Dungannon’s Jack Madden is set for his first start of the season on the HotelPlanner Tour at the Challenge de Espana as he looks to move forward with his blueprint of making it to the DP World Tour by 2026.
Over halfway through a four year journey, Madden earned five HotelPlanner Tour invites via winning the Clutch Pro Tour Tier 2 last season and he is relishing the challenge ahead of his first appearance at this level since 2023.
Madden has been plying his trade on the Nordic Golf League and the Clutch Tour again this term with finishes of 7th and 18th his best of the season so far and he is confident that he can step up to the mark this week in Girona.
“It’s be a real goal of mine to take advantage of those five starts. If you do well you never know where you will end up you can get the ball rolling and keep passing on,” says the 25-year-old.
Madden has whetted his appetite for this level having made appearances in Final Qualifying for the Open Championship last summer, and the International Series England.
“I had some exposure when I tried to qualify for the Open. I got to Final Qualifying. Then the International Series was in Mid-August. I saw the same faces at both so I felt more comfortable when I got to Foxhill. Lahiri played both. I missed the cut but it was an eye opener that I’m not that far away.”
Also eager to take advantage of an invite this week is Laytown & Bettystown’s Alex Maguire who is making his first start on the HotelPlanner Tour since March.
Maguire has only made two tour appearances anywhere this season, both in India where he finished 46th in Kolkata before missing the cut in Delhi.
The bulk of his campaign – which includes three successive starts – will start on Thursday and after a difficult start to professional life, Maguire feels he has learned how to manage himself better off the golf course which will only help him going forward.
“My swing is in a great place,” he says. “I think to get my best golf it’s about my mental approach and feeling secure about my game. It’s competence not confidence because confidence fluctuates based on results. I feel like my game is all trending in the right direction.
“I have three consecutive events on the HotelPlanner Tour in May which is great because I tend to play my way into form so the first time out you might not be tournament ready but the more you play I feel more comfortable.
“The year has begun and I feel that I am in a good position now so if I can better then it will hopefully be a good 2025 for me.”
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