DALE Whitnell is hoping that one small step backwards will help him make plenty of large strides forward in the future.

Having played a number of events on the PGA Challenge Tour last year and occasional entries on to the showpiece PGA European Tour, the professional golfer from Tiptree is taking a different approach to advance his career in 2012.

Whitnell, who is 23, will be focusing his attention almost solely on the EuroPro Tour and is hoping that a top five finish at the end of the year will secure him a better position from which to move forward.

While the EuroPro Tour is considered to have a lower status than the Challenge Tour, plenty of golfers, including former British Open champion and US Masters runner-up Louis Oosthuizen and 2010 Ryder Cup star Ross Fisher, have used it as a stepping stone to the top of the game.

Whitnell said: “I finished fifth at EuroPro final qualifying to get my tour card and that’s where my focus is going to be this year.

“I’m hoping to play in as many tournaments on the schedule as I can to try to get a top-five finish and that will give me a good rating to play on the Challenge Tour next year.

“I know I’ve had experience on the Challenge Tour and the European Tour, but my Challenge Tour rating for this year meant I wouldn’t get enough starts to get high enough up the Order of Merit to progress.

“So I’m having to come down a step on the ladder to go forward in the future.

“That’s the goal as a top-five finish on the EuroPro Tour this year will get me into every event on the Challenge Tour next year and then I can hopefully progress on to the European Tour.

“It’s a bit disappointing to have to step back, but it has made me more determined.

“Some people manage to shoot up straight away, while some take their time and I think they tend to do best in the long run as they have built up experience.”

And the other focus for Whitnell is qualifying for the British Open Championship at Royal Lytham and St Annes in July.

He added: “I don’t know if I’ll be able to get any Challenge Tour events in this year, but I may if I can get into any and they fit around my EuroPro schedule.

“But I will be taking time away in July as I want to get into the Open Championship.”