1997 Challenge Tour
Golf tour season
The 1997 Challenge Tour was the ninth season of the Challenge Tour , the official development tour to the European Tour .
Schedule
The following table lists official events during the 1997 season.
Date Tournament Host country Purse (£ ) Winner Notes
8 Mar Open de Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast 70,000 Knud Storgaard (1)
16 Mar Lonrho Kenya Open Kenya 65,000 Jorge Berendt (1)
13 Apr Is Molas Challenge Italy 35,000 Andrew Collison (2)
19 Apr Le Pavoniere Supercal Challenge Italy 35,000 Andrew Collison (3)
27 Apr Alianca UAP Challenger France 55,000 Anssi Kankkonen (2)
4 May Canarias Challenge Spain 55,000 Michele Reale (1)
18 May Modena Classic Open Italy 35,000 Jesús María Arruti (2)
25 May Matchmaker Austrian Open Austria 50,000 Erol Şimşek (3)New to Challenge Tour
1 Jun Himmerland Open Denmark 35,000 Mikael Lundberg (1)
8 Jun KB Golf Challenge Czech Republic 55,000 Alex Čejka (3)
8 Jun SIAB Open Sweden 35,000 Joakim Rask (3)
22 Jun Team Erhverv Danish Open Denmark 80,000 David Lynn (1)
29 Jun Audi Quattro Trophy Germany 72,000 David A. Russell (1)
29 Jun Open dei Tessali Italy 35,000 Ivó Giner (1)
6 Jul Open des Volcans France 50,000 Mark Litton (4)
7 Jul Neuchâtel Open Switzerland 35,000 Erol Şimşek (4)
13 Jul Volvo Finnish Open Finland 35,000 Søren Kjeldsen (1)
20 Jul Rolex Trophy Pro-Am Switzerland 50,000 Anssi Kankkonen (3)
27 Jul Interlaken Open Switzerland – Abandoned
27 Jul BTC Slovenian Open Slovenia 40,000 Kalle Brink (1)New tournament
3 Aug Klassis Turkish Open Turkey 85,000 Bradley Dredge (1)New tournament
10 Aug Challenge Tour Championship England 70,000 Greg Chalmers (1)
24 Aug Netcom Norwegian Open Norway 45,000 Demitri Bieri (1)
31 Aug Steelcover Dutch Challenge Netherlands 60,000 Raphaël Jacquelin (2)
25 Aug Toyota Danish PGA Championship Denmark 40,000 Fredrik Henge (1)
6 Sep Sovereign Russian Open Russia 90,000 Michele Reale (2)
7 Sep Öhrlings Swedish Matchplay Sweden 50,000 Gregory Garbero (1)
14 Sep Perrier European Pro-Am Belgium 65,000 Craig Hainline (1)
21 Sep Eulen Open Galea Spain 65,000 Warren Bennett (2)
26 Sep BPGT Challenge England 35,000 Olivier Edmond (1)
28 Sep Polish Open Poland – Cancelled
5 Oct Telia InfoMedia Grand Prix Sweden 80,000 Fredrik Henge (2)
11 Oct San Paolo Vita Open Italy 45,000 Mathew Goggin (2)
19 Oct Estoril Challenge Portugal 85,000 José Manuel Carriles (1)New tournament
26 Oct Estoril Grand Final Portugal 70,000 Nicolas Joakimides (1)Tour Championship
Unofficial events
The following events were sanctioned by the Challenge Tour, but did not carry official money, wins were still official however.
Notes
↑ A further two tournaments were scheduled but were either cancelled or abandoned.
1 2 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 .
↑ Tournament abandoned due to persistent bad weather.