In one month’s time, players will be teeing off at the Barclays Kenya Open and the European Challenge Tour will have taken its first step on the Road to Oman 2016.
Eight months later, after 28 tournaments in 22 different countries, the Road to Oman Rankings will be decided, and the top 15 will earn European Tour cards for the 2017 season.
Since Ricardo Gouveia’s winning putt dropped at the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final in November, our former Challenge Tour players have been enjoying life on The European Tour.
First, Sebastien Gros – second to Gouveia in the Rankings last year – pushed Charl Schwartzel close in November’s Alfred Dunhill Championship, ultimately finishing fourth.
Highlights of Brandon Stone's victory in the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni
Then, in the new year Brandon Stone – 14thin last season’s Road to Oman Rankings – and Haydn Porteous, the winner of the 2015 Barclays Kenya Open, took their maiden European Tour victories, the South African duo both winning on home soil in the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni and the Joburg Open respectively.
Highlights of Hayn Porteous' victory in the Joburg Open
The class of 2016 will not lack for inspiration, then, as they begin what they hope will be their own breakthrough season on the Challenge Tour.
