Charlie Thornton is looking to make his mark on the European Challenge Tour when he tees it up this week in the British Challenge presented by Modest! Golf Management at St. Mellion Estate.
The Englishman is one of four players to receive an invite this week through the Clutch Pro Tour, and he is looking to replicate the success of Brandon Robinson Thompson, who triumphed at last week’s Irish Challenge after receiving an invite.
The Mizuno Next Gen Series, presented by Clutch Pro Tour was announced as an Official Feeder Tour of the European Challenge Tour at the beginning of the 2023 season, with over 50 invites for players throughout the year and two full Challenge Tour cards on offer for the leading players at the end of the season.
“It was great to see last week,” he said. “Brandon is a guy I was playing with at the start of the year and competing with, and for him to win at this level shows that it’s possible.
“I played eight events at the start of the Clutch Pro Tour season with the goal of making the top four after those eight events, so that I could gain invites for the Challenge Tour. I finished third, so I’m now in week five on the Challenge Tour.
“The last three weeks I’ve had good first rounds but I’ve fallen away in the second round. It’s just getting over that hurdle of playing to make the cut rather than playing to win a golf tournament. That’s where my game needs to be.”
The 24-year-old, originally from York, now lives an hour away from St. Mellion and having played the course several times before, including earlier this year on the Clutch Pro Tour, he’s hoping that course knowledge will be an advantage for him this week.
“I know the course quite well and it’s not one where someone will go very low,” he added. “It’s a week where you need to grind it out. It’s a long golf course and tight as well, and it’s been quite wet which will make it that bit longer.
“It’s a great experience each week playing on the Challenge Tour, playing against some great golfers. Hopefully I can get the breaks to have a good week.”
Thornton joins a strong field on the south coast of England that will see eight of the top ten in the Road to Mallorca Rankings tee it up, including the top three, Casey Jarvis, Ugo Coussaud and Matteo Manassero.
Play gets under way on Thursday at 7:30am local time with Thornton teeing off at 7:50am alongside Englishman Evan Giles and Scotsman Jack McDonald.
