Eccles’ hot streak
TORQUAY golf star Ben Eccles will hope to carry the momentum gained in the back half of 2018 into 2019 as he prepares for another big season on the European Challenge Tour.
Eccles will tee up for the first time this year at next month’s Victorian Open at Thirteenth Beach — an event he generally thrives at — before setting his sights on Europe.
The 24-year-old pulled off some solid results in China at the Hainan Open and Foshan Open before finishing T6 at the Australian PGA Championship, putting a string of disappointing missed cuts be- hind him. “It’s huge,” Eccles said of what his late season surge did for his confidence.
“I need to get off to a good start in regards to both the Australian Tour and the Challenge Tour.
“If we can take the momentum from October to Decem- ber until I do get to Europe again then it’ll be massive.
“The guys that do graduate from the Challenge Tour do start well and then towards the end of the year they smash it out.
“I had a rough patch halfway through the year and missed a few cuts. It was pretty tough through that stretch.
“(But I) got a couple of good results in China and finished the year well in the Australian PGA.
“Overall I turned a pretty poor year into a good one.”
Eccles has full status on the Challenge Tour this season, making it easier for him to map out what his schedule of events will look like in 2019.
It’s the first time in the three years since he turned pro that he has had full status on the Challenge Tour.
“Last year I had a pretty low down category which meant getting into a few events late,” he said.
“I think I only played 23 or 24 events last year (which made it hard to build momentum). I might try and play a few more this year. I can choose the big events to play.
“Having that security this year is going to be good. If I can get off to a roll I can just keep it going.”