Ben Stow is confident of putting in another positive performance at the Foshan Open, and admits that his stellar year on the European Challenge Tour is “something I never would have dreamt of at the start of the season”.
The Englishman earned a place at the second event of the year, the Red Sea Egyptian Challenge presented by Hassan Allam Properties, through an invite, only guaranteeing his place in Madrid the next week with a top-five finish.
After coming close to winning his first title on Europe’s top developmental tour in the Spanish capital, he narrowly missed out by one shot to Scotland’s Duncan Stewart, the 24 year old has gone on to become one of the Challenge Tour’s most consistent performers – only missing one cut in 18 starts.
Now sat in 16thplace on the 2016 Road to Oman, the last qualifying spot for a European Tour card this season, Stow has admitted his goal has changed since first teeing off in Egypt six months ago.
“If someone had said at the start of the season I’d be in this position I would have been amazed,” said Stow, who finished tied second at the Swedish Challenge hosted by Robert Karlsson after losing out in a three-man play-off.
“I never would have dreamt of being where I am. Now I am in a better position I wish I could have ten or fifteen more thousand – but at the start of the year I would have bitten someone’s hand off to be where I am now.
“I came on to the Challenge Tour this season with no status whatsoever. I went from looking at playing on the EuroPro Tour to being one of the highest-ranked players on the Challenge Tour. It gave me a real belief that I had done some good work over the winter and could go on and win.
“I feel good about this week. My last round was really nice in Hainan as I played some really good golf after struggling with my ball striking a little bit recently. I have been hitting it well on the range this week, though, and I had a nice practice round on Monday so I feel like things are coming together.
“The course here is fantastic – probably the best we have played on the Challenge Tour so far this year, maybe along with Slovakia. But it is a lot tougher this week, and I think it will be a real test – as you have to hit it straight and use every club in the bag. Overall it is a really good golf course.
“I have only missed one cut this year, which was in Scotland, when even then I managed to eagle the eighth hole and I thought to myself ‘I’m going to come back from this’. I have managed to come back from the dead a few times this year – I followed a 75 with a 63 in Slovakia, three under in horrendous conditions during my second round in Ireland and in Kazakhstan I shot a five under par second round as well.
“I think I have an ability to let bad rounds go. As I feel I have been playing well all season, I see these scores as an anomaly and just wait until I play well again. My consistency comes from the fact that I generally drive the ball in play and manage to hole out well. If you do those things you can’t stray too far from par.”
With three events left on the 2016 Road to Oman, Stow is one of a number of players vying for a European Tour card.
“The plan from now until the end of the season is to keep working away,” he said. “Some guys when they come and practise before an event they just try and get ready for that tournament, whereas I think it is important to always try and get better.
“If you don’t try and get better you aren’t progressing. I always try and improve a certain aspect of my game – like today I spent an hour and a half on the chipping area.
“I remember playing a practice round with Luke Donald who said ‘I try and get better by one per cent every day’ and I think that’s a simple mind-set to have.”
