Grehan and McElroy set their eyes on Spanish conquest as Manuel Elvira heads star studded field

Stuart Grehan and Dermot McElroy make up the Irish contingent at the Challenge de España at Club de Golf Playa Serena this week.

Grehan and McElroy join a star-studded field in Almería this week which includes Road to Mallorca Number One Casey Jarvis, seven-time DP World Tour winner Alvaro Quiros and Matteo Manassero, the youngest winner in DP World Tour history.

Manuel Elvira has set his sights on home glory when he tees it up in front of his home crowd and the Spaniard currently sits in fifth position on the Road to Mallorca Rankings and has all but secured his DP World Tour playing privileges for 2024 with six events remaining.

The top 20 in the Rankings after the Rolex Challenge Tour Grand Final supported by the R&A will earn promotion to the DP World Tour and Elvira is relishing the opportunity to join brother Nacho on Europe’s top tier.

“It’s always nice to play on home soil,” he said. “I’m only about five hours from here and it’s great to be back in Spain. The weather is warm and I’m looking forward to it.

“Golf has been really kind to me this year. If I had to put a grade on my season it would be an A plus. If you told me a year ago that I would pretty much have my DP World Tour card secured I would have told you that you were crazy but here we are”, Elvira said.

And he is looking forward to a family affair this week and next year on the Tour.

“I’ve put a lot of hard work in over the past year both on and off the course. I’m so pleased with where my game is right now, and it will be good to join my brother on a regular basis next year.

“I always feel more comfortable playing at home, and I’ve got some friends and family coming down which will provide some extra support which I don’t have elsewhere,” he added.

The first round of the Challenge de España will begin at 8.00am local time, with Elvira teeing off alongside last week’s winner Maximilian Rottluff and Englishman Jamie Rutherford.

Dermot McElroy gets his first round underway at 14.40pm with Stuart Grehan getting underway at 9.30am in Spain.