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Losing your card: the options
We outline four key options for those who finished outside the top 115 and lose their European Tour card
The thinking is that once you finish outside the top 115 on the Race to Dubai and lose your European Tour card, it is all doom and gloom.
Despite pocketing around €250,000 the future is reported to be bleak and we should no longer expect to see your name in the near future. But what actually happens is slightly different....
1) Go to Q-School
For a fee of £1,350, if you finished in 116 to 145th place on the money list you are eligible for the final stage of Qualifying School. Approximately 1,000 players enter and by the final stage that number has been whittled down to 156.
The leading 30 players (and ties) are eligible for Category 11b Membership of the following year’s European Tour.
Simon Wakefield, who won the 2010 Q School, got to play in 25 tournaments in the 2011 season.
But all is still not lost even if you don’t make the much-heralded top 30. All those who make the cut fall into Category 14. Miles Tunnicliff fell into this bracket and still got nine starts last year.
2) Category 12
If you finish in 116-145th place of the RTD you are then awarded Category 12 for the following season. Players in this bracket last year include Sam Hutsby, who got 10 starts, and Daniel Vancsik (12).
The key then is to play well in early-season events such as the South African Swing and improve your ranking in the first re-rank in May. The second re-rank then comes at the end of August.
The cases of Alastair Forsyth and Marc Warren offer even more optimism. Forsyth played in 20 events while Warren managed 23 thanks to some strong play and a handful of invitations.
The average minimum number of opportunities for Q School graduates (Category 11) over the past 10 seasons is 18 events.
A non-member is entitled to as many as seven invites over the course of a season. There is no limit for members, and generally there are as many as eight per tournament.
3) Challenge Tour
If you finish up to anything as low as 145th spot on the main tour you still have the Challenge Tour. Finish in the top 10 of the Order of Merit here and you get a Category 10(b) membership for the following year.
Alvaro Velasco topped the 2010 Challenge Tour and played in as many as 30 tournaments last year. Finish 11th to 15th, like Scott Jamieson and Lee Slattery (pictured), and you can expect a similar amount of starts.
The Scot went on to make it to Dubai World Championship while Slattery claimed his maiden win in Madrid. Should you claim the last five spots on the Challenge Tour (16-20), you can expect up to 25 starts. Italy’s Lorenzo Gagli was one of these and won over €600,000 last year.
4) Beg for invites
This is where a good management company, a nice letter to the organisers or some impressive play in years gone by can play a big part. A non-member is entitled to as many as seven invites over the course of a season. There is no limit for members, and generally there are as many as eight per tournament.
Stephen Gallacher is an interesting case, he missed eight straight cuts in 2009 due to a virus, ended up at Q School and finished third. His category wasn’t good enough to get a spot at Wentworth but, helped by a letter from his uncle Bernard, he played. And finished fourth.
The other players to get invites that week were Matteo Manassero, who was top 20, and the eventual winner, Simon Khan.
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