2021 Challenge Tour
The 2021 Challenge Tour was the 33rd season of the Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the European Tour. The tour started as the Satellite Tour with its first Order of Merit rankings in 1989 and was officially renamed as the Challenge Tour at the start of the 1990 season.[1]
| Duration | 22 April 2021 – 7 November 2021 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 26[lower-alpha 1] |
| Most wins | 3: Marcus Helligkilde |
| Challenge Tour Rankings | Marcus Helligkilde |
← 2020 2022 → | |
Similarly to 2020, the season was due to begin in February with three tournaments in South Africa co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour, but in mid-January the South African swing was postponed to April–May over COVID-19 pandemic concerns.[2] The official schedule announcement was made on 27 January 2021.[3] In April two back-to-back events in Sweden in May were added.[4]
In August, it was announced that the Hainan Open and the Foshan Open; both played in China, were cancelled.[5] Later in the month, replacement tournaments were confirmed in Spain, both hosted at Empordà Golf on the Costa Brava.[6]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2021 season.[7]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse (€) | Winner[lower-alpha 2] | OWGR points | Other tours[lower-alpha 3] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Apr | Limpopo Championship | South Africa | R3,000,000 |  Brandon Stone (1) | 13 | AFR | |
| 2 May | Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open | South Africa | R3,000,000 | J. C. Ritchie (2) | 13 | AFR | |
| 9 May | Dimension Data Pro-Am | South Africa | R6,000,000 | Wilco Nienaber (1) | 13 | AFR | Pro-Am |
| 16 May | Range Servant Challenge | Sweden | 200,000 |  Craig Howie (1) | 12 | New tournament | |
| 22 May | Dormy Open | Sweden | 200,000 |  Félix Mory (1) | 12 | New tournament | |
| 30 May | Irish Challenge | Ireland | 220,000 |  Daan Huizing (3) | 12 | ||
| 6 Jun | D+D Real Czech Challenge | Czech Republic | 200,000 |  Santiago Tarrío (1) | 12 | ||
| 13 Jun | Challenge de Cádiz | Spain | 200,000 | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Kristof Ulenaers (1) | 12 | ||
| 18 Jun | Challenge de España | Spain | 200,000 | Santiago Tarrío (2) | 12 | ||
| 27 Jun | Open de Bretagne | France | 200,000 | Julien Brun (2) | 12 | ||
| 4 Jul | Kaskáda Golf Challenge | Czech Republic | 200,000 |  Marcel Schneider (2) | 12 | ||
| 11 Jul | Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge | France | 210,000 | Marcel Siem (1) | 12 | ||
| 18 Jul | Euram Bank Open | Austria | 190,000 |  Stuart Manley (3) | 12 | ||
| 25 Jul | Italian Challenge | Italy | 300,000 |  Ricardo Gouveia (4) | 12 | ||
| 8 Aug | Vierumäki Finnish Challenge | Finland | 200,000 | Marcus Helligkilde (1) | 12 | ||
| 14 Aug | Made in Esbjerg Challenge | Denmark | 200,000 | Ricardo Gouveia (5) | 9 | NGL | |
| 20 Aug | Sydbank Esbjerg Challenge | Denmark | 200,000 |  Espen Kofstad (4) | 9 | NGL | New tournament |
| Rolex Trophy | Switzerland | – | Removed | – | |||
| 29 Aug | B-NL Challenge Trophy | Netherlands | 250,000 | Alfredo García-Heredia (1) | 12 | New tournament[lower-alpha 4] | |
| 5 Sep | British Challenge | England | £180,000 |  Hugo León (1) | 12 | ||
| 12 Sep | Big Green Egg German Challenge | Germany | 200,000 | Ángel Hidalgo (1) | 12 | New tournament | |
| 19 Sep | Hopps Open de Provence | France | 200,000 |  Alfie Plant (1) | 12 | ||
| 26 Sep | Open de Portugal | Portugal | 200,000 | Marcel Schneider (3) | 12 | ||
| 3 Oct | Swiss Challenge | France | 200,000 | Marcus Helligkilde (2) | 12 | ||
| Hainan Open | China | – | Cancelled | – | CHN | ||
| 17 Oct | Empordà Challenge | Spain | 200,000 | Julien Brun (3) | 13 | New tournament | |
| Foshan Open | China | – | Cancelled | – | CHN | ||
| 22 Oct | Challenge Costa Brava | Spain | 200,000 |  Daniel Hillier (1) | 13 | New tournament | |
| 7 Nov | Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final | Spain | 450,000 | Marcus Helligkilde (3) | 17 | Flagship event |
Challenge Tour Rankings
For full rankings, see 2021 Challenge Tour graduates.
The rankings were titled as the Road to Mallorca and were based on prize money won during the season, calculated using a points-based system. The top 20 players on the tour earned status to play on the 2022 European Tour.[8]
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcus Helligkilde | 222,628 |
| 2 | Ricardo Gouveia | 188,291 |
| 3 | Santiago Tarrío | 173,938 |
| 4 | Julien Brun | 163,773 |
| 5 | Frédéric Lacroix | 120,334 |
See also
Notes
- A further three tournaments were scheduled but were either cancelled or otherwise removed from the schedule.
- The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Challenge Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Challenge Tour members. It is rare for someone to accumulate many wins on the Challenge Tour as success at this level usually leads to promotion to the European Tour.
- AFR − Sunshine Tour; CHN − China Tour; NGL − Nordic Golf League.
- Tournament's debut delayed from 2020.
References
- "Tour History". PGA European Tour. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
- "South African Swing postponed". European Tour. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
- "Challenge Tour unveils 2021 International Schedule". PGA European Tour. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
- "Two Swedish events added to Road to Mallorca International Schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
- "Challenge Tour statement on the Hainan Open and Foshan Open". European Tour. 11 August 2021.
- "Empordà Golf to host second Spanish Swing of 2021". PGA European Tour. 25 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
- "Challenge Tour Schedule 2021". PGA European Tour. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
- "Extra European Tour cards on offer during 2021 Challenge Tour season". Sky Sports. Retrieved 27 January 2021.