The 2019 European Challenge Tour season is right around the corner and Matt Baldwin has made the most of his off-season ahead of the new campaign.
The Englishman, who grew up playing foursomes for Lancashire alongside star of The 2018 Ryder Cup and 2017 Race to Dubai Champion Tommy Fleetwood, has already hit the ground running in 2019 after picking up two wins on the MENA Tour during the Challenge Tour’s close-season.
Baldwin lost his European Tour playing privileges at the end of 2018 but has newfound confidence after a successful couple of months on the MENA Tour. He began February by winning the MENA Tour Qualifying School by two shots before comfortably lifting his second title of the year at the Journey to Jordan I by an impressive eight shots the following week.
It might not have been the highs of playing the 2012 U.S. Open Championship, but it was a much-needed confidence boost for the Southport native.
“I thought playing the MENA Tour Q-School was going to be a waste of time because I thought my game wasn’t good enough,” Baldwin explained. “But I ended up playing and shot four under on the first day which felt like a springboard and it opened the door telling me that I could still do it – it made me feel good again about golf.
“From there I went to Jordan and won the biggest event which was the first event on the MENA Tour – I won that by eight shots which was a massive confidence boost.
“It wasn’t a confidence boost that I beat people by eight shots, it was a boost that I achieved the goals that I wanted to achieve that week. I was leading by five after two rounds and I said to myself ‘let’s not win by two or three, let’s try and win by more, let’s try and get to 30 under for the two events in Jordan’ and I actually got to 31, so I was quite proud of myself.”
The back-to-back wins propelled him to the top of the MENA Tour Order of Merit and, consequently, he received an invitation for the Oman Open on the European Tour. Following his tied 45th result, he returned to the MENA Tour where he gained more confidence with a strong performance and a runner-up finish.
With snow and ice covering the golf courses back home in England, Baldwin was extremely glad of the two months he spent in the Middle East.
“I couldn’t understand why there wasn’t more Challenge Tour lads out there [on the MENA Tour] because what are they doing?” he said.
“The majority of them will be at home in the cold not doing a lot, but I thought what a great place to be in Dubai with the good weather and quality golf courses, knowing you’re going to be playing for a lot more money than you would be on the Portuguese Tour or the Gecko Tour or wherever some of the lads might have gone to play.
For me, playing the MENA Tour ahead of the new season was a no brainer. - Matt Baldwin
With his stint on the MENA Tour finished, Baldwin has his sights firmly set on the Challenge Tour and a route to the European Tour. The 33-year-old is determined to return to the world stage of golf, having tasted glimpses from 2012 to 2014, before injuries took their toll in 2015.
“I’m going to be playing Challenge Tour this year and my immediate goal is to get to the European Tour,” he said. “Whether that be winning in Morocco at Trophée Hassan next week, or whether I win three times on the Challenge Tour or finish inside the top 15 in the Order of Merit.
“The immediate goal is to get back to the European Tour and then push on from there. Seeing some of the lads who do well every week, I know I can compete with them, if not beat them when I’m playing well, so why not think big.”
