The four Approved Third Level Tours of European professional golf have been relaunched as the Satellite Tour. The Alps Tour, the EPD Tour, the Nordic League and the PGA Europro Tour will now come under the title of ‘the Satellite Tour’ as opposed to ‘Third Level Tours’, in a move that has been welcomed by the European Challenge Tour PTC Sub-Committee.
The four tours will remain as separate bodies and will continue to play an integral role in the development of professional golf in Europe. Each of the Satellite Tours offer players a start in the game, with those who excel in their respective regions rewarded with a place on the Challenge Tour where they receive the necessary education in 72 hole stroke play to prepare them for The European Tour.
Every season the top five players from each Satellite Tour gain promotion to Category Nine of the Challenge Tour, while the leading five players, to a limit of 20th place, at August 21, 2006, will be exempt to the Second Stage of The 2006 European Tour Qualifying School.
Among the highlights of last season’s European Tour was the performance of three players – the English pair of Richard Finch and Graeme Storm, and Peter Gustafsson of Sweden – who came through the three tier system which proved its worth to European golf.
All three men started on the Satellite Tours – Finch and Storm on the PGA Europro Tour and Gustafsson on the Nordic League – before progressing to the Challenge Tour and then to The European Tour where they completed their remarkable climbs through the ranks. Storm ended 2005 in 31st place on The European Tour Order of Merit, with Gustafsson and Finch taking 46th and 60th places respectively.
Manuel Agrellos, Chairman of the European Challenge Tour PTC Sub-Committee, said: “It is important that the Satellite Tours and the Challenge Tour work together in order for the three level structure of professional golf to flourish, and we on the PTC Sub-Committee feel that the system we have in place is in good health.
“Richard, Graeme and Peter showed with their performances on The European Tour last season that players can start on the Satellite Tour and work their way up to the Challenge Tour and then The European Tour. We believe that the experience of playing on the Satellite Tours and then on the Challenge Tour plays a crucial role in developing the top professionals in Europe, and we hope that this structure continues to produce top class players in the future.”
For Further Information please contact:
European Tour Communications Division
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