2021 Challenge Tour

The 2021 Challenge Tour was the 33rd season of the Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the European Tour.

2021 Challenge Tour season

Duration	22 April 2021 (2021-04-22) – 7 November 2021 (2021-11-07)
Number of official events	26[a]
Most wins	Marcus Helligkilde (3)
Rankings	Marcus Helligkilde
← 2020 2022 →

Changes for 2021

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 because of COVID-19 pandemic concerns.^[1] The official schedule announcement was made on 27 January 2021.^[2] In April two back-to-back events in Sweden in May were added.^[3]

In-season changes

In August, it was announced that the Hainan Open and the Foshan Open; both played in China, were cancelled.^[4] Later in the month, replacement tournaments were confirmed in Spain, both hosted at Empordà Golf on the Costa Brava.^[5]

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2021 season.^[6]

Date	Tournament	Host country	Purse (€)	Winner[b]	OWGR points	Other tours[c]	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	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
21 Aug	Rolex Trophy	Switzerland	–	Removed[7]	–
29 Aug	B-NL Challenge Trophy	Netherlands	250,000	Alfredo García-Heredia (1)	12		New tournament[d]
5 Sep	British Challenge	England	£180,000	Hugo León (1)	12		New tournament
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
17 Oct	Hainan Open	China	–	Cancelled[4]	–	CHN
17 Oct	Empordà Challenge	Spain	200,000	Julien Brun (3)	13		New tournament
24 Oct	Foshan Open	China	–	Cancelled[4]	–	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

Rankings

For full rankings, see 2021 Challenge Tour graduates.

The rankings were titled as the Road to Mallorca and were based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.^[8][9] The top 20 players on the rankings earned status to play on the 2022 European Tour (DP World Tour).^[10][11]

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

Notes

1. A further three tournaments were scheduled but were either cancelled or otherwise removed from the schedule.
2. 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.
3. AFR − Sunshine Tour; CHN − China Tour; NGL − Nordic Golf League.
4. Tournament's debut delayed from 2020.

References

1. "South African Swing postponed". European Tour. 13 January 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
2. "Challenge Tour unveils 2021 International Schedule". European Tour. 27 January 2021. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
3. "Two Swedish events added to Road to Mallorca International Schedule". European Tour. 7 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
4. "Challenge Tour statement on the Hainan Open and Foshan Open". European Tour. 11 August 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
5. "Empordà Golf to host second Spanish Swing of 2021". European Tour. 25 August 2021. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
6. "2021 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
7. "Rolex and The R&A to join forces at the Challenge Tour Grand Final". European Tour. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2024. Rolex's long-term commitment to the Challenge Tour began with the Rolex Trophy which has been part of the Challenge Tour's schedule since the inaugural season in 1989, however the support will now be concentrated on the Grand Final...
8. "2021 Road to Mallorca". European Tour. Retrieved 7 November 2024.
9. "Helligkilde enjoys double delight at Challenge Tour's season finale". Golf News. 7 November 2021. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
10. Stafford, Ali (27 January 2021). "Extra European Tour cards on offer during 2021 Challenge Tour season". Sky Sports. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
11. Coley, Ben (24 November 2021). "Challenge Tour graduates player profiles as DP World Tour welcomes new members". Sporting Life. Retrieved 29 August 2023.

External links

• Official website