THE Far East is a long way to travel just to miss out on one of the places that would have put you on the verge of taking the next step towards an appearance on one of the mainline tours. Narrowly missing out, though, is exactly what Callum Tarren did in China.

Rather than dwell on the frustrations of losing out by a Web.Com Tour card by three places, a stepping stone to the lucrative PGA Tour, Tarren is determined to put the experience of the last couple of months to good use in his bid to hit the top.

The talented Darlington professional played in 13 of the Pingan Bank China Tour Series events and after an inconsistent start he really made his mark in the closing stages.

After finishing eighth in the Putian Open he followed that up with back-to-back second places at the Zhuhai Hengqin Phoenix Tree Open and the Buick Open last weekend.

Those three performances boosted his rankings in the Order of Merit up to eighth but that was still three places shy of the coveted top five berths that would have got him on the Web.com Tour. He could, though, have at least had an appearance or two anyway.

Tarren explained “I came top ten in the Order of Merit, got up to eight and if you get top five you get the Web.com card. In October I needed to pay for final stage qualifying of Web.Com and I didn’t bother because, what has happened to a few people, is that it was £5,000 to enter and I was nowhere near the top ten when that cut-off point arrived.

“It is just one of those things and I have done well out there. That is what I am concentrating on now. It would have been good to fly out to America and do qualifying but it wasn’t to be. I am going to Asian Tour School in Bangkok though. I will try to get my card for that and play both there and China.”

Tarren has not ruled out a late call-up to the qualifying for the Web.Com Tour because of his high finish in China.

He said “I could fly out after Christmas. If you come top ten on PGA feeder tours like - Latino America and Canada - then you get exempt for final stage qualifying. Knowing how well I did in China I am writing to ask to be included. We will see.”

The 26-year-old, formerly a member at Dinsdale Spa and Wynyard but now attached to Rocklliffe Hall, was one of only two Englishmen on the China Tour. Middlesbrough’s Michael Skelton finished in 38th spot on the Order of Merit and was unable to better his 15th place finish at the Pingan Bank Open.

Tarren went from strength to strength and is looking to stay in that frame of mind having returned to his County Durham roots with the intention to shine even more brightly in 2017.

He said: “I’ve managed to come second in back-to-back weeks and the season in China is finished now, where I have made every cut.

“I had five top tens in the season, two seconds, a sixth and an eighth and ninth plus a fourth. These last four weeks that I have been out there I really got my game together. In Hong Kong for the final round I shot a course record 62 on eight under. From there I came eighth in Putian Open before getting my two second places. I have to be satisfied from my time out there.”

Travelling and playing in China does not come cheaply, so Tarren is keen to attract greater interest in his progress and achievements ahead of the restart and possibly Tour school.

He will be heading over to Rockliffe regularly to work on his game building up to Christmas, knowing he wants his good form to continue when he does return to the fairways – whether that is in Europe, China or even the United States.

He said: The last four weeks have been kind to me because you can make money on the China Tour and I have seen that. It will help me moving forward because it gives you an insight into the pressures of Tour qualifying and play.

“I have moved up in the world ranking and that helps to get through a few things like final stage of Open qualifying. It might help me when I look for sponsors too. You need every bit of help and sponsorship you can get because it is expensive but also good exposure for the companies.”

Tarren had a breakthrough week in mid-November in Zhuhai when he shot a final round 71, even par, at the Orien Golf and Country Club to finish second, four shots behind winner Charlie Saxon. The graduate of Radford University in Virginia, where he was team captain, previously finished second at the English Amateur Championship.

  • If you are interested in sponsoring Callum Tarren then contact him at callumtarrengolf@gmail.com