Who to look out for in 2018

Ahead of the new European Challenge Tour season starting this week in Kenya, we bring you some of the players to watch out for in 2018.

<strong>New recruits</strong>

Teeing it up in Nairobi are a host of new faces. Making their debut Challenge Tour appearances are Satellite Tour stars<strong>Max Schmitt, Axel Boasson, Minkyu Kim and Robbie van West</strong>, while<strong>Henric Sturehed</strong>is the sole Qualifying School graduate who will make his first Challenge Tour appearance this week.

Australians<strong>Ashley Hall </strong>and<strong>Jack Munro</strong>will also play on Europe’s top developmental tour for the first time, while South Africa’s<strong>Anthony Michael</strong>– a regular on the Sunshine Tour – will make just his second start at this level this week.

<strong>Proven winners </strong>

Returning to Challenge Tour action are<strong> 11</strong>tournament winners from last season. Of those players France’s<strong>Victor Perez</strong>most recently lifted silverware, when he impressively won the Challenge de España in October with a final round of 65 which included a hole-in-one.

<strong>Oscar Lengden </strong>also won in dramatic fashion at last September’s Bridgestone Challenge by making an eagle on the final hole to seal victory, while<strong>Robin Sciot-Siegrist, Birgir Hafthorsson, Paul Howard, Garrick Porteous, </strong><strong>Joel Sjöholm, Oscar Stark </strong>and<strong>Joel Girrbach</strong>all also impressed when claiming their maiden Challenge Tour wins.

<strong>Estanislao Goya</strong>and<strong>Richard McEvoy</strong>both returned to the winners’ circle after long absences last year, and will be confident that more trophies are just around the corner.

<strong>Near misses</strong>

During last year’s NBO Golf Classic Grand Final there were points when<strong>Sebastian Heisele, Oliver Lindell</strong>and<strong>Goya</strong>looked set to graduate to the European Tour.

With 18 holes to go in Muscat both<strong>Goya</strong>and<strong>Lindell</strong>were two were inside the top 15, but both endured difficult days as the wind picked up off the Sea of Oman before they shared 11th place – not enough to hold on to a European Tour card.

<strong>Heisele</strong>was unlucky Mr Number 16 last year, missing out on a European Tour place by around 5000 points. The German did however go on to regain his European Tour card at Qualifying School, but with a good result in Kenya he could return to the Challenge Tour fold for 2018.

<strong>Looking to bounce back</strong>

Each year there are always some disappointed players whose European Tour campaigns did not quite go as planned.

Chief among them last term was<strong>Romain Langasque</strong>, who after excelling in his debut Challenge Tour season struggled to maintain the consistent start which had seen him make his first seven European Tour cuts.

The former Amateur Champion is a prodigious talent though, and having already recorded a third-place finish this year, in the AfrAsia Bank Mauritius Open, do not be surprised to see the 22 year old back competing at the top of leaderboards again in 2018.

Other players who will be hungry to return to the European Tour at the first opportunity will be<strong>Bernd Ritthammer,</strong><strong>Duncan Stewart,</strong><strong>Joël Stalter </strong>and<strong>Alexander Knappe, </strong>who were all firmly in contention to maintain their European Tour playing privileges last season.