Reinier Saxton jumps from EPD Tour to European Tour

Yes, he can! Winning the overall rankings of the 2011 EPD Tour Order of Merit Reinier Saxton has already proved that he is a strong golf player. But now the 23-year-old Dutchman managed an even better demonstration of his skills: He finished on tied 24th place at the Final Stage tournament of the 2011 Qualifying School at PGA Catalunya Resort in Spain. This gives him a direct ticket onto the 2012 European Tour. Meanwhile Sebastian Buhl, No. 2 of the final 2011 EPD Tour rankings, had no luck in Spain: He shot a brilliant final round 69 on Thursday to end up with one stroke too much on his scorecard.

by Thomas Kirmaier

Catalunya/Spain – On the final day all participants who had survived the cut had a tough competition for the popular 30 tickets on the Stadium Course of Girona. Saxton presented himself not in the best condition. After four double bogeys on the back nine the Masters player of 2009 had to write down a 75 (+3), what forced him to tremble - but it was good enough. With 420 total strokes (-8) in a marathon week Saxton shot 25 birdies in six rounds and reached a total score of eight under par. So he ended up at tied 24th place in the final standings.

Sebastian Buhl misses his ticket to European Tour by one stroke

Only one stroke away from Europe's premier golfleague was Sebastian Buhl. The number two of the EPD Tour Order of Merit 2011 attacked in the final round, came home with a brilliant 69 in the finale on Thursday and climbed up 19 positions. But with 422 total strokes (-6) in six rounds he missed the line with just one stroke too much. Ben Parker, another EPD Tour leading actor, had survived the cut on Tuesday. The Englishman, who lives in Hamburg, struggled in the last two rounds (74, 75) and so split rank 60 in the end.

Besides Saxton Bernd Ritthammer put a European Tour ticket in his bag. The EPD Tour winner of 2009 and PGA Golfprofessional from Nuremberg had a great Wednesday. After an eagle and a birdie he suddenly took the lead in the meantime. But in the finale on Thursday he entered the clubhouse with a 77, his worst score after six exhausting days. So finally he finished in position 14 (416 strokes overall/-12).

In the end it was an English matter in the Final-Stage-Tournament in Spain: David Dixon (-21) won, his fellow countrymen Sam Hutsby (-20/2.), Andy Sullivan (-19/3.) and Richard Bland (-18/4.) followed behind him. Results

Reinier Saxton is on the way to the European Tour

Spain (tki) – Dutchman Reinier Saxton, winner of the EPD Tour 2011 Order of Merit, is on the way to the European Tour 2012! The 23 year old from Amsterdam shot a brilliant round 66 on Wednesday and jumped in the Top 30 of the Final Stage tournament of the 2011 European Tour Qualifying School who will be allowed to tee off in Europe’s premier professional golf league next year. With 11 under par Saxton is ranked 14th. Ben Parker from England had to cope with a 74 (+2) in the fifth round and is now on 50th position whilst Sebastian Buhl (Germany) had a 73 on his Scorecard on Wednesday and now is ranked 55th.

An absolutely brilliant performance is given by former EPD Tour player Bernd Ritthammer. The German from Nuremberg is just one step away from reaching his goal. He played five under par in the fifth round of Final Stage tournament of Qualifying School in the Spanish PGA Catalunya Resort of Girona and is now ranked 2nd before the finale on Thursday.

Q-School: Saxton, Buhl and Parker make the cut

Spain (mat) – Brilliant success for Reinier Saxton, Sebastian Buhl (see images 1 - 3) and Ben Parker: The Dutchman, the PGA golf professional from Loham (Lower Bavaria), and the Englishman living in Hamburg have made the cut during the European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage, which offers them a first-rate chance to qualify for the 2012 European Tour. The two final rounds are scheduled to take place on Wednesday and Thursday at the PGA Catalunya Resort in Spain with the top 30 players drawing their tickets to enter Europe’s premier professional golf league on Thursday afternoon.

The excellent performance the three professionals delivered at the PGA Catalunya Resort also gave two other players a reason to celebrate: Through their listing in the EPD Tour Ranking Allen John and Alexander Knappe are now moving up to the Challenge Tour 2012 group. Since Saxton and Buhl, who hold first and second place in the final EPD Tour Ranking 2011, won’t need their entry tickets to the Challenge Tour, the players at number 6 (John) and 8 (Knappe) move up on the list. Parker finished the 2011 season at number 7 but can now hand on his ticket to Knappe. Every player that reaches final rounds number 5 and 6 during the Final Stage tournament automatically receives a better category during the Challenge Tour than the top 5 in the final EPD Tour Ranking do.

In Spain Ben Parker ranks number 41 at 6 under par followed by Reinier Saxton at number 50 with one shot more than Parker. At 4 under par Sebastian Buhl just made the cut and shares rank number 61 with nine other contestants. They all have to play their best golf on Wednesday and Thursday in order to become part of the top 30 group.  

At present, Nuremberg’s Former EPD Tour player Bernd Ritthammer stands the by far best chance to actually make the move up: After four out of six rounds he ranks number 6 at a total of 12 under par (65, 71 , 68, 68). Results

Saxton, Buhl, Parker and Wright reach the Final Stage

Spain (mat) – Congratulations: Reinier Saxton, Sebastian Buhl (picture above), Ben Parker, Darren Wright and Maximilian Kieffer reach the Final Stage of the Qualifying School of the European Tour. They all qualified via 2nd stage tournaments in Spain. From 10th to 15th December a total of 156 players compete at the PGA Catalunya Resort in Spain, among them also many more members, up-to-date and former players of the EPD Tour as Nicolas Meitinger, Alvaro Velasco, Lukas Tintera, Tim Sluiter, James Ruth, Bernd Ritthammer, Taco Remkes, Lasse Jensen, Florian Fritsch, HP Bacher, Will Besseling and Floris de Vries. FINAL STAGE ENTRY LIST