2016 Challenge Tour

2016 Challenge Tour season
Duration17 March 2016 (2016-03-17) – 5 November 2016 (2016-11-05)
Number of official events27
Most winsGermany Bernd Ritthammer (3)
RankingsEngland Jordan Smith
2015
2017

The 2016 Challenge Tour was the 28th season of the Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the European Tour.

Schedule

The following table lists official events during the 2016 season.[1]

Date Tournament Host country Purse
()
Winner[a] OWGR
points
Notes
20 Mar Barclays Kenya Open Kenya 220,000 Sweden Sebastian Söderberg (1) 12
23 Apr Red Sea Egyptian Challenge Egypt 180,000 England Jordan Smith (1) 12 New tournament
1 May Challenge de Madrid Spain 170,000 Scotland Duncan Stewart (1) 12
8 May Turkish Airlines Challenge Turkey 175,000 France Clément Sordet (2) 12
15 May Montecchia Open Italy 250,000 England Gary King (1) 12
29 May D+D Real Czech Challenge Czech Republic 175,000 France Damien Perrier (1) 12
5 Jun Swiss Challenge Switzerland 170,000 Germany Alexander Knappe (1) 12
12 Jun KPMG Trophy Belgium 170,000 Sweden Simon Forsström (1) 12
19 Jun Najeti Open France 200,000 Portugal José-Filipe Lima (4) 12
26 Jun SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge Scotland 250,000 England James Heath (2) 12
3 Jul Made in Denmark Challenge Denmark 180,000 Germany Bernd Ritthammer (1) 12
10 Jul D+D Real Slovakia Challenge Slovakia 170,000 Norway Espen Kofstad (3) 12
17 Jul Fred Olsen Challenge de España Spain 170,000 France Adrien Saddier (1) 12
24 Jul Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge France 210,000 Sweden Alexander Björk (1) 12
31 Jul Tayto Northern Ireland Open Northern Ireland 170,000 New Zealand Ryan Fox (2) 12
7 Aug Swedish Challenge Sweden 200,000 France Joël Stalter (1) 12 New to Challenge Tour
14 Aug Vierumäki Finnish Challenge Finland 180,000 England Sam Walker (4) 12
20 Aug Rolex Trophy Switzerland 250,000 South Africa Dylan Frittelli (2) 12
28 Aug Bridgestone Challenge England 180,000 Belgium Thomas Detry (1) 12
4 Sep Cordon Golf Open France 200,000 Spain Álvaro Velasco (3) 12
11 Sep Volopa Irish Challenge Ireland 180,000 Germany Bernd Ritthammer (2) 12
2 Oct Kazakhstan Open Kazakhstan 450,000 England Sam Walker (5) 13
9 Oct Terre dei Consoli Open Italy 250,000 Sweden Johan Edfors (4) 12
16 Oct Hainan Open China US$262,500 Germany Alexander Knappe (2) 13 New to Challenge Tour
23 Oct Foshan Open China US$500,000 England Marcus Armitage (1) 13
29 Oct Ras Al Khaimah Golf Challenge UAE US$350,000 England Jordan Smith (2) 13 New tournament
5 Nov NBO Golf Classic Grand Final Oman 400,000 Germany Bernd Ritthammer (3) 17 Flagship event

Rankings

The rankings were titled as the Road to Oman and were based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[2][3] The top 16 players on the rankings earned status to play on the 2017 European Tour.[4]

Rank Player Points
1 England Jordan Smith 239,985
2 Germany Bernd Ritthammer 209,953
3 Germany Alexander Knappe 193,500
4 New Zealand Ryan Fox 160,768
5 England Sam Walker 158,370

Notes

  1. ^ 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.

References

  1. ^ "2016 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  2. ^ "2016 Road to Oman". European Tour. Archived from the original on 16 February 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Derry Hill player Jordan Smith crowned European Challenge Tour's 2016 champion after topping Road To Oman standings". Gazette & Herald. Chippenham, United Kingdom. 5 November 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  4. ^ "Recap: the final day of the 2016 Road to Oman". European Tour. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2023. So, at the end of the most competitive Challenge Tour season in recent memory, the lucky 16 going to the European Tour next year were decided. Jordan Smith, Bernd Ritthammer, Alexander Knappe, Ryan Fox, Sam Walker, Matthieu Pavon, Alexander Bjӧrk, Dylan Frittelli, Romain Langasque, Duncan Stewart, Marcus Armitage, José-Filipe Lima, Damien Perrier, Pep Angles, Thomas Detry and Joël Stalter, we wish you good luck in your endeavours - do us proud.