The Finest Cut of All

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Sydney Beasley
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The Finest Cut of All Andrew Johnston receives the silver plaque for finishing Number One in the European Challenge Tour Rankings from (left) Len Hunt, President of Al-Futtaim Automotiv Group, and

was Englishman Andrew Johnston, affectionately referred to as Beef, who emerged the finest cut.

graduation in 2011 was no flash in the pan and he really is a force to be reckoned with.

1 The Finest Cut of All Andrew Johnston receives the silver plaque for finishing Number One in the European Challenge Tour Rankings from (left) Len Hunt, President of Al-Futtaim Automotiv Group, and Alain de Soultrait, Director of European Challenge Tour Many a young hero was made during a 2014 European Challenge Tour season in which the virtues of youthful exuberance were exemplified, and it was Englishman Andrew Johnston, affectionately referred to as Beef, who emerged the finest cut. The 25 year old was a man reborn, rising from the adversity of a failed rookie season on The European Tour in 2012, swiftly followed by a debilitating wrist injury, to prove that his Challenge Tour graduation in 2011 was no flash in the pan and he really is a force to be reckoned with. A true man of the people, Johnston s inimitable bouncing strides on the fairways and infectious, ever-present smile are sure to make him a fan favourite when he eventually makes his inevitable mark on the highest echelons of world golf. His is a delightfully charming demeanour, but if the 2014 season taught us anything, it is that behind the unassuming and cheerful exterior, there is a fierce competitive instinct and deeply engrained desire to succeed. Two wins and a Rankings winning total of 190,856, which is second only to Edoardo Molinari s record-breaking number in 2009, Andrew Johnston 220 European Challenge Tour 221

Jake Roos Daniel Brooks Oliver Farr Moritz Lampert are proof that the effervescent Johnston is not to be taken lightly.

When he broke on to the scene in the 2011 Challenge Tour season, he came from nowhere to secure the 15th card on offer in the Rankings courtesy of a tied third

With his endless enthusiasm, Johnston was a breath of fresh air, but life on The European Tour was not to prove so easy and fancy-free.

Things were to deteriorate even further in 2013, as he suffered a wrist injury which ruled him out of action for more than six months.

Everyone was telling me everything would be alright and I was being told I would be OK in a couple of weeks and then a couple of weeks passed and I wasn t.

You just have to have a really good think about what you re going to do and when you ve decided, you need to stick to it and trust it.

Johnston certainly never lost faith in himself and in 2014 he returned a different beast.

had the desired effect as he took the Challenge Tour by storm.

with back to back top ten finishes before doubling his trophy haul just three weeks after his Scottish triumph courtesy of a four-shot victory at the Le

Johnston was simply unstoppable, a tied third finish at the lucrative Azerbaijan Golf Challenge Open further cementing his domination on the Rankings before a

