West raise prize fund beyond £300,000

Leading golfers in the West and South Wales will be competing for a prize fund of more than £300,000 this year.

After unveiling the fixture list today, Glenn Ross, the PGA in England and Wales (South West) secretary, said: “This will be our most valuable season ever with almost 50 events and I am delighted that after three years working in a difficult financial climate we have continued our success in increasing rewards for the players.”

The Saunton Classic, a new event over the outstanding North Devon East and West links courses (clubhouse above), starts the six Order of Merit programme on April 23-24. The fourball professional/amateur format will be identical to the Forest Classic which continues over the Forest of Dean and Forest Hills courses in Gloucestershire for the seventh successive year on July 27-28.

The Total Triumph Classic returns to Oake Manor in Somerset for a sixth year on May 14-15 and again amateurs will have a chance to play alongside the professionals on the second day in their own strokeplay competition.

The Fourball Bournemouth Festival has now been replaced by an exclusive Dudsbury Golf Club 36-hole strokeplay tournament. The Dudsbury Masters, supported by Ringwood Brewery, is a pro-only event on July 1-2, preceded by a tournament pro-am.

Order of Merit winner Liam Bond (Marriott St Pierre) will be seeking a hat-trick of wins in The Players Championship which follows for the fourth year from July 15-16 at Cumberwell Park immediately after a special pro-am which was swiftly sold out last year.

Marston's, the UK's market leading brewer of premium cask and bottled ales, will be the title sponsor of the PGA West Region Championship for the fourth successive year. The South West’s most prestigious and longest-running Order of Merit tournament moves from Saunton to The Players Club at Codrington, near Bristol, where it will be staged for the sixth time in 12 years from August 12-13.

The West Region Championship for the Lidgerwood Trophy dates back to 1920 and the winners read like a who's who of West Country golf stars, among them former Open champions Reg Whitcombe, Max Faulkner and Alf Perry as well as 14 Ryder Cup players including Peter Alliss, Bernard Hunt, Gordon Brand Jnr and Phillip Price. St Mellion touring player James Ruth is the defending champion.

The event is unique as, for the first time, it embraces four championships because the women’s, seniors’ and assistants’ title will also be decided in a limited field of 132 players. The most significant event of the year will end the search for the three leading players in the Order of Merit. They will represent the South West in the Titleist PGA Play-Offs and could result in a number of European Tour starts, including the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.

Ross, above second from left with Marston's Ben Nichols (left) and Simon Marchesi (third from left), and The Players Club PGA Professional Mark Brookes (right). said: “Marston's have been a great supporter of golf and they already have business links with a number of golf clubs in our area who are benefitting from the relationships. The company feels its continuing association with the PGA and the good deals they can offer clubs will continue to be mutually beneficial.”

The 36-hole tournament will be preceded by the PGA West Region Championship Pro-Am on Monday August 11.

The early season features the Cornish Festival at Trevose, St Enodoc and Newquay on April 1-3 which is one of the UK's most popular events.

Entries have already been received from former Ryder Cup player and defending champion Peter Baker, plus fellow Ryder Cup stars Paul Broadhurst, joint winner in 2012, Steven Richardson and Welshman Phillip Price. More than 70 per cent per cent of the field has already been filled.

The South Wales Festival now becomes a two-day event and moves to an earlier date on August 27-28 at outstanding links courses Machynys Peninsular and Ashburnham.

Young professionals under the age of 30 and club assistants will feature in a new event, the Pro’s Sprint League in association with Titleist and Footjoy, an early-season four-stage 18-hole strokeplay event at Weston-super-Mare, Players Club, Cumberwell Park and Woodbury Park. This replaces the Titleist-Footjoy young pros league.

Mr Ross said: “It had been arranged from mid-March to mid-May before the main season gets underway and limited to 50 players who must enter before the first fixture with small prize funds and a bonus pool of £3,500.”

The popular fourball is staged for the third year at Teign Valley on June 18-19 preceded by a pro-am.

Although the Race to Woodbury Park has been discontinued after three successful years, the East Devon home of the PGA is hosting a major £8,000 pro-am on July 18.

The Mitie Big Pro-Am at Bigbury is a new event and other pro-ams will mark special occasions. Minchinhampton Old celebrate 125 years, the Gwalia Housing Trust’s celebrity event at Langland Bay celebrates the housing trust’s 25th anniversary. Adrian Cave, the Honiton club professional, hosts a pro-am to mark his 25th year at the club. Raglan Parc’s first pro-am is staged on the club’s 21st anniversary. Minchinhampton New and Vivary Park return to the schedule.

Despite the packed schedule, Ross is still optimistic he can expand the fixture list. He said: “We are still in negotiation with a couple of sponsors but are already assured of another good programme.”