Chris Hanson rekindling happy memories as he bids for DP World Tour return at 39

Chris Hanson’s career on the then-European Tour appeared to have come to an end five years ago, with the subsequent half-decade spent using his golfing skills for other pursuits like coaching and setting up and running the 2020protour.

But at the ripe old age of 39 and with the competitive juices still flowing, the Huddersfield pro felt compelled to give himself another shot at the big time.

And so it was that he found himself at his local course, affectionately known as Fixby, for the opening stage of the 2024 DP World Tour qualifying and the first step on the journey to reclaiming his place among the continent’s elite.

Playing alongside golfers nearly half his age and at the beginning of their journeys, Hanson played the four rounds at Huddersfield in six–under-par to comfortably earn one of 15 places at the second stage in Spain at the start of November.

“There’s life in the old dog yet, eh?” he quipped to The Yorkshire Post.

“I just want some playing opportunities. I don’t know what they’re going to be next year or where this might lead me, but you’ve got to give yourself a chance to compete.

“I’m still young enough and I’m still fit enough to compete with these guys, I just need to be a bit sharper and hopefully get some chances to play again.”

It was while making up the fields in the one-round events on the 2020protour he runs with fellow Huddersfield golfer Adam Walker that convinced him he could still play and got him thinking about trying to win back a spot on the top tour.

Coupled with the fact he teed off last week unencumbered by the same pressures on the shoulders of these young men trying at the start of their careers, gave him a fresh perspective.

“I’ve got a different mindset these days to what I had when I was full-time,” said Hanson, who first earned a place on the European Tour via the Q School route 11 years ago before enjoying three successive years at the highest level from 2016 to 2018.

“I’m in a pretty good place because this is not my be-all and end-all. I do want to play and compete, but at the end of the day I can come back to my family, my coaching and my other little ventures and this is not everything to me.

“A lot of these young lads have all their eggs in one basket for Q School and if it doesn’t work out they’re back on mini-tours and back on that grind. It’s a long winter waiting for those to come around again.

“So I’m quite relaxed about it all, I’m just trying my best.”

His best around Huddersfield last week was good enough to earn him a place at the second stage in Spain.

He shot rounds of 70, 64, 72 and 72 to progress alongside the likes of Lindrick’s Bailey Gill who is trying to get playing rights for the first time, with a five-shot cushion.

“Because the weather was tough with the wind, you had a bit of a feeling there wouldn’t be loads of guys shooting under par, so it was a lot harder for me to not do it than do it,” Hanson says modestly about progressing. “But there was a bit of pressure of playing home soil and being expected to do well.”

So it’s onto stage two and then if he can progress from there, the final hurdle, a six-round marathon back in Spain in November when just 25 cards are available on the DP World Tour.

“I’ve got seven, eight weeks now to practise and hopefully get myself into a decent position to feel competitive,” said Hanson, who briefly relocated his young family to Spain during his time on tour.

“I’m hitting it as well as I ever have, tee to green. I feel as though I’m in the best mindset, putting-wise, I’ve ever been in. I’m just doing some short game work now because that’s the area that suffers the most. My short game isn’t horrendous, but you need time on it, it’s all about feel.

“Getting that short, precise stuff dialled in and then going to Spain where the grass is different - you need to be quite sharp.”

Has he given any thought to taking the consolation prize of a few tournaments on the second-tier Challenge Tour if he doesn’t make it all the way?

“I just want some opportunities. The cost of playing Challenge Tour and trying to make a living out there is astronomical, but if got the chance to play any of those events and I could plan which ones I’d go to, I’m sure I’ll play some,” he says. “And you never know, you play well one week and things snowball.

“I’m not committing to anything. If magically I got a main tour card I’d play as many as I could. But as I know from experience, that’s expensive, you create your own problems.

“If I don’t do it this year I could still try again next year. I’ve got no regrets, as you long as you stay fit enough, you can always have a go.”