Last week, a launch event was held at Rosa Golf Club for the Rosa Challenge Tour, the 22nd of 29 events on the 2024 Road to Mallorca which will take place from August 29 to September 1. The tournament marks the Challenge Tour’s long awaited return to the country after 15 years and will be the seventh Challenge Tour event played in Poland, which most recently hosted the 2009 DHL Wroclaw Open.
The Rosa Challenge Tour will come at a crucial time for those targeting promotion to the DP World Tour and presents an exciting opportunity for Polish golf. Headlining the local talent representing Poland at Rosa Golf Club will be Mateusz Gradecki, who secured his maiden Challenge Tour title at the 2022 Limpopo Championship.
Hoping to follow in his footsteps will be local stars such as Michał Bargenda, Oskar Zaborowski, Maksymilian Biały, Jan Rybczyński, Nikolas Tymiński, Antoni Hawkins, and Alejandro Pedryc, who is a four-time winner of the Polish Amateur Championship.
Arkadiusz Muś, President of the Press Glass Board, tournament organizer, and owner of Rosa Golf Club, highlighted the positive impact that hosting a Challenge Tour event will have on golf in Poland.
"We have been missing from European golf for years,” he said. "That's why I thought it would be good to join the Challenge Tour.
"The last tournaments of this series held in our country took place 15 years ago. In the meantime, a lot has changed in Polish golf. We celebrated the great success of Adrian Meronk, admired the excellent performances of Mateusz Gradecki, and now we can cheer for Dorota Zalewska in the Ladies European Tour.
"I hope that organizing the Rosa Challenge Tour will give another boost to the development of golf in Poland."
His comments were echoed by Jamie Hodges, Director of the Challenge Tour, who said the Rosa Challenge Tour can "open the doors to the world league of golf for Poland and inspire the next generation of stars."
Łukasz Tomkiewicz, President of the V5 Group, co-organizer of the event, discussed ongoing preparations for the tournament, which he hopes will "stand out” from other events on the 2024 Road to Mallorca schedule.
"The event support team already numbers several dozen people at this stage. Additionally, we need 100 volunteers to support the tournament organization. This shows the scale of this endeavour. However, we take it as a point of honour to make the Polish edition stand out.”
The Rosa Challenge Tour will be preceded by qualifying tournaments offering wild card spots to local players. During the Rosa Challenge Tour Challenger, held on July 7, five spots will be up for grabs, including one guaranteed for the best Polish player. The winner of the Race to Rosa PGA Poland Tour and the best Polish junior identified in the 5 Stars tournament series will also earn a place in the tournament field.
