1997 Challenge Tour

{{Infobox golf season

| year = 1997

| tour = Challenge Tour

| regular_season = {{Start date|1997|3|5|df=y}} – {{end date|1997|10|26|df=y}}

| no_of_events = 35{{efn|A further two tournaments were scheduled but were either cancelled or abandoned.}}

| most_wins = {{flagicon|ENG}} Andrew Collison (2)
{{flagicon|SWE}} Fredrik Henge (2)
{{flagicon|FRA}} Raphaël Jacquelin (2)
{{flagicon|FIN}} Anssi Kankkonen (2)
{{flagicon|ITA}} Michele Reale (2)
{{flagicon|GER}} Erol Şimşek (2)

| honor1 = Rankings

| honoree1 = {{flagicon|ITA}} Michele Reale

| honor2 =

| honoree2 =

| honor3 =

| honoree3 =

| honor4 =

| honoree4 =

| prevseason = 1996

| nextseason = 1998

}}

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.{{cite web |url=https://www.europeantour.com/challenge-tour/schedule/1997/ |title=1997 Tournament schedule |publisher=European Tour |access-date=30 August 2023}}

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%" !Date!!Tournament!!Host country!!Purse (£)!!Winner{{efn\|name=totals\|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.}}!!Notes
8 Mar	Open de Côte d'Ivoire	Ivory Coast	align=right\|70,000	{{flagicon\|DEN}} Knud Storgaard (1)
16 Mar	Lonrho Kenya Open	Kenya	align=right\|65,000	{{flagicon\|ARG}} Jorge Berendt (1)
13 Apr	Is Molas Challenge	Italy	align=right\|35,000	{{flagicon\|ENG}} Andrew Collison (2)
19 Apr	Le Pavoniere Supercal Challenge	Italy	align=right\|35,000	{{flagicon\|ENG}} Andrew Collison (3)
27 Apr	Alianca UAP Challenger	France	align=right\|55,000	{{flagicon\|FIN}} Anssi Kankkonen (2)
4 May	Canarias Challenge	Spain	align=right\|55,000	{{flagicon\|ITA}} Michele Reale (1)
18 May	Modena Classic Open	Italy	align=right\|35,000	{{flagicon\|ESP}} Jesús María Arruti (2)
25 May	Matchmaker Austrian Open	Austria	align=right\|50,000	{{flagicon\|DEU}} Erol Şimşek (3)	New to Challenge Tour
1 Jun	Himmerland Open	Denmark	align=right\|35,000	{{flagicon\|SWE}} Mikael Lundberg (1)
8 Jun	KB Golf Challenge	Czech Republic	align=right\|55,000	{{flagicon\|DEU}} Alex Čejka (3)
8 Jun	SIAB Open	Sweden	align=right\|35,000	{{flagicon\|SWE}} Joakim Rask (3)
22 Jun	Team Erhverv Danish Open	Denmark	align=right\|80,000	{{flagicon\|ENG}} David Lynn (1)
29 Jun	Audi Quattro Trophy	Germany	align=right\|72,000	{{flagicon\|ENG}} David A. Russell (1)
29 Jun	Open dei Tessali	Italy	align=right\|35,000	{{flagicon\|ESP}} Ivó Giner (1)
6 Jul	Open des Volcans	France	align=right\|50,000	{{flagicon\|WAL}} Mark Litton (4)
7 Jul	Neuchâtel Open	Switzerland	align=right\|35,000	{{flagicon\|DEU}} Erol Şimşek (4)
13 Jul	Volvo Finnish Open	Finland	align=right\|35,000	{{flagicon\|DEN}} Søren Kjeldsen (1)
20 Jul	Rolex Trophy Pro-Am	Switzerland	align=right\|50,000	{{flagicon\|FIN}} Anssi Kankkonen (3)
~~27 Jul~~	Interlaken Open	Switzerland	align=center\|–	Abandoned{{efn\|name=abandoned\|Tournament abandoned due to persistent bad weather.{{cite news \|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-people/132685939/ \|title=Wash out! \|newspaper=The Sunday People \|location=London, United Kingdom \|date=27 July 1997 \|access-date=30 September 2023 \|page=60 \|via=Newspapers.com}}}}
27 Jul	BTC Slovenian Open	Slovenia	align=right\|40,000	{{flagicon\|SWE}} Kalle Brink (1)	New tournament
3 Aug	Klassis Turkish Open	Turkey	align=right\|85,000	{{flagicon\|WAL}} Bradley Dredge (1)	New tournament
10 Aug	Challenge Tour Championship	England	align=right\|70,000	{{flagicon\|AUS}} Greg Chalmers (1)
24 Aug	Netcom Norwegian Open	Norway	align=right\|45,000	{{flagicon\|SUI}} Demitri Bieri (1)
31 Aug	Steelcover Dutch Challenge	Netherlands	align=right\|60,000	{{flagicon\|FRA}} Raphaël Jacquelin (2)
25 Aug	Toyota Danish PGA Championship	Denmark	align=right\|40,000	{{flagicon\|SWE}} Fredrik Henge (1)
6 Sep	Sovereign Russian Open	Russia	align=right\|90,000	{{flagicon\|ITA}} Michele Reale (2)
7 Sep	Öhrlings Swedish Matchplay	Sweden	align=right\|50,000	{{flagicon\|USA}} Gregory Garbero (1)
14 Sep	Perrier European Pro-Am	Belgium	align=right\|65,000	{{flagicon\|USA}} Craig Hainline (1)
21 Sep	Eulen Open Galea	Spain	align=right\|65,000	{{flagicon\|ENG}} Warren Bennett (2)
26 Sep	BPGT Challenge	England	align=right\|35,000	{{flagicon\|FRA}} Olivier Edmond (1)
~~28 Sep~~	Polish Open	Poland	align=center\|–	Cancelled
5 Oct	Telia InfoMedia Grand Prix	Sweden	align=right\|80,000	{{flagicon\|SWE}} Fredrik Henge (2)
11 Oct	San Paolo Vita Open	Italy	align=right\|45,000	{{flagicon\|AUS}} Mathew Goggin (2)
19 Oct	Estoril Challenge	Portugal	align=right\|85,000	{{flagicon\|ESP}} José Manuel Carriles (1)	New tournament
style="background:thistle;" \| 26 Oct	Estoril Grand Final	Portugal	align=right\|70,000	{{flagicon\|FRA}} 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.

