With five of the first six European Tour wins this year coming from former Challenge Tour players, the strength of the development Tour in producing the stars of tomorrow has never been more apparent than right now.
The Challenge Tour has long prided itself on being the breeding ground for The European Tour’s future champions, and since its inception in 1989 – a year in which Costantino Rocca became one of the Tour’s first graduates – the production line of European Tour stars has been a lengthy one.
Thomas Björn, Thomas Levet, Ian Poulter, Louis Oosthuizen, Henrik Stenson, Justin Rose, Edoardo Molinari and Martin Kaymer are just a few of the names that have passed through the Challenge Tour en route to golfing fame and the new generation of graduates are now following hot on their heels.
One of the Challenge Tour’s most famed alumni and a former Open Champion, Louis Oosthuizen, got his season off to the perfect start when he retained his Africa Open title at East London Golf Club, in his native South Africa.
His compatriot Branden Grace, who spent four seasons on the Challenge Tour but never claimed that elusive victory, followed that up in spectacular fashion with back-to-back wins at the Joburg Open and Volvo Golf Champions.
“I wasn’t ready to be on The European Tour the first time (in 2009),” said 23 year old Grace after his win. “I was a good player – just not quite good enough. But taking a step back and gaining more experience on the Challenge Tour was really good for me. I kept believing in myself and kept trying, and now I’ve got my rewards.”
Grace was swiftly followed into the winners’ enclosure by Robert Rock – who has played 18 times on the Challenge Tour in his career – as he claimed a stunning victory at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship.
While Commercialbank Qatar Masters presented by Dolphin Energy winner Paul Lawrie only played one Challenge Tour event, the 2009 Scottish Hydro Challenge, it was a much more seasoned Challenge Tour player who claimed the most recent European Tour win at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
Rafael Cabrera-Bello has twice graduated to The European Tour via the Challenge Tour. In 2006, he claimed his maiden victory at the MAN NÖ Open in Austria, before a seventh place finish at the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final helped him to a 13th place finish in the Rankings.
His second Challenge Tour win came in 2008 at the Credit Suisse Challenge, and another strong finish at the season finale – fourth this time – earned him a European Tour card thanks to a 14th place finish in the Rankings.
The statistics certainly suggest that the Challenge Tour is becoming more and more successful as a conveyor belt of talent for The European Tour. Indeed, 65% of European Tour members in 2012 have played on the Challenge Tour, while 285 European Tour titles have been won by former Challenge Tour members since 1989.
It is a trend which has not gone unnoticed internationally, as a new wave of American and American-based players begin to look to the Challenge Tour as the perfect starting point in their professional careers.
Two former US Amateur Champions, South Korea’s Byeong-hun An and American Peter Uihlein, this year decided to make their professional debuts at the Challenge Tour’s season-opening Gujarat Kensville Challenge.
Uihlein, who has caused a stir of anticipation across the Atlantic after a glittering amateur career, said: “The Challenge Tour is a great breeding ground for The European Tour, so I’m looking forward to testing myself against the guys out here. I’ve got a few more events on the Challenge Tour and The European Tour coming up.
“I’d definitely recommend it, because playing in different conditions and on different courses can only make you a better player. Plus the standard is so high on The European Tour now, and even here on the Challenge Tour. If you don’t play well you don’t get anywhere, so it definitely helps to toughen you up.”
Dodge Kemmer is another American who has decided to plot a Challenge Tour path to the big time, saying: “It’s really good, a good field and a lot of really nice people, so I’m really happy to be here.
“It’s one of the things I was looking forward to, getting a bunch of different experiences so I’m trying to enjoy it as much as I can. I hope to play a few more Challenge Tour tournaments, I don’t have a category but I hope to play as many as I can on invites.”
