Argentina, China, Kazakhstan and all points Europe are beckoning to Thetford golf star Lawrence Dodd. The schedule for the 20th season of the European Challenge Tour has just been released, and Dodd is planning his itinerary after winning his card back in November.

Argentina, China, Kazakhstan and all points Europe are beckoning to Thetford golf star Lawrence Dodd.

The schedule for the 20th season of the European Challenge Tour has just been released, and Dodd is planning his itinerary after winning his card back in November.

“It's very exciting to be making plans,” said Dodd.

“I know I can do well, I know I'm good enough to put in the results - and I want to prove it to myself.”

His campaign will begin early in March at the Kenya Open followed by two events in Argentina and another in Colombia.

There are over 30 events on the schedule, including an historic first visit to China for the inaugural Chinese Challenge, to be played at Qingdao Golf Club from September 11-14.

This will be followed by the richest single Challenge Tour event, the Kazakhstan Open, which now boasts a formidable prize fund of £430,000.

Dodd is planning to play 20-25 events and will be particularly targeting the later tournaments which carry the biggest prize money.

The top 20 players on the order of merit will graduate to the 2009 European Tour.

Between now and March, Dodd's focus will be on sharpening his short game.

He's just back from the Joburg Open - a European Tour event - where he reckons his short game cost him the chance of making the cut.

He put his short game under pressure when he started with a triple bogey seven on the first - his tee shot finished just off the fairway butted up to a tree and he had to hit out one-handed - and he was five over after four holes.

To his credit, he played the rest of the round in level par and was level for the second round. But he missed the cut by those five shots.

“It's the longest course on the European Tour at 7,600 yards and there was absolutely no run because it had rained for thee days.

“But overall, my short game was my problem, it let me down and I was pretty disappointed with it.

“I'm usually better but, with the bad weather at home, I hadn't been able to put in the amount of time I need.

“I struggled on the first few holes and with a sharper short game I think I could have made the cut.

“Everyone always wants to hit it longer and better but I've got to work on my short game and that will make the difference to my scores.”