Yourcaddy #3 | Page 70

The HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour is about to embark on its biggest season yet, with a record number of players competing for a record level of prize money at 15 of Britain’s best golf courses. The UK’s only satellite to the European Tour, the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour offers players direct access to the Challenge Tour through its final Order of Merit. The tour makes up part of European golf’s third tier, alongside three other satellite tours across Europe – although the EuroPro offers players the biggest prize funds per event. You can look at the leaderboard at any European Tour event and you’ll see former EuroPro players. Louis Oosthuizen and Charl Schwartzel have brought Majors to the EuroPro’s Hall of Fame, while Nicolas Colsaerts and Ross Fisher have won Ryder Cups. A whole host of other players have won on the European Tour and more recently players like Stuart Manley, Oliver Farr and Paul Maddy have progressed from EuroPro to Challenge Tour to European Tour without pausing for breath. Tyrell Hatton was the EuroPro Rookie of the Year in 2012. The EuroPro is a partnership between the PGA, who administer the tour, and Matchroom Sport, the sports promotional company headed by Barry Hearn which has masterminded the growth of darts and the recent resurgence of snooker and boxing. 70 YOURCADDY | ISSUE 03 Over recent years the tour has gone from strength to strength, each year launching an even more impressive line-up of courses than the last. Celtic Manor, Chart Hi