London Golf Club to host PGA Seniors Championship

The Staysure PGA Seniors Championship will have a new home in the shape of London Golf Club when it returns to the PGA tournament calendar this summer.

The historic championship, which dates back to 1957, returns to the Staysure Tour from August 2-5 and will have special significance this year by becoming the inaugural event to be hosted by Staysure – who became the first ever title sponsor of the European Senior Tour.

London Golf Club has impeccable tournament credentials, having held European Tour tournaments in the form of the 2008 and 2009 European Opens, as well as the Volvo World Match Play in 2014.

It last hosted a Staysure Tour event in 2007, the Bendinat London Seniors Masters, where Torrance held off the challenge of Spain’s José Rivero to win by one stroke.

In addition to the Jack Nicklaus signature-designed Heritage Course, London Golf Club also boasts the International. Known for its fast, undulating fairways and risk and reward tee shots, the International Course is set to provide the perfect setting for the first staging of the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship.

“We are delighted to be hosting the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship,” said Stephen Follett, chief executive of London Golf Club.

“The London Golf Club has a great heritage of hosting high profile tournaments and we look forward to welcoming everyone in August, to what I’m sure will be a great championship.”

David MacLaren, Head of Staysure Tour, commented: “We have to thank all those involved at one of the UK’s finest inland venues for agreeing to host the flagship event of our first year of partnership with Staysure.     

“We want to pay particular thanks to The PGA for their support of over-50s golf and ensuring that one of the game’s most enduring titles returns to the Staysure Tour.”

Australia's Peter Fowler is presented with the 2015 PGA Seniors Championship trophy by former PGA Captain Nicky Lumb at Close House.

Last played three years ago at Close House, Northumberland, where Peter Fowler was victorious, the PGA Seniors Championship was a mainstay on the over-50s circuit between 1992 and 2015.

Previous winners include some of the tour’s all-time greats, notably Brian Huggett MBE, Tommy Horton MBE and Sam Torrance OBE.

As well as a host of top names from the Staysure Tour, there will be 15 places up for grabs for PGA Professionals, which will be determined at the Silversea Senior PGA Professional Championship at Foxhills Club in Resort, Surrey in May.

Robert Maxfield, chief executive of The PGA, added: “Many great names have won the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship and those PGA Professionals who make the cut will be hoping to add their name to a long list of former winners, which includes Peter Thomson, Christy O’Connor, Sam Torrance and Tommy Horton.

“The London Golf Club has a reputation of staging top class international competitions and we are delighted to be working with a brand new title sponsor Staysure for this event.

“With the possibility of an array of former Ryder Cup players in the field alongside the elite of European over-50s golf, we look forward to hosting another exciting championship in 2018.”