Nick Westby: Local golfers facing up to huge challenge to earn Tour places

The final stage of the European Tour’s qualifying school in Girona is a million miles away from the lucrative end-of-season shebang in the Middle East.

Where Rory McIlroy, Lee Westwood and company attempt to sink putts to swell their coffers, the men at PGA Catalunya will be standing over those nasty five-footers knowing they need to hole them to feed their family.

Okay, it might not be as drastic as that, but what dozens of professionals achieve in the sunshine of Spain next week can have drastic repercussions for the next year and beyond.

Among a field of desperates that includes a man who finished second at the US Open two years ago – Gregory Havret – could be three Yorkshiremen.

Harrogate’s John Parry is trying to get back on to the top rung of the ladder after slipping off 12 months ago.

Leeds’s Iain Pyman, once a winner of the low amateur award at the Open, is looking for one last hurrah as he approaches his 40th birthday.

And Morley’s Danny Denison is clinging to the hope that he might have one last shot at rescuing what has been a chastening first year on the European Tour.

That is if the 27-year-old even gets into the field in Girona for the 108-hole marathon that begins on Saturday.

His horrendous form over the 25 tournaments of his maiden Tour voyage spilled over into the second stage of qualifying in Spain earlier this month when he finished three shots adrift of the cut-off point to leave himself as 23rd alternate to make next week’s final field.

He was waiting last night to learn how the results in the penultimate European Tour events in Hong Kong and South Africa panned out.

“Twenty-third is a little bit too far down I think,” admits Denison, the disappointment of a frustrating year having taken its toll on his enthusiasm.

“I wouldn’t turn it down, but I pulled out of playing South Africa this week because I’ve not been happy with how I’m playing.

“There’s only so much you can convince yourself of.”

Denison’s short game has undermined him all year but it is the mental challenges that qualifying school poses as much as the physical demands which make it so unique.

Nowhere in competitive golf is there a greater sense that every participant is playing with his livelihood on the line.

“In any other week shooting two- or three-under par is not going to win you a tournament, but six of those this week and you’re in the hunt,” says Parry, who heads to Spain determined to get back to where he feels he belongs.

This time last year the 26-year-old was jetting around the world trying desperately to salvage his European Tour card just 14 months after winning among the continent’s elite.

But that victory in the Vivendi Cup in September, 2010, did not spark the consistent results he anticipated.

“You think that in the following year you’re going to push on,” adds Parry, pictured below.

“I went through a run of about six tournaments where I was in contention every week, and all of a sudden you start thinking it’s going to be like that every week.

“I got into the mindset that I was doing everything right and my expectations were so high that I was getting frustrated if I wasn’t matching those.

“And this year I thought I would get straight back on to the Tour.

“But you don’t realise how much of a shock to the system losing your card is until you’re sat at home watching the tournaments unfold on television while you wait for the Challenge Tour season to start in March.”

Tempering those expectations is the key for Parry this week as he looks to pick up one of 25 cards for next year’s top circuit.

He says: “You almost have to go and have no expectations on your shoulders, just go out and play care-free as if it’s a round with your friends.

“Don’t get too frustrated or chuck your toys out of the pram if things don’t go right.

“Over six rounds you’re going to have a period where it gets tough, so just don’t do too much damage in that time.

“So my mentality is to take it one shot at a time, make sure I do everything right, prepare right, think things through. Committing to shots and not panicking will be vital.”

Parry’s finishing position of 37th in the Challenge Tour rankings earned him a place at the final stage while Pyman has already fought through two stages to get this far.

Denison entered at the second stage and failed to break 70 in four rounds, even though he went with the same mantra as his old county team-mate Parry of not burdening himself with too much pressure.

“I didn’t go in with any expectations after the way I’d played all year,” says Denison.

“I went to see what would happen.

“Even when I knew I needed a half-decent 18 holes in the final round I treated it as just going out for a round of golf. But as ever, I had a poor finish.”

Golf can be torture for a player who is bang out of form.

From hotel to hotel they go, driving range to first tee, hoping for some of the old magic to return when deep down they know they are only making things worse.

It can be a vicious circle and right now, Denison cuts the jib of a man in need of a good rest.

“I’m not even sure whether I’ll be playing on the Challenge Tour next season,” he says.

“But as long as I’ve got somewhere to play and I can get my short game back, I’ll be back.

“But this is my own doing. I’ve got myself into this situation. I’ve just got to keep working.”

With their futures on the line, we wish all of our golfers the best of luck.