With the news that EuroPro has now ceased to exist, it has left a lot of Developmental level Pro’s including myself with a decision to make on what tournaments to play in 2023. For those who don’t know what EuroPro was, it was an official satellite of the DP World Tour, which meant it fed directly into the Challenge Tour. Every year the best 5 players from EuroPro, Alps Tour, Nordic League and Pro Golf Tour, get a full card on Europe’s 2nd Tier Tour. This meant that for UK players the main route to the DP World Tour no longer exists, for players like myself who have played on Alps Tour and even won on it in 2017, it is less damaging. However, I made the choice that after 7 years playing on Alps Tour, including that win in 2017, I wanted to be closer to my family and start a Coaching Career to help fund the astronomical costs of travelling around Europe playing for very low Prize Funds. The choice I made in 2010 to start my PGA training before beginning a playing career has also paid dividends because it means I have a route open to me that many don’t, through their end of year Playoffs.
There are many rumours circulating that Clutch Tour may take over some of the 5 cards left by the demise of EuroPro, which of course would be fantastic. It does come with a sidenote however, as the PGA are under threat from this new Tour and have been fining many PGA members who choose to play in these events. Which does create an issue, do you aim to play Clutch with the goal of getting a Challenge Tour card in fields stronger than EuroPro for less cards than available before, while getting fined by the PGA for every event you play. Or do you compete in lucrative 1 day Pro-Ams run by the PGA but risk your progression on multi-round 1 tournament shootouts in the DP World Tour Q-School and the Playoffs, which would be very different to the 1 day shootout Pro-Ams you get accustomed to playing in.
My schedule will probably include both in reality and I hope the PGA and Clutch can come to an agreement allowing both to survive in this market, allowing us Developmental Level pros the chance to earn money while also giving us a chance to progress and achieve our goals. With my history on Alps Tour I will likely play a few of their events to keep myself tournament ready for Q-School, and the season Goals will as always determine my choices. If I was to start off like a train on Alps Tour and I was able to fit in Pro-Ams to fund the trips away I would likely remain on Alps Tour for most of the season, however if the opposite happens I am able to pivot to focus on Coaching for a little time while competing in Pro-Ams to top up the budget again for Q-School and other bigger events. As you can see the plan for a year is very complex and relies on a number of different situations, the dream is that you find a Sponsor who allows you to do everything you can to maximise the opportunities to progress, this is not easy to find and if you rely on finding this unicorn you’ll likely not stay within the game for long.