Golf at Goodwood hits big-time

Goodwood will host it’s first major golf tournament this summer with the Business Fort English PGA Championship in association with Cobra and 59club.  

The award-winning 7,104 yards Downs Course – designed by the legendary James Braid – has been selected for this prestigious event by the PGA, the game’s long established governing body, and will take place from July 22-24.

The new event is set to challenge the skills of 144 English PGA Professionals who will compete for the £30,000 prize fund with a top prize of £5,000. The winner will also receive a coveted place in the 2011 English Open on the PGA European Tour.

It promises to yield one of the strongest fields of the season with exemptions for last year’s GB & I PGA Cup Team, the PGA Assistants’ Champion and Senior PGA Professional Champion plus the top five from each of the PGA’s seven regional Order of Merits, provided they match the eligibility criteria.

Goodwood has been at the forefront of international sport for generations through its racecourse and motor racing circuit and is now fast gaining a comparable reputation for the quality of its championship golf.

A massive investment has produced two outstanding golf courses on the 12,000 acre estate stretching over the breathtaking landscape of the Sussex Downs that has earned the Downs Course a coveted ranking in Golf World magazine’s Top 100.

A spokesman for the Goodwood estate said: “A new jewel has been added to Goodwood’s sporting crown, England’s leading golfers will contest this inaugural championship in one of the most enchanting settings for tournament golf”.

Steve Withers, Chairman of Business Fort Plc is enthusiastic about the venue and its support for the tournament. “Once I got to Goodwood I thought it was unbelievable that a venue of such quality had been kept a secret.

“It is absolutely amazing and it was equally impressive to see a venue supporting an event with so much enthusiasm.”