Ask any Challenge Tour graduate to give an honest appraisal of their time on that particular Tour and the answer is invariably the same: expensive, demanding…but an invaluable apprenticeship for the European Tour.
John Bickerton is living, walking proof that the Challenge Tour is thriving in 1999 and satisfying the demands of golfers imbued with a desire to make the grade with the ‘big boys’’ on the main Tour.
Last season, the affable Midlander finished 128th on the European Tour and eighth on the Challenge Tour. In total, he won £70,614 and came agonisingly close to becoming the first player to win a card in the same season through both Tours.
At 29, Bickerton has found a new lease of life, and that season on the Challenge Tour is one of the principal reasons for his rediscovered drive and enthusiasm.
In eight starts in 1999, he has not missed a cut and finished no worse than the tied 46th place in his first tournament, the South African PGA Championship.
Since then, Bickerton’’s performances have been nothing short of remarkable. His record reads: ninth, 45th, 27th,15th, fourth, second and most recently tenth in the Turespaña Masters-Open Andalucía last week.
In the process, he has earned 158,087 euro, lies fifth in the Volvo Order of Merit, his card is secure for another season - and there are even quiet murmurings relating to Bickerton in the context of the Ryder Cup at Brookline Country Club.
A touch premature for that, perhaps, but nevertheless Bickerton continues to emphasise that as a training ground for the ‘real thing’’, the European Challenge Tour is second to none.
He insisted: "In my mind, there is no better way to prepare for life on the main Tour. I say that as someone who has twice got his card through the Challenge Tour, in 1994 and again last year.
"It is good for someone like myself who has been over the course and believes this is the preferable method of getting your card back. But it is even more valuable to a novice coming out on the road and trying to make a living as a tournament player.
"You can’’t beat playing competitively each week over four rounds, going through all the travelling that comes with being a member on the European Tour. The Challenge Tour prepares you, physically and mentally, for everything which you will eventually experience on the main Tour.
"I don’’t think the public quite appreciate the high standards on the Challenge Tour. These lads are the stars of tomorrow and it’’s noticeable how the cream is rising to the top already this season.
"Warren Bennett showed last season that, given the chance, he can compete with anyone and I roomed with him in Dubai when he put up a really outstanding showing. He will soon be right up there. Stephen Gallacher, too, was prominent in Qatar and is another with a big future.
"Yes, it can be a bit of a bind at times, but then you have to learn the hard way. I regard those last five years as my apprenticeship and hopefully I am now showing that I’’ve served that apprenticeship.
"But for all the hardships it’’s a really pleasurable experience. Golf has never been hard work for me. I love it and I have to take off my hat to Alain de Soultrait, the Challenge Tour Director. I admire the way he has taken the Tour forward."
Bickerton is your original golfing enthusiast. Last season, using both Challenge Tour and European Tour to win back his card, he played 22 consecutive tournaments - enough to knock the stuffing out of many players, but not John.
"I was tired but it was worth it. I mixed the two Tours and eventually earned £70,614 and got my card by finishing eighth on the Challenge Tour. I’’m lucky that I enjoy the sport so much. I wake up every day enjoying what I do.
"Sure, I played 22 in a row, but how many people would want to wake up knowing that they have to go out and play golf? When I get down, I always remember that."
Three times, Bickerton has visited MacGregor Week at San Roque early in January. He is a huge fan of the European Tour’’s training academy on the Costa del Sol and his enthusiasm shines through.
"I love Macgregor Week. It’’s a great way to learn and relax. There is so much experience on tap that you can’’t fail to learn and appreciate it. I had a couple of sessions with Tommy Horton this year and it made me feel more capable to do certain things.
"He has proved himself in golf and continues to do so. You watch him hit balls and it’’s impressive. He has more imagination than most and I took his experience and wisdom out into the tournaments with me."
Bickerton surely deserves his good run of form. As an amateur, he was struck by lightning not once but twice - disproving that old theory! He laughed: "The first time was in a county championship at Worcestershire Golf Club.
"I had my umbrella up and the rain stopped and a blue spark came down my arm and the brolly shot up in the air. It knocked me over and I had a sore arm for two days.
"The second time was not long after that at Little Aston in a Midland Amateur event. Actually I won one of the events and finished second in the other so it didn’’t do me too much damage - although I have to admit that I do get nervous with lightning around these days."
Bickerton has made a flying start to 1999. Helped by a book bought by his wife, Julie, he has not looked back during a series of tremendous performances, culminating in a play-off loss to Van Phillips, another Challenge Tour graduate from 1996, in the Algarve Portuguese Open.
He explained: "The book, which I read over the winter, is called: ‘Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway’’. It’’s all about life in general and positive thinking. No-one else is going to do anything for you so you might as well get on with it yourself and handle things.
"I went away over the winter months and played in the States. I played mini-tour events in Florida and played in ten tournaments in seven weeks and won five of them. That covered my costs, basically.
"The book has helped. I used to get nervous, petrified if I was doing well, but now I am more relaxed. I think it is a fear of failure. The mind controls everything in life so I am trying to break down the barriers."
So far, Bickerton has not been doing too badly, thank you. Eight events down and a long, fruitful season lies ahead for a player who did not complain when he was struggling and who appreciates his good fortune now.
He added: "My dad and uncle are in a sheet metal working business. I’’ve done my share of spot welding on the shop floor. I know I’’m lucky. Well, I now know I will still be employed during the 2000 season. That can’’t be bad, can it?"
