Friday, January 23, 2009

Challenge Tour gains Momentum

Linna Golf Club in Finland, a member of The PGA European Tour courses, is one of six superb new venues which will be rolled out in 2009, when the Challenge Tour continues its epic voyage across four continents and a minimum of 24 events in 18 different countries. The breathtaking course, which will also host the 2010 European Amateur Championships, cuts through birch and pine forest bordering a seven kilometre-long lake on the historic Vanajanlinna Hotel estate, situated 100km north of the Finnish capital Helsinki. The Challenge Tour players will get the chance to test themselves over the 7,224 yard course between June 11 and 14, when the SK Golf Challenge makes its second appearance on an exciting schedule containing a blend of new and established venues. In addition to the SK Golf Challenge’s move to Linna Golf Club, the stunning Darren Clarke-designed Champions Club course at Moyvalley Hotel and Golf Resort in Co. Kildare, Ireland, will make its maiden appearance on the Schedule when it hosts the Challenge of Ireland presented by Moyvalley from June 11-14; whilst the majestic Macdonald Spey Valley Golf Club in Aviemore, Scotland, is the new venue for the fourth edition of the Scottish Challenge from July 30-August 2. Other new additions to the Schedule include: Båstad GK, which will host The Swedish Challenge from June 25-28; Holsterbo GK, which will stage the ECCO Tour Championship from October 1-4; and Le Querce, where the Italian Federation Cup will be played from October 22-25. The seven-month season will comprise a minimum of 24 tournaments including the quartet of established Challenge Tour ‘Majors’, worth a combined prize fund of €1,915,000. The €800,000 SAINT-OMER Open presented by Neuflize OBC, the only dual-ranking event on the Schedule, will be played from June 18-21; the €430,000 Kazakhstan Open, which will again carry the biggest prize fund for a full Challenge Tour event this season, will be held from September 17-20; the US$500,000 Qingdao Golf Open, which returns after the success of the inaugural event last year, will be staged from September 24-27; and the €300,000 Apulia San Domenico Grand Final, where the identity of the 20 graduates will again be decided, marks the close of the season from October 28-31. All four tournaments will return to the courses which so successfully hosted them last year: respectively, Aa St Omer Golf Club in Lumbres, France; Nurtau Golf Club in Almaty, Kazakhstan; Qingdao Huashan Golf & Resort in Qingdao, China; and San Domenico Golf in Puglia, Italy. In addition, the Challenge Tour will also return to some former favourites in the form of Muthaiga Golf Club in Nairobi, Kenya, which from April 16-19 will host the 17th edition of the Tusker Kenya Open, currently the longest-running event on the Schedule; whilst the Royal Waterloo Golf Club in Brussels, Belgium, will also return to the Schedule when it stages the Telenet Trophy from May 28-31. The Tour will retain its presence in South America with the Club Colombia Masters, held from March 19-22 at Country Club de Bogotá in Bogotá, Colombia. This will be the second event of the season, following the curtain-raiser at the Challenge de España from March 5-8. France will again host four events – the ALLIANZ Open Côtes d’Armor Bretagne from May 14-17; the SAINT-OMER Open presented by Neuflize OBC; the ALLIANZ EurOpen de Lyon from July 9-12; and the ALLIANZ Open du Grand Toulouse from October 8-11 – whilst Switzerland will stage two tournaments with the Credit Suisse Challenge from July 2-5, and the Trophée du Golf de Genève from July 13-16. Alain de Soultrait, Managing Director of the Challenge Tour, said: “In the current climate we are delighted to be able to announce a strong Schedule, with some new courses which will provide our Members with a true test of their golfing skills. It is great to welcome some old favourites like Muthaiga Golf Club and Royal Waterloo Golf Club back onto our Schedule, and we are just as excited about visiting our new venues in Great Britain, Ireland, Italy and Scandanavia. “Whilst we were understandably sorry to see some of our events postponed for a year, particularly in South America, we look forward to welcoming them back onto the Schedule in 2010. We are also hopeful of adding two or three more events during the course of the 2009 season, which promises to be just as enjoyable and competitive as the previous 20.”

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