Garrick’s 2017 season is about to get into full swing and there are some positive signs that his game is taking shape. Despite a few missed cuts on the main tours he returned to home soil last week to compete in the Lookers Championship at Close House on the Europro Tour.

Rounds of 73-68-70 saw him make the cut and finish tied 16th. Whilst it wasn’t the finish he was looking for, it did demonstrate that he is going in the right direction. More hard work is required, but it should give him some confidence as he heads to Europe again.

Garrick has a week to prepare before he plays two events on the European Tour. The first is the Open de Portugal starting on 11th May, which is followed by The Rocco Forte Open on the 18th May. He then returns to the Challenge Tour for the D+D Real Czech Challenge on the 25th May.

Garrick’s season on the European Challenge Tour starts next week when the first tournament of the year opens on 23rd March with the Barclays Kenya Open. The venue is different from 2016 and will see the Challenge Tour return to the Muthaiga Golf Club, Nairobi.

Garrick is excited to return to action after two events in February on the European Tour showed that his winter preparations were heading in the right direction. Whilst he missed the cut In Perth at the World Super 6, he bounced back in fine style to make the cut at the Joburg Open with a second round 65. Rain derailed his third round charge as the tournament was reduced to 54 holes, but the signs were very positive.

After Kenya, Garrick has a three-week gap before the Turkish Airlines Challenge on 20th April. This is quickly followed by The Lookers Championship at Close House on 26th April, which is the first event of the Europro Tour 2017. Naturally, Garrick is really looking forward to playing an event in the North east and in front of his home supporters.

Garrick’s 2017 season is about to start in earnest as he attempts to climb the ladder from the European Challenge Tour to the main European Tour. Given his promising finish of 30th on the Road to Oman last year, Garrick has planned his schedule to take advantage of his categories on both tours. He also hopes to benefit from a change in the rules where playing some European Tour events and the points accrued will count towards both tour order of merits.

Garrick has had a productive winter. He has had a well-earned rest, trained and practiced hard and is now ready to test his form in tournament play. His first tournament is on the European Tour ‘Down Under’ at the ISPS Handa World Super 6 in Perth, Australia (16-19th February). He hopes this will be quickly followed by two further European Tour events in South Africa if his tour category permits. These will be the Joburg Open (23-26 February) and the Tswane Open (2-5 March).

The European Challenge Tour starts in Kenya in March and Garrick will be teeing it up in Nairobi again. He then plans to play predominantly on the Challenge Tour alongside one co-sanctioned event between both tours (Open de Portugal) and three other European Tour events that count for both tours (Italy, Austria and Czech Republic).

To assist Garrick in his preparations and practice for 2017 he has secured access to Close House. This will allow him full use of the excellent practice facilities and their two quality golf courses. In return, Garrick is delighted to be playing in the first Europro tournament of the year being staged at Close House from 26-28th April 2017.

Garrick is confident his experiences of last year on the European Challenge Tour will stand him in good stead for the forthcoming season. He is preparing as well as he can and really looking forward to the challenge that lies ahead. The schedule is in place and Garrick is determined and focused to realise his goals for the season.

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After 23 events and 17 countries Garrick’s 2016 season is over. Overall, this has been a very positive season for Garrick. He finished 30th on the Challenge Tour Road to Oman rankings which is a significant improvement from 48th in 2015.

Garrick nearly entered the winner’s circle when he finished second in the Red Sea Egyptian Challenge in April. A further three more top ten finishes helped shape a very consistent season with 65% of cuts made and 64% of rounds at par or better. His scoring average of 70.77 was slightly ahead of 2015 (71.04) and was reflected in a cumulative 67 under par for all events played.

2016 saw a number of highlights for Garrick. In May, he joined the ‘Class of 2016’ established by his management company, International Sports Management to support and sponsor talented golfers. In July, he shot an incredible 61 (11 under par) at the Slovakia Challenge to record a new course record. This included nine birdies, one eagle and eight pars. Finally, in November he qualified and played in the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final in Oman. Rounds of 67-71-67-70 saw Garrick finish seventh and end the Challenge Tour season on a very positive note.

Ultimately, Garrick fell short of his goal and top 15 on the Road to Oman rankings for a European card in 2017. However, because of his 30th position, he has status on both the Challenge Tour (category 6) and the European Tour (category 18) for 2017. The journey continues and Garrick will be working harder than ever on all aspects of his game and fitness to prepare for 2017.

