2002 Challenge Tour
| Duration | 28 February 2002 – 27 October 2002 |
|---|---|
| Number of official events | 25[a] |
| Most wins | Lee S. James (3) |
| Rankings | Lee S. James |
← 2001 2003 → | |
The 2002 Challenge Tour was the 14th season of the Challenge Tour, the official development tour to the European Tour.
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 2002 season.[1]
| Date | Tournament | Host country | Purse (€) |
Winner[b] | OWGR points |
Other tours[c] |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 Mar | Sameer Kenya Open | Kenya | £75,000 | Lee S. James (2) | 6 | ||
| 10 Mar | Stanbic Zambia Open | Zambia | 95,000 | Marc Cayeux (1) | 10 | AFR | |
| 24 Mar | Madeira Island Open | Portugal | 550,000 | Diego Borrego (3) | 24 | EUR | New to Challenge Tour |
| 14 Apr | Panalpina Banque Commerciale du Maroc Classic | Morocco | 130,000 | Jean-François Lucquin (1) | 6 | New tournament | |
| 28 Apr | Tessali Open del Sud | Italy | 90,000 | Simon Wakefield (1) | 6 | ||
| Credit Suisse Private Banking Open | Switzerland | – | Abandoned[d] | – | |||
| 26 May | Izki Challenge de España | Spain | 135,000 | Fredrik Widmark (1) | 6 | ||
| 2 Jun | Austrian Golf Open | Austria | 110,000 | Markus Brier (1) | 6 | ||
| 9 Jun | Nykredit Danish Open | Denmark | 125,000 | Ed Stedman (1) | 6 | ||
| 16 Jun | Aa St Omer Open | France | 330,000 | Nicolas Vanhootegem (2) | 6 | ||
| 16 Jun | Galeria Kaufhof Pokal Challenge | Germany | 90,000 | Alex Čejka (4) | 6 | ||
| 23 Jun | Clearstream International Luxembourg Open | Luxembourg | 105,000 | Lee S. James (3) | 6 | ||
| 30 Jun | Open des Volcans | France | 110,000 | Scott Kammann (1) | 6 | ||
| 7 Jul | PGA Triveneta Terme Euganee International Open | Italy | 115,000 | Wolfgang Huget (2) | 6 | ||
| 14 Jul | Volvo Finnish Open | Finland | 100,000 | Thomas Nørret (1) | 6 | ||
| 21 Jul | Golf Challenge | Germany | 100,000 | Iain Pyman (4) | 6 | ||
| 28 Jul | Charles Church European Challenge Tour Championship | England | 250,000 | John E. Morgan (1) | 6 | ||
| 4 Aug | Talma Finnish Challenge | Finland | 150,000 | Lee S. James (4) | 6 | ||
| 11 Aug | BMW Russian Open | Russia | 180,000 | Iain Pyman (5) | 6 | ||
| 18 Aug | North West of Ireland Open | Ireland | 350,000 | Adam Mednick (6) | 16 | EUR | |
| 25 Aug | Rolex Trophy | Switzerland | CHF 225,000 | Simon Hurd (1) | 6 | ||
| 25 Aug | Skandia PGA Open | Sweden | 95,000 | Thomas Besancenez (1) | 6 | ||
| 8 Sep | Formby Hall Challenge | England | £75,000 | Matthew Blackey (1) | 6 | ||
| 15 Sep | Telia Grand Prix | Sweden | SKr 1,100,000 | Matthew Blackey (2) | 6 | ||
| 20 Oct | Fortis Bank Challenge Open | Netherlands | 135,000 | Didier de Vooght (1) | 6 | ||
| 27 Oct | Challenge Tour Grand Final | France | 200,000 | Peter Lawrie (1) | 6 | Tour Championship |
Rankings
The rankings were based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Euros.[3] The top 15 players on the rankings earned status to play on the 2003 European Tour.[4]
| Rank | Player | Prize money (€) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lee S. James | 121,531 |
| 2 | Jean-François Lucquin | 101,544 |
| 3 | Matthew Blackey | 94,121 |
| 4 | Peter Lawrie | 89,073 |
| 5 | Iain Pyman | 75,674 |
Notes
- ^ One further tournament was scheduled but was abandoned.
- ^ The number in brackets after each winner's name is the number of Challenge Tour events they had won up to and including that tournament. This information is only shown for Challenge Tour members. It is rare for someone to accumulate many wins on the Challenge Tour as success at this level usually leads to promotion to the European Tour.
- ^ AFR − Sunshine Tour; EUR − European Tour.
- ^ Tournament abandoned due to persistent bad weather.[2]
References
- ^ "2002 Tournament schedule". European Tour. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ "Credit Suisse Private Banking Open abandoned". European Tour. 19 March 2010. Archived from the original on 19 March 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
- ^ "2002 Rankings". European Tour. Archived from the original on 23 December 2002. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
- ^ "European Tour places up for grabs in Challenge Tour Grand Final". European Tour. 19 March 2010. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
The Grand Final represents three contests in one. There is the tournament itself with a prize fund of €200,000, the race for the Number One spot on the Rankings, and the battle to secure the 15 European Tour cards for next season.