The Road to Mallorca returns this week for the 25th edition of the Challenge de España. Taking place from May 9-12, here’s all you need to know before play gets under way.
Landmark year
This week is set to be a special one in Spain as it marks the 25th edition of the Challenge de España. Having first appeared on the Challenge Tour schedule back in 1999, apart from a year away in 2005, the event has been ever-present.
The tournament has also produced some outstanding moments over the years – none more so than 12 months ago when Frenchman Martin Couvra became only the seventh amateur in history to win on the Challenge Tour. Home favourites including Carl Suneson – who won the very first edition – Eduardo de la Riva in 2012 and Santiago Tarrio in 2021 have all triumphed in the event.
DP World Tour pedigree
Real Club Sevilla Golf has a strong pedigree of being a host venue having entertained no-less than five DP World Tour events over the years. The Open de Seville took place here 20 years ago, with the club going on to host three editions of the Open de España (2008, 2010 and 2012), and the Open de Andalucia de Golf in 2009.
The course itself, alongside being one of the finest in the country, was designed by the great Jose Maria Olazabal. Playing 6,529 metres in length, the par 72 layout features wide fairways, 90 bunkers and nine lakes across the three hectares of land that it sits on. The facilities are also second-to-none, with a full sports club including swimming pool, gym and sauna on site.
Fast-tracked
Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen has been in stellar form so far in 2024, recording two wins from his last three starts on the Challenge Tour to sit in pole position on the Road to Mallorca Rankings. The Dane is in his first full season as a professional and is the first player this season to have an opportunity to earn automatic promotion to the DP World Tour by winning three tournaments in a single season.
The 24-year-old could join a select few to have achieved such a feat, including Swede Kristofer Broberg, Englishman Aaron Rai and Frenchman Benjamin Hébert, who is the only person to do it twice (2011 and 2014).