2 Jake Roos Daniel Brooks Oliver Farr Moritz Lampert are proof that the effervescent Johnston is not to be taken lightly. The Londoner s rise to Challenge Tour Number One was not without adversity, either. When he broke on to the scene in the 2011 Challenge Tour season, he came from nowhere to secure the 15th card on offer in the Rankings courtesy of a tied third place finish at the prestigious season finale. With his endless enthusiasm, Johnston was a breath of fresh air, but life on The European Tour was not to prove so easy and fancy-free. While he made the cut in half of his 20 appearances in 2012, he could not muster a breakthrough and finished a lowly 163rd in The Race to Dubai. Things were to deteriorate even further in 2013, as he suffered a wrist injury which ruled him out of action for more than six months. There were some massive lows, he admitted. It was so frustrating and I got a bit down on myself. Everyone was telling me everything would be alright and I was being told I would be OK in a couple of weeks and then a couple of weeks passed and I wasn t. It went on like that for a while. It was one hard battle of a year, but I think I learned a lot from it, to dig deep every week. You just have to have a really good think about what you re going to do and when you ve decided, you need to stick to it and trust it. It s the same as on the course, you stick to a certain swing or feeling you ve got and just trust it for that week. I think it s the same idea. Johnston certainly never lost faith in himself and in 2014 he returned a different beast. Looking visibly slimmer and more athletic, the North Middlesex golfer had obviously been working tirelessly over the winter to raise the bar and it certainly had the desired effect as he took the Challenge Tour by storm. A win at the prestigious Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels and Resorts in June set the tone for a truly stunning run of form, following that with back to back top ten finishes before doubling his trophy haul just three weeks after his Scottish triumph courtesy of a four-shot victory at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge in France. Johnston was simply unstoppable, a tied third finish at the lucrative Azerbaijan Golf Challenge Open further cementing his domination on the Rankings before a runner-up finish at the Kazakhstan Open in September virtually secured his title as the 2014 Challenge Tour Number One. His top ten at the season-ending Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club providing the icing on the cake. It feels awesome to be Number One, he said afterwards. It was a great finish to the year in Dubai and it s so good to finish Number One. You want to have your separate goals as the year goes on, the first one was to get into the Rolex Trophy and then just to get to the Grand Final and then try get the card, but you never expect to be Number One at the end of the season. I m looking forward to everything about The European Tour and getting out to play in those great tournaments. There are a lot Jason Barnes Antonio Hortal Andrew McArthur Jordi Garcia Pinto Marco Crespi Thomas Linard 222 European Challenge Tour 223

STAY AND PLAY AT A William Harrold Joakim Lagergren WORLD-CLASS GOLF COURSE more cameras around, a lot more people and a lot more noise and I think 2012 was just about getting used to that.

Al Badia Golf Club by InterContinental Dubai Festival City provides a breathtaking retreat within the grounds of Robert Trent Jones II designed golf course.

For more information or to make a booking, please call +971 (4) 601 0101, email albadiagolf@ihg.com or visit www.albadiagolfclub.

is Frenchman Benjamin Hebert, who provided a fitting end to the season in Dubai when he made history by becoming the first player to win three titles in a single season on two separate occasions.

While his rise was not quite as meteoric in 2014, Hebert much like Johnston looked a far more consistent and assured player as he added the Norwegian Challenge title to his trophy cabinet in August,

While Hebert s third win came too late to earn a place in The 2014 Race to Dubai, another rising young star in the shape of Moritz Lampert had already earned automatic graduation from the Challenge

3 STAY AND PLAY AT A William Harrold Joakim Lagergren WORLD-CLASS GOLF COURSE more cameras around, a lot more people and a lot more noise and I think 2012 was just about getting used to that. I think I m more assured of my game and trust my game a bit more. I ve learned so much over the last couple of years and that experience really helps. Al Badia Golf Club by InterContinental Dubai Festival City provides a breathtaking retreat within the grounds of Robert Trent Jones II designed golf course. The facilities encompass a fully equipped pro shop, a world-class golf academy boasting the region s only TaylorMade Performance Lab, themed dining outlets and extensive event venues. For more information or to make a booking, please call +971 (4) , albadiagolf@ihg.com or visit Al Badia Golf Club by InterContinental Dubai Festival City is home to the European Challenge Tour Grand Final Where Heroes are Made Another man who added years of experience to a precocious talent is Frenchman Benjamin Hebert, who provided a fitting end to the season in Dubai when he made history by becoming the first player to win three titles in a single season on two separate occasions. The 27 year old took the fast-track route to The European Tour back in 2011 when he claimed three wins in less than two months. While his rise was not quite as meteoric in 2014, Hebert much like Johnston looked a far more consistent and assured player as he added the Norwegian Challenge title to his trophy cabinet in August, followed by victory at the Open Blue Green Cotes d`armor Bretagne in France in September, before his Dubai triumph earned him second position in the Rankings. While Hebert s third win came too late to earn a place in The 2014 Race to Dubai, another rising young star in the shape of Moritz Lampert had already earned automatic graduation from the Challenge Tour earlier in the year, as the young German stormed through the second tier with a trio of victories. The 22 year old was playing his rookie season on the second tier having already spent a year on The European Tour, and Pierre Relecom took to it like a duck to water as he won his first title at the Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda in Austria in May, before victory at the Fred Olsen Challenge de España a month later moved him ever closer to a return to the top table. The inaugural edition of the lucrative Azerbaijan Golf Challenge Open provided a fittingly spectacular setting for the Golf Club St Leon-Rot player to exit stage left, as a two shot win earned him his place back in the big time. One man for whom a week in the limelight provided plentiful inspiration was Byeonghun An, whose experience at The 2014 Open Championship and tie for 26th provided a launchpad for the 23 year old to finally make his stamp on the Challenge Tour. An, who still holds the record as the youngest winner of the US Amateur Championship having won the prestigious event in 2009, followed up his Major moment with a runner-up finish at the Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge before going on to become the first Korean to win on the Challenge Tour, courtesy of his victory at the Rolex Trophy in Switzerland in August. Byeong-hun An Mark Tullo European Challenge Tour 225