Garrick Porteous produced four sub-par rounds in the NBO Golf Classic Grand Final at the Almouj Golf Resort in Muscat, Oman. He shot 68-71-67-70 to finish tied seventh on 12 under par and was delighted with the way he played. Whilst this elevated him from 36th to 30th on the Road to Oman rankings it wasn’t sufficient to claim a European Tour card for 2017.

However, the last six weeks on the Challenge Tour have been very fruitful for Garrick. He has shown further encouraging signs with two top ten finishes and his game continues to progress well.

He now has a few days rest before heading to Spain and PGA Catalunya to embark on European Tour Final Qualifying School. This takes place 12-17th November and the top 25 players will earn their European Tour cards for 2017.

After five weeks on the road in Kazakhstan (6th), Italy, China (32nd and 44th) and the United Arab Emirates (16th) Garrick is bound for Oman to play in the season-ending NBO Golf Classic Grand Final. He set off on 2nd October 2016 52nd in the Road to Oman (Challenge Tour) rankings and now currently sits 36th. He has made four cuts out of five and produced some good golf to move steadily up the rankings. Overall, he is very satisfied with the way he has been playing and delighted to make the Grand Final, which takes place 2-5th November at the Al Mouj Golf in Muscat.

Oman provides the last chance to secure a card for the European Tour 2017 season in regulation tournament play. The top 16 on the Road to Oman will secure their cards whilst the remaining 30 golfers will go to the Final Stage of Qualifying School at PGA Catalunya, Spain 12-17th November.

Garrick’s 2016 season has been very positive with some excellent golf and results. The final two events still provide an opportunity to realise his dream for 2017.

After a two week break the European Challenge Tour returns to action with the Kazakhstan Open on the 29th September 2016. Garrick has been enjoying the break, resting and practicing ahead of a potentially very busy six weeks.

After Kazakhstan the tour moves to Italy, followed by two events in China and then the final two events in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. This is the business end of the season with some of the most lucrative events still to come. Garrick currently lies 52nd on the Road to Oman, but with some good form and results the opportunity to claim a European Tour spot for 2017 is still alive.

Garrick Porteous shot an incredible 61 (11 under) to record a new course record in the final round of the Slovakia Challenge at the Penati Golf Resort. Garrick was out in the second match of the day and recorded nine birdies, one eagle and eight pars as he eclipsed his compatriot Ben Stow’s mark of 63 by two shots. His eagle came at the European Tour’s longest hole, the 15th, which is a par six of 783 yards.

This was Garrick’s lowest ever score in competitive and professional golf to date. He had shot a 58 (10 under) on his home course of Bamburgh Castle a month ago, but there wasn’t the pressure of a competitive round.

Garrick had felt his game had been good in recent tournaments, but without the resulting success. This round can provide the confidence and spring board for his next two events on the European Challenge Tour in France (21-24th July) and Northern Ireland (28-31st July). He currently lies 35th on the Road to Oman and firmly believes that he can realise the dream of a European Tour card.

International Sports Management (ISM) launched a pioneering sponsorship scheme this week to help prestigious businesses support our Class of 2016 on the road to success. Garrick is one of the up and coming quintet from within the ISM stable who will benefit from investment, unrivalled networking and a golf day. The partners include:

DWB Wealth Consultancy (Wealth Management), Enterprise (Car Rental), GoPro (Action Cameras), Irish Biltong Co (Food), London Sport Exchange (Finance & Investments), MyProtein (Nutrition), Pond Mobile (Mobile Operator), Savills (Estate Agent), The Entertainer (Discount Publisher), Adaris (FX) and TW Steel (Luxury). These companies will all back the youngsters as they embark on seasons that will prove crucial to their golfing futures.

Garrick is playing on the Challenge Tour, while the other four golfers will be looking to underline their growing reputations on the EuroPro Tour. They will all wear the Class of 2016 logo as they set off on their exciting journeys.

ISM Chief Executive Officer Chubby Chandler said: “We believe this is a great way to connect new partners with our best young talent. They will be involved in every step and share the highs and lows of what promises to be a memorable year for these young lads, who have bags of potential. The boys are really buying into the ethos of the whole thing and who knows? In years to come these companies may be able to boast about having been involved with one of the world’s leading players at the very start.”

Garrick is delighted with the new partners and sponsors. He believes this will provide that additional support to realise his dream of a place on the European Tour for 2017. Next week sees Garrick return to action in the D+D Real Czech Challenge at the Golf and Spa Kuneticka Hora starting on Thursday 26th May.