Bryce Easton takes us through the highs and lows of life on the Challenge Tour. Multiple DP world tour winner Graeme Storm talks about his successful transition from player to referee. Hamish Brown makes it back to back wins for Denmark on the Challenge Tour.
this is one of sports great Proving Grounds a gateway to Glory brilli 29 tournaments spanning 19 countries along the way a chance to expand Horizons and Sample life on tour how beautiful is that magic finish the season in the top 20 on the road to mayorca rankings and secure a golden ticket to the DB World Tour this is the challenge tour they can surely be few better feelings than finishing in the top 20 of the road to mayorca a Year’s worth of Blood Sweat and Tears rewarded with a place in the Grand Final and then playing privileges secured on the DP World Tour understandable then that someone like Bryce Easton might be overcome with emotion having achieved a lifelong goal brilliant that’s gutsy isn’t it that really is from the South Africa it’s only taken what 10 years you know to actually finally get over the line and get there so pretty tough to describe what it means um this changes this changes my life you know um so a fairy tale finish on that day in late October in mayorca however What followed certainly wasn’t in eastern script A lot’s happened since then I suppose playing a full year on the main to last year and then uh obviously not quite performing how I would have liked to and uh back now trying to find My Feet Again here un challenged to it is an emotional week there’s so much at stake um you know and for me personally it luck it had taken me you know a good 10 years to just to get over the line and to finally get a full DP World Tour card it’s an extreme week that and I’m and I’m glad that they’ve they’ve started to be televised and people can get a real look into what that’s about because I think um that’s a total different perspective of of what professional golf is [Music] like I think a lot of weeks now when guys win and things you you there’s always so much emotion to attached to it and I think it’s just part of the journey like the whole the whole thing is so tough to get to that point that’s obviously a massive high and for me that was still that week was was a very special week a huge High um but it’s been followed by some lows you know my season on the mainta wasn’t wasn’t all bad I was I was not far away to be honest from keeping my card which in itself is a is a bit of a positive but like you know fast forward a little bit the last 6 months for me has been tough uh been pretty low to be honest yeah it’s it’s this game is insane how how we go from such highs to such [Music] lows Lauren’s been amazing and I think uh when she cared for me out here on the challenge so for those those three years that she did I think it’s the best three years I’ve had now we have you know we’ve been blessed with two little two beautiful little boys who again it’s changed the dynamic so much in in traveling and being away from them um [Music] hi it motivates you to play and perform like you know I’m not here on holiday I’m here to work so this week like I say I’m on site I’m 100 m from the driving range it’s I’m I’m going to be there all day all you know trying to do as much as I can and and perform as best I can otherwise you know it’s that’s why I’m here so it’s motivating uh that’s for sure I’m done big gu if you want yeah they’re fine thanks doing okay thanks boy good to seeing you big guy have a good week I love you go how are you I’m that’s it now that I feel like I’m able to shift my focus a little bit back to playing I don’t think I’m far Away really I haven’t um haven’t got many results to show for it really civil was close Cil was nearly a good week um just finished poorly there really doubled the last otherwise it was a really positive week and then last week as well I missed a cut by a shot but a lot of really good things TD green going on this season particularly on challenge is also it’s very much about how you finish the season obviously the bigger events towards the end and there’s a lot that goes on down there at the end of the season so fortunately for me I’ve I’ve got still plenty of weeks to to play my way into that and and get that momentum going um into that stretch of event so um it is pretty much the way to go about it I think it’s just chipping away doing your work doing your process as much as you can and and I think the big the big thing is is just believing that it will come and you know if you’re good enough it’ll it’ll come together for you [Music] prep complete now it was time to get down to business and let his golf do the talking at the Cascada golf challenge Bryce looking to ReDiscover the form of 2022 which had seen six top 10 finishers on his way to securing his card for the DP World Tour please welcome on the from the Republic of South Africa Bryce eon teeing up alongside the informed Duo of Alex Levy and Sam hsby and having made only two cuts all year Easton was hoping for a positive start to his week and that’s exactly what the man from Durban got starting at the 10th back-to-back birdes on his opening two holes were the perfect tonic as he looked to kickart his season two more gains and just one drop shot saw him go out in three underp [Music] par then at the turn Eon would really turn up the [Music] heat a birdie at the par five first was followed up with another at the par 4 [Music] second he would make it three in a row on the short third by now he’d really hit his [Music] stride it would soon be 4 and four at 7 under for the day East was setting the [Music] pace he would eventually sign for a sensational 63 eight undera and sat alongside German Yanick de bruy all smiles though both to a drift of the leader Thomas gu after His stunning opening 61 when those runs happen it’s like it’s weird you’re not trying of suddenly gone to run a birdies but you you know had a nice chip on the first and then a couple of good shots you know um couple of good shots and then a bonus Putt and it’s kind of like all of a sudden you’ve had four or five