Jérôme Lando Casanova Barnes was the fourth Englishman to make the grade on the season-long list, an impressive figure matched only by a remarkable surge from the French, with Michael Lorenzo-Vera,

Lando Casanova provided one of the real stories of the Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club, earning an incredible eleventh hour graduation courtesy of a

In an enthralling finale, the 29 year old watched on as Oliver Farr bogeyed the final hole, meaning the Cannes player finished in outright second to earn his card, while his Welsh counter-part could

Farr s top three finish, however, was still enough to complete his rapid rise through the Challenge Tour, having made his mark earlier in the year courtesy of a maiden victory at the Turkish Airlines

Those for whom victory in the 2014 season was still not enough to reach the holy grail of graduation included Spaniard Antonio Hortal (Challenge de Catalunya), Thomas Linard of France (D+D REAL Czech

Challenge presented by Association Suisse de Golf), Ricardo Gouveia of Portugal (EMC Golf Challenge Open 2014) and Swedes Joakim Lagergren (Northern Ireland Open Challenge in association with Maui

While no Challenge Tour member would make the direct breakthrough to the top tier by winning the NH Collection Open or Madeira Islands Open Portugal BPI, two former Challenge Tour players Marco

Jason Palmer Florian Fritsch Sam Hutsby Another former champion of the longrunning event in Geneva, Mark Tullo, took the fifth European Tour card on offer via the Challenge Tour Rankings after an

A stunning purple patch during the inaugural four-tournament season-ending Final Swing, which comprised tied third place finishes at The Foshan Open in China and the National Bank of Oman Golf

