Diary From The Challenge Tour: Chris Hanson

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Away from the glamour of the European Tour there are thousands of golfers trying to make enough money to support their dreams and their families. In this TG online feature we follow the highs and lows of 2011 EuroPro Tour Order of Merit winner Chris Hanson, as he tries to adjust to life on the Challenge Tour. This week he is preparing for the European Tour 2012 Qualifying School…

Hi everyone,

It’s been a while since I last bored you with a blog post but I’ve been pretty quiet regarding tournaments these last four weeks. But with that being the case, I’ve been preparing non-stop for European Tour School (Stage 2) which starts on Wednesday.

In this time I’ve tried to make my practice as constructive as possible, playing skills games, setting targets, goals and keeping it as competitive as possible against myself.

www.mygripzone.com is something I’ve been using which has been fun and a great challenge! Check it out; if you like to practise they do a free trial that’s well worth signing up for!

It’s also been great to get some quality sessions in with both my swing coach (Mark Pearson) and mental coach (Duncan McCarthy, Ignite Sports). When you’re on the road week after to week it’s hard to find the time to catch up and get some quality work done, you can do bits over the phone and videos online but it’s not quite the same as that 1-to-1 session.

So Tour school starts next week … For those of you who are not too sure how it works, here’s a quick insight.

Approximately 1,000 people enter paying £1350.00 each (plus their expenses), there are then 8 different venues around Europe for Stage 1, followed by 4 different venues for Stage 2 around Spain. The final stage is then in Spain played over 6 rounds on two great courses at the PGA Catalunya resort, close to the end of the month.

From my position on the Challenge Tour I’m exempt from Stage 1, so I go straight to Stage 2, which is a massive bonus, and I’ve been allocated Lumine Golf and Beach Club which is around 1 hour south of Barcelona, it looks great. I’ve done my research and I can’t wait to get out there and test myself.

I fly this Monday and really feel all aspects of my game are in a good place at the moment, I’m going to give it 100% and really try and enjoy everything the week throws at me. I’m another year wiser now and hopefully that year of experience on the Challenge Tour will stand me in good stead.

It’s also great to have Steve back on the bag, to be given that extra confidence over shots and decisions by someone you trust could be the difference between getting a Tour card or not…!

We shall soon see – wish me luck!

Here’s a small ‘Tour School’ video I created a while back!
 
Thanks as always for the support!!
 
Regards
 
Chris

 

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