Tour Schedule for The Race to Dubai

The launch of The Race to Dubai at the HSBC Champions at Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, China, on November 6 heralds the start of the most momentous season in the history of The European Tour. No fewer than 53 tournaments will be played on the inaugural Race to Dubai on The 38th European Tour International Schedule which will visit 26 destinations before reaching a thrilling crescendo with The Dubai World Championship at the Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai, UAE, from November 19-22, 2009. The record number of tournaments is due in part to a minimum of two tournaments – the HSBC Champions and the UBS Hong Kong Open – each being played twice on The 2009 European Tour International Schedule. In addition there are five ‘new’ tournaments – the Czech Golf Open, The English Open, the Canal + Open, the Volvo World Match Play Championship and The Dubai World Championship – on The 2009 European Tour International Schedule on which the New Zealand Open, the BMW Asian Open and the Volvo Masters will not feature. Significantly the expanded season will enable The European Tour to arrange a calendar year programme in 2010 when The European Tour International Schedule will start with the South African Open on the Jack Nicklaus-designed course at the Pearl Valley Golf Estates in the Western Cape and conclude with The Dubai World Championship at the landmark development of Jumeirah Golf Estates which will have four courses in total and 13 planned residential communities. This schedule will see Leisurecorp, the Dubai World company specialising in developments and investments in the sport and leisure sector and with whom The European Tour have a wide-ranging partnership, host the start and finish of The 2010 European Tour International Schedule. Leisurecorp have also acquired Turnberry on Scotland’s Ayrshire coast where The 138th Open Championship will be played in 2009 and which will, of course, feature on The European Tour Race to Dubai. George O’Grady, Chief Executive of The European Tour, said: "We are excited about the start of The Race to Dubai and the superb quality of the field for the HSBC Champions in Shanghai, with five of the top seven currently active players in the world all entered, provides ample evidence of the high drama and great theatre that lies ahead. "The Race to Dubai will bring a new dimension to The European Tour and the partnership with Leisurecorp is central to our plans for the future so we are particularly delighted that three of their prestigious golf facilities are hosting competition in 2009, and that Pearl Valley Golf Estates and Jumeirah Golf Estates will start and finish the 2010 season. "The 2009 European Tour International Schedule confirms how The European Tour has become ever-more global in its outlook with 26 destinations now featured with the Czech Golf Open returning for the first time in 12 years." The Czech Golf Open at Prosper Golf Resort, Čeladná, from July 30-August 2 is the first of the five ‘new’ tournaments to be played on The 2009 European Tour International Schedule. The others are The English Open, returning after an absence of seven years, at St Mellion International Resort, Cornwall; the inaugural Canal + Open; the Volvo World Match Play Championship at the new venue of Finca Cortesin Golf Club in Malaga, Spain; and The Dubai World Championship which concludes The Race to Dubai from November 19-22, 2009. Other notable changes for 2009 include the Johnnie Walker Classic returning to The Vines Resort & Country Club, Perth, Western Australia, where it was last played in 2006; the Indonesia Open moving to the New Kuta Golf Club in Bali; The European Open occupying a new date between the BMW PGA Championship and The Celtic Manor Wales Open; and the SAS Masters returning, the week following The 138th Open Championship, to Barsebäck Golf & Country Club, Skåne, Sweden, where it has been played eight times in the past. The Omega European Masters at Crans-sur-Sierre, Crans Montana, Switzerland, from September 3-6 will once more launch the start of the qualifying race for places in The European Team for The Ryder Cup which, in 2010, is being played on The Twenty Ten course at The Celtic Manor Resort, Newport, South Wales, from October 1-3.