4 Jérôme Lando Casanova Barnes was the fourth Englishman to make the grade on the season-long list, an impressive figure matched only by a remarkable surge from the French, with Michael Lorenzo-Vera, the ultraconsistent Edouard Espana and Jérôme Lando Casanova all joining Hebert in the graduating class of Lando Casanova provided one of the real stories of the Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club, earning an incredible eleventh hour graduation courtesy of a runner-up finish at the season-ending event. In an enthralling finale, the 29 year old watched on as Oliver Farr bogeyed the final hole, meaning the Cannes player finished in outright second to earn his card, while his Welsh counter-part could only finish in third place. Farr s top three finish, however, was still enough to complete his rapid rise through the Challenge Tour, having made his mark earlier in the year courtesy of a maiden victory at the Turkish Airlines Challenge. Those for whom victory in the 2014 season was still not enough to reach the holy grail of graduation included Spaniard Antonio Hortal (Challenge de Catalunya), Thomas Linard of France (D+D REAL Czech Challenge), Englishmen William Harrold (Belgian Challenge Open) and Max Orrin (National Bank of Oman Golf Classic), Scot Andrew McArthur (D+D REAL Slovakia Challenge), Belgian Pierre Relecom (Swiss Challenge presented by Association Suisse de Golf), Ricardo Gouveia of Portugal (EMC Golf Challenge Open 2014) and Swedes Joakim Lagergren (Northern Ireland Open Challenge in association with Maui Jim Sunglasses) and Johan Edfors (Shankai Classic presented by IDG). While no Challenge Tour member would make the direct breakthrough to the top tier by winning the NH Collection Open or Madeira Islands Open Portugal BPI, two former Challenge Tour players Marco Crespi and Daniel Brooks, respectively proved their credentials on the top tier by earning their maiden European Tour victories. Jason Palmer Florian Fritsch Sam Hutsby Another former champion of the longrunning event in Geneva, Mark Tullo, took the fifth European Tour card on offer via the Challenge Tour Rankings after an incredibly consistent season which included a third career title at the VACON OPEN in Finland in August. A stunning purple patch during the inaugural four-tournament season-ending Final Swing, which comprised tied third place finishes at The Foshan Open in China and the National Bank of Oman Golf Classic, as well as a share of sixth at the Shankai Classic presented by IDG, also in China, and a top 15 at the season finale in Dubai, rubber-stamped the Chilean s return to the top table. Another man who performed when it really mattered was England s Sam Hutsby, whose emphatic victory in the tenth edition of the lucrative Kazakhstan Open played a huge part in him finishing sixth in the Challenge Tour Rankings and securing a path back to The European Tour, having successfully negotiated his way through Qualifying School in One player who has shunned the opportunities provided by the Qualifying School in the past two years is Jordi Garcia Pinto, who declined to enter golf s great marathon in 2012 and 2013, preferring instead to earn his stripes on the Challenge Tour and graduate via the Rankings. It was in 2014 when that patience and selfbelief finally paid off, as a second career Challenge Tour title at the Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open in France in June, as well as top three finishes at the big-money NH Collection Open and Madeira Islands Open Portugal BPI, helped him to seventh place in the Rankings. Jason Palmer is another player who has taken the long route to the top as the Englishman prepares for a Rookie season on The European Tour at the age of 30, following a stunning rise to prominence during the Final Swing. The Leicestershire man, whose one-handed chipping technique has captured the imagination of the wider golfing public, followed his gutsy triumph at The Foshan Open in October with a runner-up finish at the National Bank of Oman Golf Classic a week later to seal his place on The 2015 Race to Dubai. While Palmer was taking all the plaudits in the two events leading up to the season finale, his compatriot and friend Jason Barnes was busy racking up two huge performances as a pair of tied third finishes proved decisive to his claiming 15th position in the Rankings, despite a nervous final week at the Grand Final. Michael Lorenzo-Vera Johan Edfors Ricardo Gouveia While the four big money events of the inaugural Final Swing proved crucial in the success of so many players, Florian Fritsch s graduation was made all the more remarkable for the fact that he was not present for any of the final four events due to his fear of flying. The increasingly international nature of the Challenge Tour means that the German missed out on all of the most lucrative events of the season, in countries as far afield as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, China, Oman and Dubai, but his unerring consistency on European soil meant that three runner-up finishes were enough to secure eighth place in the Rankings. Jake Roos got the 2014 season off to a thrilling start when the South African showed the kind of nerve which had seen him rack up six titles on the Sunshine Tour to claim the season-opening Barclays Kenya Open in February. He doubled his trophy haul later in the year with victory at the Aegean Airlines Challenge Tour by Hartl Resort in Germany and his two wins proved just enough to earn a Rookie season on The European Tour, claiming the 14th card. The fact that the 34 year old, despite two wins, still had to endure a nervous wait at the Grand Final before sealing his card, serves only to prove the increasing depth of talent on the Challenge Tour. NEIL AHERN Max Orrin Edouard Espana 226 European Challenge Tour 227

Benjamin Hebert THE 2014 EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR RANKINGS Pos 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49

CASANOVA Jake ROOS Jason BARNES Antonio HORTAL Ben EVANS Johan EDFORS Cyril BOUNIOL Bernd RITTHAMMER Lasse JENSEN Max ORRIN Alessandro TADINI Andrew MCARTHUR Scott HENRY Daniel GAUNT Steven BROWN

