2021 Challenge Tour
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Marcus Helligkilde (3) Marcus Helligkilde| Duration | 22 April 2021 – 7 November 2021 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 26[a] |
| Most wins | Marcus Helligkilde (3) |
| Rankings | Marcus Helligkilde |
← 2020 2022 → | |
The 2021 Challenge Tour was the 33rd season of the Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the European Tour.
In-season changes
Similarly to 2020, the season was due to begin in February with three tournaments in South Africa co-sanctioned with the Sunshine Tour, but in mid-January the South African swing was postponed to April/May because of COVID-19 pandemic concerns.[1] The official schedule announcement was made on 27 January 2021.[2] As well as the schedule release, it also confirmed that additional European Tour cards would be offered for the following season; being increased from 15 to 20.[3] In April two back-to-back events in Sweden in May were added.[4]
In August, it was announced that the Hainan Open and the Foshan Open; both played in China, were cancelled.[5] Later in the month, replacement tournaments were confirmed in Spain, both hosted at Empordà Golf on the Costa Brava.[6]
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2021 season.[7]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse (€) | Winner[b] | OWGR points | Other tours[c] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 Apr | Limpopo Championship | South Africa | R3,000,000 |  Brandon Stone (1) | 13 | AFR | |
| 2 May | Bain's Whisky Cape Town Open | South Africa | R3,000,000 | J. C. Ritchie (2) | 13 | AFR | |
| 9 May | Dimension Data Pro-Am | South Africa | R6,000,000 | Wilco Nienaber (1) | 13 | AFR | Pro-Am |
| 16 May | Range Servant Challenge | Sweden | 200,000 |  Craig Howie (1) | 12 | New tournament | |
| 22 May | Dormy Open | Sweden | 200,000 |  Félix Mory (1) | 12 | New tournament | |
| 30 May | Irish Challenge | Ireland | 220,000 |  Daan Huizing (3) | 12 | ||
| 6 Jun | D+D Real Czech Challenge | Czech Republic | 200,000 |  Santiago Tarrío (1) | 12 | ||
| 13 Jun | Challenge de Cádiz | Spain | 200,000 |  Kristof Ulenaers (1) | 12 | ||
| 18 Jun | Challenge de España | Spain | 200,000 | Santiago Tarrío (2) | 12 | ||
| 27 Jun | Open de Bretagne | France | 200,000 | Julien Brun (2) | 12 | ||
| 4 Jul | Kaskáda Golf Challenge | Czech Republic | 200,000 |  Marcel Schneider (2) | 12 | ||
| 11 Jul | Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge | France | 210,000 | Marcel Siem (1) | 12 | ||
| 18 Jul | Euram Bank Open | Austria | 190,000 |  Stuart Manley (3) | 12 | ||
| 25 Jul | Italian Challenge | Italy | 300,000 |  Ricardo Gouveia (4) | 12 | ||
| 8 Aug | Vierumäki Finnish Challenge | Finland | 200,000 | Marcus Helligkilde (1) | 12 | ||
| 14 Aug | Made in Esbjerg Challenge | Denmark | 200,000 | Ricardo Gouveia (5) | 9 | NGL | |
| 20 Aug | Sydbank Esbjerg Challenge | Denmark | 200,000 |  Espen Kofstad (4) | 9 | NGL | New tournament |
| Rolex Trophy | Switzerland | – | Removed[8] | – | |||
| 29 Aug | B-NL Challenge Trophy | Netherlands | 250,000 | Alfredo García-Heredia (1) | 12 | New tournament[d] | |
| 5 Sep | British Challenge | England | £180,000 |  Hugo León (1) | 12 | New tournament | |
| 12 Sep | Big Green Egg German Challenge | Germany | 200,000 | Ángel Hidalgo (1) | 12 | New tournament | |
| 19 Sep | Hopps Open de Provence | France | 200,000 |  Alfie Plant (1) | 12 | ||
| 26 Sep | Open de Portugal | Portugal | 200,000 | Marcel Schneider (3) | 12 | ||
| 3 Oct | Swiss Challenge | France | 200,000 | Marcus Helligkilde (2) | 12 | ||
| Hainan Open | China | – | Cancelled[5] | – | CHN | ||
| 17 Oct | Empordà Challenge | Spain | 200,000 | Julien Brun (3) | 13 | New tournament | |
| 22 Oct | Challenge Costa Brava | Spain | 200,000 |  Daniel Hillier (1) | 13 | New tournament | |
| Foshan Open | China | – | Cancelled[5] | – | CHN | ||
| 7 Nov | Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final | Spain | 450,000 | Marcus Helligkilde (3) | 17 | Flagship event |
Rankings
The rankings were titled as the Road to Mallorca and were based on tournament results during the season, calculated using a points-based system.[9][10] The top 20 players on the rankings earned status to play on the 2022 European Tour (DP World Tour).[11]
| Rank | Player | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcus Helligkilde | 222,628 |
| 2 | Ricardo Gouveia | 188,291 |
| 3 | Santiago Tarrío | 173,938 |
| 4 | Julien Brun | 163,773 |
| 5 | Frédéric Lacroix | 120,334 |