in a row and um you’ve gone on a good stretch so it’s been a while so I’ll take it so you know we’ve got up to a good start but tomorrow’s a new day it’s only Thursday um You’ still got you know 54 holes to go so lot lot of golf it’s a long week it’s a big walk um so just try and rest up and uh just find the find the bit of flow again tomorrow [Music] day two at the gulf Resort Cascada and an early alarm call for Easton as he looked to build on the perfect platform constructed on the previous [Music] day unfortunately for Bryce Friday would prove to be very much an uphill struggle the hot putter on Thursday had turned ice cold his Trio with hsby and Levy had shared 19 birdes and an eagle on the opening day Friday by distinct contrast saw just two birdes between them Eason 16 pars and two Bogies he just couldn’t refind his momentum it was a different story for yanic de brine from Germany who followed up his first a63 with another impressive round of 66 on Friday just one bogy on the card and his six Peres would leave the 24-year-old Two Shots clear of David border and Robin Williams as for our man Easton well he would eventually tap in for a 73 to sit just outside the top 10 with plenty to do heading into the weekend fortunately yesterday was really good so I’ve given myself kept myself up there I suppose by hanging in today um and going into the weekend is you know it’s obviously all to play for um but I think that’s exactly it I think the pins were a bit tricky today and switch in the wind direction has just changed things around a little bit so some Halls are just playing quite different and you know uh you got to just make those adjustments so I think that’s what’s protecting the course a little bit today or this morning [Music] anyway coming up a familiar face and his new role on the challenge tour it’s been a great opportunity for me to be able to still travel and enjoy the game that I love and we Crown a champion at the Cascada golf challenge we’ll see you after the [Music] break welcome back to the challenge tour and to Burno the second largest city in the Czech Republic for the 2024 edition of the Cascada golf challenge it’s our 12th stop on the road to mayorca and heading into the weekend the eight different countries represented in the top 10 truly demonstrated the international makeup of the challenge tour German Yanik de bruyne had set the halfway Pace with all the top contenders pursuing their first win of the year so time to discover who would hold their nerve guiding you through Josh Antman the two shot lead overnight for Yanik de bruy and this on the very first hole found the back of the par five first rolling this one down his two- shot overnight lead would now be three but disaster on the next hole lost his first ball found his second but made a quad8 completely changed the complexion of the leaderboard with nearly the whole of round three yet to play 66 and a 65 so far in the week for David border he had a bogey on two this was the to get back to level par for the day and to tie the lead on 11 under par no problems at all for the Spaniards solid start TOS round [Music] three the seventh hole was being very kind to the players in round three 393 yards down the hill players were getting after it heish brown longrange effort for birdie got him to 11 under par second birdie of the day after one at four very consistent season so far with one top 10 in the UAE Robin Williams slow start five Pars in a row for his first Birdie on the sixth that gave him the outright lead this for Birdie on the very next hole backto back and he now led by two came close in the SDC Championship with a runner up there earlier in the season the ninth rank the second easiest hole all week plenty of birdies on the par five Max Schmid he took Advantage lovely approach there see the wind pumping unfortunately came home in 40 to sign for a 75 in round three it was a strong front nine for South Africa’s Robin Williams this was his third at the par five to finish his front nine be a birdie there for Williams out in 33 fabulous front running performance so far from the South African de bruyne playing alongside Robin Williams in the final three ball just one birdie since that quad eight at the second he was back on the birdie train at nine the power five fantastic touch from just short of the green there little nod of approval from De bruyne smiles too Robin Williams was having a fantastic day out there laid up on the par five 15th he did have a on [Music] 12 another superb wed shot nearly Holding Out for Eagle he extended his lead to [Music] three there were no mistakes coming home for Williams three passs to finish his round three and he signed for a 68 and it’ be a three shot lead heading into Sunday for the South African a tough day for de bruy in round three the wi got up firmed the course up three Bogies on his back nine but that one helped on the last 74 and then to a share a third place alongside jish Brown and Conor pel so with a round to go our halfway leader de bruy had indeed Fallen back into a three-way tie for third Ben Schmidt 65 saw him three off the lead in second but surging to the top of the leaderboard after his 68 and three clear was Robin Williams having posted three top five finishers in 2024 he now put himself in Prime position for that Maiden challenge tour title I mean this is the stuff you practice for to put yourself in the position on Sunday in order to win the golf tournament but still got a lot of golf to play there’s a lot of guys that’s going to try to catch me tomorrow but I’m playing some good golf as long as I keep my head down I’ll just see where we end up now time to catch up with a familiar face enjoying a different role this week gra storm and I am a referee this week on The Challenge [Music] tour I was coming to the end of my career I had a few injuries towards the end and it was like well what am I going to do with myself I’m too far away from playing seniors golf so the transition into becoming a referee was an opportunity that arose and I got offered the job and took it did all my qualifications last year