Our team from PGA Catalunya Resort brings you all of the action from behind the scenes at The European Tour Qualifying School.

An egg-cellent meal

The media team were lucky enough to be taken out to a rather nice restaurant on Tuesday night which had an extensive menu offering delicious traditional Catalan fare. We were somewhat impressed when one of our esteemed colleagues even ordered in Spanish, leaving us wondering what he'd gone for - was it the pig's trotters, a delicacy in this part of Spain, the roasted shoulder of goat, or perhaps some sort of unusual fish? So imagine our surprise when along came the main courses and put in front of said colleague was a plate of chips with two fried eggs on the top! Mr Symes had presumed that 'egg and chips' would be served with some sort of Spanish twist, but no, it was not dissimilar from something you'd get from a greasy spoon cafe on the side of one of England's motorways! Still very tasty though, apparently.

What’s in a name?

By its very nature the Qualifying School invariably throws up a few surprises every year, with some unfamiliar names up and around the top of the leaderboard. Other than perhaps 2006 Amateur Championship winner Julien Guerrier and European Tour stalwart Philip Archer, most of the players occupying the first few places on the opening day probably weren’t household names. One such man is Lasse Jensen, who was asked by a (nameless) member of the Tour’s media department to complete the biographical form each player needs to fill in for their biog pages in the official guide. “My name’s pronounced Lasser, not Lassie,” said the very affable Mr Jensen, who perhaps objected to being associated with a certain canine character who performed miraculous deeds in his eponymous TVseries. Presumably Lasse will hope to be top dog come the end of the week.

A headline act
One of the Tour’s referees (who shall again remain nameless) fancies himself as a budding journalist, particularly in the headline writing stakes. Fine efforts such as “[Insert player’s name] takes route 66 to the top” and even “Juul never believe what Søren scored” have both been savaged by this wannabe wordsmith, who was asked to come up with a headline for the opening day’s play here. “What about Guerrier wages war on the Qualifying School,” he offered to general bemusement, before explaining that “guerre” is the French word for war. Surprisingly enough, instead of offering to get his coat at this point, he went on to justify his pitiful attempts by pointing out that we work for The European Tour, not the British Tour. Very true, but what about our readers in Spain, Italy, Scandinavia and indeed further afield, who would have been as non-plussed as we were? Don’t give up the day job, Mr Tait.

Nervous times ahead
I’m pretty sure never actually heard a nerve jangle and, having recently damaged nerves in my back the sound of shredding them sounds pretty horrific. Yet both these phrases are likely to come into our common parlance over the next six days. Yes, it’s the time of year again when 156 players go through the mill that is Qualifying School.  Just six rounds of golf here in Spain separate the players from a securing place on The 2010 Race to Dubai and the chance to compete alongside Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy et al. There is sure to be a cocktail of heartache, frustration, ecstasy and relief in equal measure as only the top 30 players and ties gain cards for The European Tour for next season. For some of the more experienced players here, this week represents a chance to get their career back on track or for those whose rookie campaign did not go according to plan, redemption could be just around the corner. For the considerable up and coming talent also here, it presents a fast-track to their dream shot at joining Europe’s elite. All 156 need look no further than Oskar Henningsson and Michael Hoey for inspiration. Both players came through last year’s Qualifying School – Henningsson as winner having progressed through all three stages – and went on to win their maiden European Tour titles in 2009. Similarly Chris Wood all gained his card through the Qualifying School and went on to finish tied third in The Open Championship en route to winning the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year Award. Over the years there has been an abundance of talent that has emerged from Qualifying School and gone on to untold success– Sandy Lyle, Jose Maria Olazábal, Justin Rose and Lee Westwood to name but a few. It might just be six rounds of golf but in many ways the forthcoming battle is also a rites of passage.