2016 highlights: videos of the year

The 2016 season brought European Challenge Tour fans closer to the players than ever before with a wide variety of videos offering behind the scenes access, a look at the kind of skills they can produce and above all showing the camaraderie on the Road to Oman. Here's a look at some of our favourites from this year.

<strong>​<span style="font-size: 18px;">Tour guide Mo</span></strong>

The season began with the Barclays Kenya Open and a look round Karen Country Club from Moritz Lampert.

<span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Tour mates: back to school</strong>​</span>

Returning for the 2016 season, the popular Tour Mates series offered the chance to enjoy the characters of some of our players - and some insights into the young Taco Remkes.

<span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Footgolf</strong>​</span>

The Challenge Tour caught football fever as the European Championships took place, so we staged our own footgolf competition between Jérôme Lando Casanova of France, Italy's Filippo Bergamaschi and Spaniard Emilio Cuartero Blanco.

<span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Billy meets Niall</strong>​</span>

Thousands of teenage girls descended on Galgorm Castle in July as One Direction's Niall Horan visited the Tayto Northern Ireland Open in partnership with Ulster Bank, but the youngest - and coolest - customer on site was 9 year old Billy, who subjected the pop star to one of his toughest and most memorable interviews.

<span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Rock stars</strong>​</span>

It's always fun to test our players out and a series of skills contests throughout the season gave them the chance to be inventive, with the rock shot challenge an early highlight.

<span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>​Tour mates: Scotland</strong>​</span>

With the Challenge Tour visiting Scotland in June, we asked the players about the Highlands - and they duly delivered some of the ropiest accents since Mel Gibson in Braveheart. All together now: "George Murray!"

<span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Olympics</strong>​</span>

The Olympics always captures the imagination every four years but this summer there was even greater interest from a golfing perspective as our game returned to the Games. To celebrate, we staged our own Olympics contest, with John Hahn representing the United States of America, Sebastian Heisele competing for Germany and Nico Geyger looking to do Chile proud.

<strong><span style="font-size: 18px;">Tyre challenge</span></strong>​

A seemingly easy challenge this: hit a flop shot into a stack of Bridgestone tyres. How hard could it be...?

<span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Dylan does Happy Gilmore</strong>​</span>

Boyhood hockey player Dylan Frittelli could not resist the opportunity to put some ice skates on and try out Finland's national sport during the Vierumӓki Finnish Challenge.

<span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Tour mates: superheroes</strong>​</span>

Another look into the weird and wonderful imaginations of some of our players as they discussed all things superheroes.

<span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>Skim shot challenge</strong>​</span>

Another test of our players' skills as we challenged them to hit a skim shot at a target on the other side of a lake.

<span style="font-size: 18px;"><strong>What. A. Year</strong>​</span>

Wrapping up our videos of the year is our season review, an epic look back at the contest to win the Road to Oman and to finish in the top 16 in the Rankings and graduate to the European Tour - a memorable 2016 indeed.