5 Benjamin Hebert THE 2014 EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR RANKINGS Pos Name Andrew JOHNSTON Benjamin HEBERT Byeong-hun AN Moritz LAMPERT Mark TULLO Sam HUTSBY Jordi GARCIA PINTO Jason PALMER Michael LORENZO-VERA Oliver FARR Edouard ESPANA Florian FRITSCH Jérôme LANDO CASANOVA Jake ROOS Jason BARNES Antonio HORTAL Ben EVANS Johan EDFORS Cyril BOUNIOL Bernd RITTHAMMER Lasse JENSEN Max ORRIN Alessandro TADINI Andrew MCARTHUR Scott HENRY Daniel GAUNT Steven BROWN Pontus WIDEGREN Jens FAHRBRING Alvaro VELASCO Thomas LINARD Matteo DELPODIO Adrien BERNADET Callum SHINKWIN Hugues JOANNES Robert COLES Niccolo QUINTARELLI Andrew MARSHALL Dave COUPLAND Björn ÅKESSON Jeppe HULDAHL Joakim LAGERGREN Pedro ORIOL Pelle EDBERG William HARROLD Connor ARENDELL Ricardo GOUVEIA Matthew FITZPATRICK Terry PILKADARIS Tim SLUITER Country (KOR) (CHI) (RSA) (BEL) (POR) (AUS) (NED) Played (16) Pos Name Julien GUERRIER Pierre RELECOM Chris HANSON Rhys DAVIES Carlos AGUILAR Chris PAISLEY Jocke RASK Filippo BERGAMASCHI Charlie FORD Maarten LAFEBER George MURRAY Nicolo RAVANO Lorenzo GAGLI Wallace BOOTH Paul MADDY David LAW Jack SENIOR Michael JONZON Steven TILEY Paul DWYER Alexander BJÖRK Lloyd KENNEDY Ross McGOWAN Andrea ROTA Joel SJÖHOLM Martin WIEGELE Joël STALTER Anthony SNOBECK Daniel VANCSIK Brandon STONE Niklas LEMKE Scott ARNOLD Bradley DREDGE Richard MCEVOY Guillaume CAMBIS Damian ULRICH Scott FALLON Dodge KEMMER Gareth SHAW Jeff WINTHER Matt FORD Tain LEE Sam LITTLE Phillip ARCHER Agustin DOMINGO Jaakko MAKITALO Niall KEARNEY Pedro FIGUEIREDO Jamie ELSON Oscar STARK Country (BEL) (NED) (AUT) (ARG) (RSA) (AUS) (SUI) (NIR) (FIN) (IRL) (POR) Played (12) (12) (7) (16) (10) THE 2014 EUROPEAN CHALLENGE TOUR Date Event Venue Winner / Score First Prize / Prizefund Barclays Kenya Open NH Collection Open* Challenge de Catalunya Madeira Islands Open - Portugal - BPI Turkish Airlines Challenge Kärnten Golf Open presented by Mazda D+D REAL Czech Challenge Fred Olsen Challenge de España Najeti Hotels et Golfs Open Belgian Challenge Open Scottish Hydro Challenge hosted by Macdonald Hotels & Resorts AEGEAN Airlines Challenge Tour by Hartl Resort D+D REAL Slovakia Challenge Swiss Challenge presented by Association Suisse de Golf Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge Azerbaijan Golf Challenge Open Norwegian Challenge Vacon Open Rolex Trophy Northern Ireland Open Challenge in association with Maui Jim Sunglasses Open Blue Green Cotes d`armor Bretagne Kazakhstan Open EMC Golf Challenge Open Shankai Golf Classic presented by IDG The Foshan Open National Bank of Oman Golf Classic Dubai Festival City Challenge Tour Grand Final hosted by Al Badia Golf Club Karen CC, Nairobi, Kenya Jake Roos (RSA) =278 (-10) La Reserva de Sotogrande Club de Golf, Cadiz, Spain Marco