Field in Focus: at The Gujarat Kensville Challenge
europeantour.com takes a closer look at the field taking to Kensville G&CC for The Gujarat Kensville Challenge from January 26-29.
In the field are:
32 Challenge Tour victories by 19 different players
| Player | Wins | Tournaments | ||||||||
| Phillipp Archer | 3 | 2011 ALLIANZ Open Cotes d'Armor - Bretagne, 2004 Rolex Trophy, Volvo Finnish Open | ||||||||
| Robert Dinwiddie | 3 | 2010 Kenya Open, 2007 Rolex Trophy, Scottish Challenge presented by Bank Scotland Corporate | ||||||||
| Daniel Vancsik | 3 | 2005 Tusker Kenya Open, 2004 Abierto Telefonica, Telefonica Centro America Abierto de Guatemala | ||||||||
| Benn Barham | 2 | 2005 Open Mahou de Madrid, 2001 NCC Open | ||||||||
| Seve Benson | 2 | 2008 Ypsilon Golf Challenge by Alex Cejka, Piemonte Open | ||||||||
| Klas Eriksson | 2 | 2008 Trophee du Golf Club de Geneve, 2001 Talma Finnish Challenge | ||||||||
| Andreas Harto | 2 | 2010 Roma Golf Open 2010 presented by REZZA, ECCO Tour Championship | ||||||||
| Jose-Felipe Lima | 2 | 2009 ECCO Tour Championship, 2004 Segura Viudas Challenge de Espana | ||||||||
| Anthony Snobeck | 2 | 2011 Mugello Tuscany Open, 2006 Tessali Metaponto Open di Puglia e Basilicata | ||||||||
| Magnus A Carlsson | 1 | 2007 Challenge of Ireland presented by Glasson | ||||||||
| Joaquin Estevez | 1 | 2011 Abierto Internacional Copa Antioqua | ||||||||
| Charlie Ford | 1 | 2010 Turkish Airlines Challenge hosted Carya Golf Club | ||||||||
| Daniel Gaunt | 1 | 2010 English Challenge | ||||||||
| Matt Haines | 1 | 2010 Apulia San Domenico Grand Final | ||||||||
| James Heath | 1 | 2006 ECCO Tour Championship | ||||||||
| Gary Lockerbie | 1 | 2008 Kazakhstan Open | ||||||||
| Michael Lorenzo-Vera | 1 | 2007 Apulia San Domenico Grand Final | ||||||||
| Andrew McArthur | 1 | 2008 Reale Challenge de Espana | ||||||||
| Cesar Monasterio | 1 | 2006 Abierto Telefonica Moviles de Guatemala 2005 | ||||||||
| John Parry | 1 | ALLIANZ Golf Open Grand Toulouse | ||||||||
| Raymond Russell | 1 | 1994 Interlaken Open |
7 European Tour victories by six different players
| Player | Wins | Tournaments | ||||||||||
| Daniel Vancsik | 2 | 2009 BMW Italian Open, 2007 Madeira Islands Open BPI | ||||||||||
| Oscar Hanningsson | 1 | 2009 Moravia Silesia Open presented by ALO Diamonds | ||||||||||
| Jose-Felipe Lima | 1 | 2004 Aa Saint Omer Open | ||||||||||
| Cesar Monasterio | 1 | 2006 Aa Saint Omer Open | ||||||||||
| John Parry | 1 | Vivendi Cup 2010 | ||||||||||
| Raymond Russell | 1 | 1996 Air France Cannes Open |
22 different nationalities represented
 | Australia | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Austria | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Argentina | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Belgium | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Canada | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Denmark | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
 | England | 21 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Spain | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
 | France | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Germany | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
 | India | 48 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Italy | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Kenya | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Norway | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Portugal | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Scotland | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
 | | South Africa | 3 | |||||||||||||||
 | South Korea | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Sri Lanka | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Sweden | 6 | ||||||||||||||||
 | United States | 3 | ||||||||||||||||
 | Thailand | 1 |
4 players who finished in the top ten at the Gujarat Kensville Challenge in 2011
Home hero Gaganjeet Bhullar returns to Kensville Golf and Country Club to defend his title 12 months after becoming the first Indian to win on the Challenge Tour, taking first place by one stroke from Englishman Matt Ford who is also back hoping to go one better this year. Also returning this year after placing in the top ten at 2011’s inaugural staging is Sweden’s Klas Eriksson and Austria’s Florian Praegant, who finished seventh and eighth last season.
8 players who finished 21-45 on the 2011 Challenge Tour Rankings
| 2011 Ranking | Player | ||||
| 22 | Florian Praegant | ||||
| 23 | Jose-Felipe Lima | ||||
| 28 | Chris Lloyd | ||||
| 32 | Steven Tiley | ||||
| 35 | Espen Kofstad | ||||
| 36 | Chris Doak | ||||
| 42 | Tyrone Ferreira | ||||
| 43 | Lasse Jensen |
2 Satellite Tour Order of Merits winners from 2011
Chris Hanson secured his rookie place on the 2011 Challenge Tour after topping the 2011 PGA EuroPro Order of Merit with £37,929.50 courtesy of three victories on the satellite tour last year, a margin of over £8,000 from second-placed James Busby, while Sweden’s Jens Dantorp strolled to the Nordic League title in 2011 after winning four times in an excellent season.
3 players with European Tour cards for 2012
After finishing 34th in the 2011 Challenge Tour rankings, Germany’s Berndt Ritthammer secured his European Tour card for the 2012 season after finishing 15th at the 2011 Qualifying School Final Stage at PGA Catalunya in December – despite carding a five over par 77 in the sixth and final round.
Meanwhile, American Scott Pinkney claimed his place in The 2012 Race to Dubai in dramatic fashion after a stunning performance on the final day of Qualifying School. Having started the day in a tie for 66th place on one under par, Pinkney fired a joint best-of-the-day round of 65 to climb inside the qualifying mark on eight under par and take the 24th card.
That completed a remarkable rise, the 22 year old having successfully negotiated all three stages of the Qualifying School after turning professional in July 2011.
Austria’s HP Bacher turned professional in 2009 and played on the Challenge Tour for the following two years, finishing 142nd in the Rankings in 2010 and 119th in 2011 but took the 31st card at Qualifying School, having birdied two of the final three holes of his fourth round to just make the cut.
