Berry's Alpine Ascent: English Star Eyes DP World Tour Promotion in Lucerne
After a breakthrough win in India, 20-year-old Joshua Berry returns to the HotelPlanner Tour with clarity, confidence and his sights set on Switzerland
Paju, Korea - Joshua Berry is determined to strengthen his promotion push on the Road to Mallorca as he tees off at the Swiss Challenge this week at Golf Sempach in Lucerne.
The English 20-year-old, currently third in the season-long rankings, surged into contention with a career-making win at the Kolkata Challenge in March. That victory, combined with two further top-ten finishes, has placed him firmly in the mix for one of the 20 golden tickets to next season’s DP World Tour.
“It’s the small margins that haven’t gone my way recently,” Berry said ahead of Thursday’s opening round. “But last week I felt like things were clicking again. I’m feeling good and hopefully some good results will follow.”
Berry, who progressed through Final Stage Qualifying School for a second consecutive year in 2024, began this season splitting time between the DP World and HotelPlanner Tours. But his breakthrough in India prompted a strategic decision: to focus solely on the latter.
“I made a big decision about a month ago that I was going to stick to the HotelPlanner Tour,” he explained. “It takes a lot of discipline, but I think being able to focus on one tour will be a lot easier.”
Now, with a clear target—finishing the year inside the top 20—Berry is relishing the challenge ahead in Switzerland. Golf Sempach presents a long, soft test where accuracy off the tee will be vital, but the Yorkshireman is undeterred.
“The course suits my eye,” he said. “There are great views here and it’s important to hit fairways. I’ve just got to make sure my body feels good.”
Berry will tee off at 12:45pm local time on Thursday, playing alongside Swiss favourite Jeremy Freiburghaus and Denmark’s Jonathan Gøth-Rasmussen. The field also features seasoned names like Renato Paratore, Adri Arnaus and Tom Lewis.
With just a handful of tournaments remaining before the Road to Mallorca reaches its finale, the Alpine setting offers the perfect stage for Berry to continue his climb.