Challenge Tour winner calls for help for development tours

DP World Tour new boy Nathan Kimsey urged the main tours to support developmental circuits amid fears for the future of the lower levels of the game.

Weeks after the EuroPro Tour announced it would fold, Kimsey’s new home tour announced record prize funds.

Sweeping changes have also been made to the PGA Tour, while LIV Golf has shaken up the professional scene with the promise of huge purses and vast appearance fees.

While Kimsey welcomes the fact the top level has been “shaken up”, he warned of the need for a “trickle-down” to protect the lower rungs of the ladder.

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“It’s been a tricky period for the game,” he told bunkered.co.uk. “Being on Challenge Tour we’ve not really been involved in the top-end discussions. A lot of us aren’t in one camp or another.

“It’s shaken things up a bit. That’s never a bad thing overall because it means everyone is on their toes and has to keep pushing to make things better.

“We have to be careful, though. We need to make sure trying to make things better doesn’t just lead to more money.

“The Challenge Tour grand final was broadcast live for the first time, and things like that are great for the game. I would be more excited watching that kind of event on TV and watching the highs and lows of someone fighting for something. It’s all life-changing stuff.

“There’s a lot to be said for that kind of golf to be shown more. While increased prize funds are great we have to be careful it’s not all about money.”

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Kimsey, who secured his card after winning the Challenge Tour rankings, knows all too well the perils of professional golf outwith the main tours.

He previously plied his trade on the EuroPro Tour and is sorry to see the circuit fold after two decades.

The 29-year-old warned it could lead to the “pathway” to the top of the game narrowing.

“When you’re in golf circles, even if it’s not on your tour you get wind of things before they happen but there was nothing like that so it came as a shock,” he added. “It’s tough whenever you see guys losing the opportunity to play golf and that pathway being hindered.

“There are a lot of guys out there with the talent to progress through their career but they need that pathway.

“I hope it can be replaced and there are still opportunities for golfers in the UK.

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“It’s great to be fighting for bigger prize funds with guys who are in the top 50 in the world and chatting about the difference between six, seven or eight figures. But there are a lot of guys out there who are trying to start or revive careers and they’re not playing for five figures.

“There needs to be some kind of trickle-down effect down to the bottom so there’s a viable pathway to make it all the way through, otherwise you’re going to start losing people at a younger age because it’s impossible to progress.

“Hopefully we see some of the money that’s being talked about being used to benefit the developmental tours.”