With the Road to Oman schedule for the coming season now announced (see here), who better to offer advice on how to approach 2017 on the Challenge Tour than last year’s Rankings winner Jordan Smith?
The Englishman has already made an impressive start to life on the European Tour, refusing to blink in a thrilling final round shootout with four-time Major winner Rory McIlroy and eventual champion Graeme Storm at the BMW SA Open hosted by City of Ekurhuleni as his third place finish took him into the top 100 in the world for the first time.
The 24 year old has understandably fond memories of his one season on the Challenge Tour as he claimed a second Rankings win in as many years, having topped the EuroPro Tour in 2015, though he admits that his immediate success on the Road to Oman did come as a surprise.
“It was a hell of a year, a year that I’ll probably never forget,” he said. “I won the second tournament of the season which set me up for the year – I could plan ahead, take weeks off, play in the bigger tournaments.
“I then won the second to last event and then obviously I won it overall, so I was really chuffed with how I played all year and over the moon with how it turned out.
“I didn’t really expect to get my European Tour card to be honest. My first goal was just to keep my Challenge Tour card and then I won the second event and my goals completely changed and it was to win the Road to Oman Rankings, and I managed to accomplish that.
“Playing the Challenge Tour has definitely set me up for this year. Obviously we do a lot of travelling, outside Europe, to China and everywhere, so it gives you a good sense of what the European Tour is going to be like.
“I’m loving the European Tour so far, really enjoying it. I obviously had a really good week in South Africa which sort of settled me in for the year, but I’m really enjoying it.”
Smith’s position as Road to Oman winner was all but secured by victory in the season’s penultimate event, the Ras Al Khaimah 2016 Golf Challenge, but his successful year was underpinned by his early season win in the Red Sea Egyptian Challenge Presented by Hassan Allam Properties.
A fast start has its benefits, but Smith’s advice for this year’s challengers is to stay patient, with 27 events in 21 countries on the 2017 schedule offering plenty of opportunities to perform.
“Winning in Egypt was massive because it allowed me to plan my year ahead,” he said. “I was doing four weeks on, one week off, so I was staying fresher for the bigger events.
“It also took the pressure off going out and having to perform – obviously I still wanted to go out and win and do my best, but it took the pressure off the money side of it.
“That said, I’d advise the Challenge Tour players not to try to push too hard too early. You’ve got some big events at the end of the year and there’s a lot of events so just take your time and it will eventually come – good luck!”