so I’m uh level three qualified now it’s been enjoyable it’s been a great great opportunity for me to be able to to still travel and uh enjoy the game that I love the biggest challenge for me was learning the rules you know learning the rules Inside Out learning the rule book learning the numbers the course setup sort of stuff and working with the guys and learning on how they set the course up set the boundaries and things like that something that I really enjoyed being out on the golf course but the challenge was really getting to know the rules I mean as a player I wish I’d known the rules a lot more [Music] you know we’re up really early we finished really late we’re here you know almost feels like 24/7 the pace of play policy that we have in place making sure that the the players get around in a nice Speedy time and obviously you’ve got to get to rulings on the challenge to it’s a lot more difficult because you know we haven’t got the manpower to be able to make sure that we can get to that Ru as quick but we do our level best with the scoring team which is great a couple of years ago I played on a challenge Tour event and you could see the strength and depth that was coming through younger players that are coming through I mean I obviously follow England golf a little bit and you can see how many players that are coming through that system I think that the strength and depth is definitely there from all over Europe and all over the world You’ got South Africans playing you’ve got people coming from America to come and play The Challenge to which is great and uh I think that this tour the challenge tour is certainly bigger and better than it was when I played it back in 2004 [Music] well from a storm to a windfree final day at golf resort Cascada where low scoring was very much the order of the day Robin Williams started Sunday with a Healthy three-shot Advantage but as we’ve seen so many times before on the challenge tour things can change very quickly to see how the tournament finale unfolded here’s Josh again a lot of rain overnight meant the course was playing soft and it was there for the taking for the players heish Brown was in trouble off the tea at the first tried to hack it out was in the rough had to lay up again hold that for his fourth for a birdie on the very first H he didn’t even see it go in until he got to the green what a start for heish brown tap pan and 12th on the road to muor ranking he’s had three top 10 already this year extremely consistent looking to get his DP World Tour card back once again with shots like that you’d expect him to birded the first as well the fin after that lovely surprise on the first early moves were being made by heish Brown he had a birdie on three and then just a flick of a wedge here into four pin high and it was another birdie there three birdies in four holes to start his Sunday who’s now tied at the top after Robin Williams bogie thei yanic de bruy wasn’t out of it he did have a bogey on the fifth but came straight back with a birdie there at six LED after round one at the European open on the DP World Tour a few weeks ago still in good spirits Ben Schmid playing a little bit on the the challenge to bit on the Alps tour as well this is Approach at the seventh oh just a few more rolls a 68 and a tie for fourth in the end for Ben became a bit of a jewel at the Cascada challenge between Robin Williams and heish brown this from Williams at seven almost Holding Out for Eagle another birdie there to get back level for the day and take the solo lead the birdies at 9 and 10 for brown this was for three in a row at 11 and it was brown now with the solo lead one ahead of Ben Schmid and two clear of Robin Williams Williams wasn’t going to lie down however his t- shot here on 14 the downhill par three Brown had just bogey 14 what a response from Williams that got him to 15 underpath he was now just one off the lead after that bogy at 14 for brown great bounce back at the par five 15th 17 under and he led by two with three to play great crowds out supporting the players on the final day Robin Williams birdied the 16th to cut the deficit to one but under pressure heus Brown produced this Approach at the penultimate hole He restored that two shot Advantage with just the 7c hole to play it was a day full of drama at the Cascada Challenge and this was for par for Brown on the final hole and he claimed his main win on The Challenge tour with a 63 and a round that’ll never forget yes Brown Denmark’s third winner of the 2024 campaign joining two-time Victor Rasmus nard Peterson and Jonathan goth rasmason on this season’s Danish role of honor the final leaderboard confirms that two- shot win over Robin Williams who remember held a three- shot lead at the start of that final day Germany’s janick de bruy a further shot back Bryce Easton who we featured earlier in the show finished tied 45th but that was fully 15 shots a drift of the 25-year-old son of a Scott whose final round 63 helped him to his breakthrough win on The Challenge tour I feel like I’ve been doing all right all week um struggled a bit yesterday but I was just waiting for it to click to be honest and yeah today did it’s nice it’s what you want but it’s it’s more like a confidence boost for the next next just keep it going cuz it’s not over till it’s [Music] over a look at the road to meker rankings now shows Robin Williams runnerup place in the Czech Republic lives him to sixth but Brown’s Victory propelled him up one place better in the standings it’s another D Rasmus near guard Peterson who still holds a healthy lead as the challenge tour season really hits its stride further down there was some downward shuffling with the only positive mover Islands Connor pel after his top 10 finish at the Cascada challenge he climbs into that all important 20th [Music] position sadly that brings the curtain down on our time in the Czech Republic though we will be back for the D and D raal Czech challenge in early October next it’s back-to-back weeks in France so join us next time as the pursuit promotion to the DP World Tour continues [Music]
