Big incentives to play DP World Tour
FOR those playing on the DP World Tour there are massive incentives such as the Rolex Series events and points for the Race to Dubai.
However, those who participate in the second-tier European Challenge Tour 2022 bring in lots of money and travel to many new places – 31 tournaments, 18 countries and staged on three continents. The players will be competing for places in the end of season final Road to Mallorca.
The Tour includes a return to Scotland for the first time in four years when the Farmfoods Scottish Challenge supported by The R&A takes place in the final week of May.
The event, which will be held in association with 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie, will be the first of 19 tournaments in consecutive weeks where the Road to Mallorca will weave through 15 countries and end in France, from September 29 – October 2.
It will be an amazing ride for those aspiring to gain official playing cards for the 2023 season on the DP World Tour.
What a way it will be for the players as they begin their quest for the “big” picture, a seven-week trip to Africa for the “African Swing” which starts with the Dimension Data at Fancourt from February 10-13.
This has been one of the long-standing Sunshine Tour events and with it being co-sanctioned with the Challenge Tour there will be a host of top quality players in the field
The other six events that make up the Africa Swing include the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open from February 17-20 at Rondebosch Golf Club and the picturesque Royal Golf Club.
The players then move to Durban for the $250 000 Jonsson Workwear Open from February 24-27. Durban has always staged some of the best big golf events and attracted some of the top-ranked world stars.
March 2022 begins with a trip to Bloemfontein for the Mangaung Open – this also carries $250 000 in prize money.
The venues will be Schoeman Park Golf Club and Bloemfontein Golf Club from March 3-6.
Zebula Golf Estate and Spa will host the SDC Open at the beautiful Elements Private Golf Reserve from March 24-27, while the Limpopo Championship will round off the activities for March.
It will be at Euphoria Golf Club and the Koro Creek Golf Club. The tournament starts on March 31 and ends on April 3. The final event of the African Swing will take the players for the first time to Tanzania where the Mount Kilimanjaro Klassic will be staged at Kilimanjaro Golf & Wildlife Estate in Arusha from April 7-10.
The seven events are all co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour and it will give those many stay-at-home local professionals an opportunity to play for extra money and the chance to grab a full playing card on the 2023 DP World Tour.
The Challenge Tour also returns to China for the first time since 2019 with back-to-back events, including the Foshan Open, where players will be given a final chance to earn their spot in the season-ending Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by The R&A.
The finale of the 2022 Road to Mallorca will return to Club de Golf Alcanada, the setting for the 2019 Grand Final, where the top 45 players on the Road to Mallorca Rankings will compete for one of 20 DP World Tour cards for the 2023 season.
The Top Five graduates will also receive the John Jacobs Bursary, announced last month as part of DP World’s title partnership of the European Tour group’s main Tour.
Jamie Hodges, head of Challenge Tour, said: “I am incredibly proud to unveil our schedule for the 2022 Road to Mallorca season, which boasts the biggest total prize fund since the Challenge Tour’s inception in 1989.
“This expansive global schedule would not be possible without the incredible support of our promoters, national federations and tournament sponsors, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank them.”
Last year 19 former Challenge Tour players won on the European Tour – now called the DP World Tour – including nine first time winners, while three finished inside the Top 10 on the Race to Dubai Rankings.
South Africa’s Garrick Higgo became the 500th former Challenge Tour player to win on what is now the DP World Tour, while Bernd Wiesberger became the 33rd member of the Challenge Tour’s alumni to play in the Ryder Cup.