Marsh gets Challenge Tour card

Huddersfield’s Nick Marsh will be competing on the European Challenge Tour next year.

The Fixby golfer secured one of the five spots available from the HotelPlanner.com PGAEuroPro Tour‘s Race to Amondeira by finishing in fourth position with £25,045 from 13 events.

March ascribes his success to an improvement in consistency.

“Getting into the top 5 was one of my goals at the start of the year and another was to win on the HotelPlanner.comPGA EuroPro Tour and I have achieved both, so it has been a good year all in all, “Marsh told Yorkshire Golfer.

“For me the key to the year has been consistency. If you look at my stats I was 82 under par for the 56 rounds I played so it was very much a year of consistency. My putting has also improved as has the rest of my short game, but they key has really been doing the basics well.”

He went on”: The other important factor was sticking to one tour. I decided at the start of the year to try to make the top 5 on the EuroPro and that turned out to be a good plan. I also had the opportunity to play in some Challenge Tour events which I passed on , so focussing on the EuroPro and sticking to that game plan has paid dividends.”

The former English Amateur Champion finished tied for 35th in the end of season Sky Sports Tour Championship at Faldo Oceanico, but it was good enough to cement his place in the top 5.

“It was a decent week. I didn’t play my best golf but I just tried my best to get the job done and improve my ranking, and it worked out in the end.

Marsh then headed straight to Stage 2 of the European Tour Qualifying School at Panoramica in Spain with less pressure than most, safe in the knowledge that his Challenge Tour card was already in the bag.

“I have enjoyed my golf all year and at Stage 2 I was just seeing if I could progress to the final stages and maybe secure a main tour card.”

He was in contention for one of the 22 places on offer at the Final Qualifying at Lumine Golf Club in Tarragona , Spain, before faltering with a 76 in the weather delayed last round to finish 39th.

That turned out to be his last competitive round of the year and Marsh, 23, won’t compete again until February. But he will keep his game in trim by once again heading out to the Sudan to spend time with his father David who is the professional at Fenti Golf in Khartoum.

“I’m very lucky to be able to go there. The weather is great and the facilities are superb. The club only has 25 or so members as the course is privately owned by the company my Dad works for. It’s like having my own golfing playground.”

In 2018 he will be treading a path previously taken by fellow Huddersfield golfers Marcus Armitage and Chris Hanson. Both graduated from the EuroPro Tour to the main tour via the Challenge Tour, and Marsh’s rise through the ranks since turning pro at the end of 2015 has set him on a similar course.