Crespi =278 (-10) Lumine Golf & Beach Club, Tarragona, Spain Antonio Hortal =199 (-14) Club de Golf do Santo da Serra, Madeira, Portugal Daniel Brooks ** 68-67=135 (-9)^ National GC, Belek, Antalya, Turkey Oliver Farr =286 (-2) Golfclub Schloss Finkenstein, Gödersdorf, Austria Moritz Lampert =265 (-19) Golf & Spa Kunêticá Hora, Drîtec, Czech Republic Thomas Linard =269 (-19) Tecina Golf, La Gomera, Canary Islands, Spain Moritz Lampert =264 (-20) Aa St Omer GC, Lumbres, France Jordi Garcia Pinto =277 (-7) Cleydael G&CC, Aartselaar, Belgium William Harrold ** =266 (-18) 100,000 / 600,000*** 56,250 / 450,000 *** 28,000 / 175,000 26,400 / 165,000 25,600 / 160,000 Macdonald Spey Valley GC, Aviemore, Scotland Andrew Johnston =265 (-19) 40,000 / 250,000 Hartl Resort, Bad Griesbach, Germany Jake Roos (RSA) =275 (-13) Penati Golf Resort, Senica, Slovakia Andrew McArthur =267 (-21) Golf Sempachersee, Lucerne, Switzerland Pierre Relecom (BEL) =269 (-15) Golf PGA France du Vaudreuil, Le Vaudreuil, France Andrew Johnston =268 (-16) The National Azerbaijan Golf Club, Quba, Azerbaijan Moritz Lampert =272 (-16) Miklagard GC, Kløfta, Norway Benjamin Hebert =273 (-15) Kytäjä Golf, Hyvinkää, Finland Mark Tullo (CHI) =264 (-20) GC de Genève, Geneva, Switzerland An Byeong-hun (KOR) =269 (-19) Galgorm Castle, Ballymena, County Antrim, Northern Ireland Joakim Lagergren =271 (-13) 48,000 / 300,000 28,000 / 175,000 26,000 / 232,510 Golf Blue Green de Pléneuf Val André, Pléneuf, France Benjamin Hebert =265 (-15) Nurtau GC, Almaty, Kazakhstan Sam Hutsby =269 (-19) Olgiata GC, Rome, Italy Ricardo Gouveia (POR) =275 (-9) Chongqing Poly GC, Chongqing, China Johan Edfors ^^ =201 (-15) Foshan GC, Shishan Town, Nanhai District, Foshan City, China Jason Palmer =272 (-16) Almouj Golf, The Wave, Muscat, Oman Max Orrin =281 (-7) 72,000 / 450,000 28,800 / 180,000 44,416 / US$350,000 43,594 / US$350,000 41,591 / US$330,000 Al Badia GC by InterContinental, Dubai, UAE Benjamin Hebert =276 (-12) 60,085 / 350,000 * Dual Ranking Event ** denotes play-off + Saturday finish *** Capped at 337,500 for Challenge Tour Rankings purposes ^Tournament reduced to 36 holes due to bad weather ^^ Tournament reduced to 54 holes due to bad weather 228 The 2014 Challenge Tour Graduates Back row (L-R): Jason Palmer, Oliver Farr, Jason Barnes, Andrew Johnson, Benjamin Hebert, Jordi Garcia Pinto, Jake Roos, Moritz Lampert, Edouard Espana and Jerome Lando Casanova. Front row (L-R): Sam Hutsby, Byeong-hun An, Michael Lorenzo-Vera and Mark Tullo European Challenge Tour 229

players on the Challenge

players on the Challenge 2, SEPTEMBER, 2014 DUBAI WELCOMES CHALLENGE TOUR S FINEST FOR THE 350,000 DUBAI FESTIVAL CITY CHALLENGE TOUR GRAND FINAL HOSTED BY AL BADIA GOLF CLUB Dubai (UAE): Dubai will once again be at the epicentre