class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%"

!Date!!Tournament!!Host country!!Purse
(£)!!Winner{{efn|name=totals}}!!Notes

22 Jun

Memorial Olivier Barras

Switzerland

align=right|40,000

{{flagicon|FRA}} Raphaël Jacquelin (1)

Rankings

The rankings were based on prize money won during the season, calculated in Pound sterling.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-birmingham-post-1997-challenge-tour/132637820/ |title=Leading 15 players on rankings who earn European Tour cards for 1998 |newspaper=The Birmingham Post |location=Birmingham, United Kingdom |date=27 October 1997 |page=21 |access-date=29 September 2023 |via=Newspapers.com}} The top 15 players on the rankings earned status to play on the 1998 European Tour.

class="wikitable" !Rank !! Player !! Prize money (£)
align=center\|1	{{flagicon\|ITA}} Michele Reale	align=center\|51,679
align=center\|2	{{flagicon\|SWE}} Kalle Brink	align=center\|36,112
align=center\|3	{{flagicon\|AUS}} Greg Chalmers	align=center\|35,267
align=center\|4	{{flagicon\|FRA}} Raphaël Jacquelin	align=center\|34,537
align=center\|5	{{flagicon\|FIN}} Anssi Kankkonen	align=center\|32,128

Notes

References

External links

{{official site|http://www.europeantour.com/challenge-tour/}}

Category:Challenge Tour seasons

Challenge Tour

class="wikitable" !Rank !! Player !! Prize money (£)
align=center\|1	{{flagicon\|ITA}} Michele Reale	align=center\|51,679
align=center\|2	{{flagicon\|SWE}} Kalle Brink	align=center\|36,112
align=center\|3	{{flagicon\|AUS}} Greg Chalmers	align=center\|35,267
align=center\|4	{{flagicon\|FRA}} Raphaël Jacquelin	align=center\|34,537
align=center\|5	{{flagicon\|FIN}} Anssi Kankkonen	align=center\|32,128