The 2010 Challenge Tour was the 22nd season of the Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the European Tour.
| Duration | 18 February 2010 – 30 October 2010 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 25[a] |
| Most wins |  Andreas Hartø (2) Mark Tullo (2) Álvaro Velasco (2) Martin Wiegele (2) Bernd Wiesberger (2) |
| Rankings | Álvaro Velasco |
← 2009 2011 → | |
Changes for 2010
editIn August, the Official World Golf Ranking announced that the Apulia San Domenico Grand Final would gain "flagship event" status, meaning that the minimum points awarded would increase to 16 from 12.[1][2]
Schedule
editThe following table lists official events during the 2010 season.[3]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse (€) |
Winner[b] | OWGR points |
Other tours[c] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 Feb | Abierto Internacional de Golf II Copa Antioquia | Colombia | US$220,000 | 12 | CAN, TLA | New to Challenge Tour | |
| 28 Mar | Kenya Open | Kenya | 190,000 | 12 | |||
| 2 May | Turkish Airlines Challenge | Turkey | 175,000 | 12 | New tournament | ||
| 9 May | Allianz Open Côtes d'Armor Bretagne | France | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| 23 May | Mugello Tuscany Open | Italy | 150,000 | 12 | New tournament | ||
| 30 May | Telenet Trophy | Belgium | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| 6 Jun | Kärnten Golf Open | Austria | 160,000 | 12 | |||
| 13 Jun | Scottish Hydro Challenge | Scotland | 200,000 | 12 | |||
| 20 Jun[d] |
Moroccan Golf Classic | Morocco | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| 20 Jun | Saint-Omer Open | France | 600,000 | 18 | EUR | ||
| 27 Jun | Fred Olsen Challenge de España | Spain | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| 4 Jul | The Princess | Sweden | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| 11 Jul | Allianz Golf Open de Lyon | France | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| 18 Jul | Credit Suisse Challenge | Switzerland | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| 25 Jul | English Challenge | England | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| Green Challenge | Finland | – | Cancelled[5] | – | |||
| 14 Aug | Rolex Trophy | Switzerland | 215,000 | 12 | |||
| 22 Aug | ECCO Tour Championship | Germany | DKr 1,350,000 | 12 | DNK | ||
| 28 Aug | SWALEC Wales Challenge | Wales | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| 5 Sep | Allianz EurOpen Strasbourg | France | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| 12 Sep | Kazakhstan Open | Kazakhstan | 400,000 | 12 | |||
| 19 Sep | M2M Russian Challenge Cup | Russia | 175,000 | 12 | New tournament | ||
| 10 Oct | Allianz Golf Open du Grand Toulouse | France | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| 16 Oct | Roma Golf Open | Italy | 150,000 | 12 | |||
| 23 Oct | Egyptian Open | Egypt | 250,000 | 14 | New to Challenge Tour | ||
| 30 Oct | Apulia San Domenico Grand Final | Italy | 300,000 | 16 | Flagship event |
Rankings
editThe rankings were based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Euros.[6][7] The top 20 players on the rankings earned status to play on the 2011 European Tour.[8][9]
| Rank | Player | Prize money (€) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 134,297 | |
| 2 | 107,152 | |
| 3 | 104,754 | |
| 4 | 101,288 | |
| 5 | 99,989 |
Notes
edit- ^ One further tournament was scheduled but was cancelled.
- ^ 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.
- ^ CAN − Canadian Tour; DNK − Danish Golf Tour; EUR − European Tour; TLA − Tour de las Américas.
- ^ Rescheduled due to the eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Official World Golf Ranking board announces new directives". Official World Golf Ranking. 23 August 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
The Board also agreed that the European Challenge Tour, in keeping with the other Tours, should have a Flagship event and approved a proposal that the 2010 Apulia San Domenico Grand Final should receive Flagship status with 16 ranking points to the winner.
- ^ "Grand Final becomes Flagship Event". European Tour. 29 July 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ "2010 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ Callow, James (19 April 2010). "Volcanic ash cloud causes widespread disruption to sporting calendar". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
The Moroccan Golf Classic has been postponed...
- ^ "Green Challenge removed from Challenge Tour schedule". European Tour. 23 April 2010. Archived from the original on 29 September 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
- ^ "2010 Rankings". European Tour. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ "Haines hits the high notes on day of drama". European Tour. 30 October 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
Velasco has also targeted a maiden European Tour victory after topping the Rankings with earnings of €134,296.
- ^ "The Challenge Tour class of 2010". European Tour. 2 November 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
- ^ "The Challenge Tour class of 2010 continued". European Tour. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2023.