya. Andreas Hartø, under severe pressure at the D+D Real Czech Challenge Open, then equalled that final round score to claim his third Challenge Tour title.
Eddie Pepperell, meanwhile, enjoyed the best final-round catch-up to win, coming from from four shots back to tie for the lead in the ALLIANZ Open Cotes d'Armor Bretagne after 72 holes, before beating Denmark’s Jeppe Huldahl in a play-off.
Swede Klas Eriksson still holds the Challenge Tour record for the biggest catch-up, having come from 12 shots back to win the 2008 Trophée du Golf Club de Genève after a play-off.
Once again, the Challenge Tour was a hotbed of young talent and there were 14 new winners on the 2012 schedule, while 16 course records were broken in the course of the season.
There were ten holes-in-one throughout the year and three albatrosses, one of them crucial as Chris Paisley’s two at the par five 16th in the third round of the English Challenge helped him seal a maiden Challenge Tour victory on the way to securing a card for The 2013 Race to Dubai.
For the 2012 Challenge Tour Facts & Figures, clickhere.
