The Challenge Tour is Europe's official developmental tour and is organised by the PGA European Tour. It was introduced in 1986 and was originally called the Satellite Tour, before being renamed with its present title in 1990.[1]
The 2016 schedule is set out below.[2] The numbers in brackets after winners' names show the player's total number of wins on the Challenge Tour including that event. It is rare for someone to accumulate many wins on the Challenge Tour because success at this level soon leads to promotion to the European Tour.
| Dates | Tournament | Host country | Winner | OWGR
points | Notes | | 20 Mar | Barclays Kenya Open | Kenya | SWE}} Sebastian Söderberg (1) | 12 |
| 23 Apr | Red Sea Egyptian Challenge | Egypt | ENG}} Jordan Smith (1) | 12 | New tournament |
| 1 May | Challenge de Madrid | Spain | SCO}} Duncan Stewart (1) | 12 |
| 8 May | Turkish Airlines Challenge | Turkey | FRA}} Clément Sordet (2) | 12 |
| 15 May | Montecchia Open | Italy | ENG}} Gary King (1) | 12 |
| 29 May | D+D Real Czech Challenge | Czech Republic | FRA}} Damien Perrier (1) | 12 |
| 5 Jun | Swiss Challenge | Switzerland | DEU}} Alexander Knappe (1) | 12 |
| 12 Jun | KPMG Trophy | Belgium | SWE}} Simon Forsström (1) | 12 |
| 19 Jun | Najeti Open | France | PRT}} José-Filipe Lima (4) | 12 |
| 26 Jun | SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge | Scotland | ENG}} James Heath (2) | 12 |
| 3 Jul | Made in Denmark Challenge | Denmark | DEU}} Bernd Ritthammer (1) | 12 |
| 10 Jul | D+D Real Slovakia Challenge | Slovakia | NOR}} Espen Kofstad (3) | 12 |
| 17 Jul | Fred Olsen Challenge de España | Spain | FRA}} Adrien Saddier (1) | 12 |
| 24 Jul | Le Vaudreuil Golf Challenge | France | SWE}} Alexander Björk (1) | 12 |
| 31 Jul | Tayto Northern Ireland Open | Northern Ireland | NZL}} Ryan Fox (2) | 12 |
| 7 Aug | Swedish Challenge | Sweden | FRA}} Joël Stalter (1) | 12 | New tournament |
| 14 Aug | Vierumäki Finnish Challenge | Finland | ENG}} Sam Walker (4) | 12 |
| 20 Aug | Rolex Trophy | Switzerland | ZAF}} Dylan Frittelli (2) | 12 |
| 28 Aug | Bridgestone Challenge | England | BEL}} Thomas Detry (1) | 12 | Last played in 2012 |
| 4 Sep | Cordon Golf Open | France | ESP}} Álvaro Velasco (3) | 12 |
| 11 Sep | Volopa Irish Challenge | Ireland | DEU}} Bernd Ritthammer (2) | 12 |
| 2 Oct | Kazakhstan Open | Kazakhstan | ENG}} Sam Walker (5) | 13 |
| 9 Oct | Terre dei Consoli Open | Italy | SWE}} Johan Edfors (4) | 12 |
| 16 Oct | Hainan Open | China | DEU}} Alexander Knappe (2) | 13 | New tournament; reduced to 36 holes |
| 23 Oct | Foshan Open | China | ENG}} Marcus Armitage (1) | 13 |
| 29 Oct | Ras Al Khaimah Golf Challenge | United Arab Emirates | ENG}} Jordan Smith (2) | 13 | New tournament |
| 5 Nov | NBO Golf Classic Grand Final | Oman | DEU}} Bernd Ritthammer (3) | 17 |
1. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.europeantour.com/tourgroup/history/index.html |title=Tour History |work=PGA European Tour |accessdate=16 January 2013}}
2. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.europeantour.com/challengetour/tournament/index.html |title=Challenge Tour Schedule 2016 |publisher=PGA European Tour |accessdate=18 January 2016}}