PGA Professional Championship of Europe from 2011.

Press Release


13 April 2010
For Immediate Release

 

Pravets Golf & SPA, Bulgaria, to Host Re Launch of the
PGA Professional Championship of Europe from 2011.

The PGAs of Europe are proud to announce that its premier stroke play championship is to return after a six year break.  At a recent meeting in London, Terra Tour Services, the owners of Pravets Golf & SPA, agreed with the PGAs of Europe to underwrite and host the event for three years starting in October 2011 and will be named the “PGA Professional Championship of Europe”.

This will be the first international individual Professional golfing event ever staged in Bulgaria, where Pravets is just one of a number of superb new courses and resorts being developed. Pravets hosting such a high profile championship will assist in developing the game of golf domestically as well as increasing its growing image as a golf destination.

The PGA Professional Championship of Europe prize fund will be a minimum of €60,000 and will be competed for by an elite field of 60 professionals from the 30 full member countries who will qualify through their national PGA Championships. The event will be a 72-hole stroke play format and will be accompanied by a Pro-Am tournament.

Lachezar Todorov, CEO of Terra Tour Services, commented “We are delighted to host the premier event for non touring PGA professionals across Europe and look forward to welcoming them to Pravets next year. The sponsorship shows the commitment to putting Pravets and Bulgaria in the minds of golfers and tourists and we look forward to welcoming not only the players in 2011 but golfers and guests from across Europe this year and in years to come”.

The Peter Harradine-designed course at Pravets Golf & SPA resort is situated a mere 40 minutes drive from Sofia and with the stunning Stara Planina Mountain and picturesque Lake Pravets as its back drop, it is sure to provide a tough but fair challenge for the cream of Europe's PGA professionals. Pravets is the first and only club in Bulgaria, managed by an international golf management company, Braemar Golf, based in the Home of Golf, St Andrews, Scotland.

The golf course is opening officially in June 2010 and will be the most accessible golf course in Bulgaria and also includes a state of the art golf academy available for complete beginners to the elite golfers in Bulgaria.

The resort features the splendid RIU Pravets Hotel with restaurants and night club, superb SPA centre and fully equipped fitness centre, all-round sporting facilities including water sports on the lake, a 450-seater conference centre, casino and attractive wooded surrounds.

Welcoming the opportunity to return the 72-hole individual championship to the schedule, PGAs of Europe chief executive, Ian Randell said: “We are thrilled to be able to re-establish the PGA Professional Championship of Europe with Pravets Golf & SPA. To be crowned as the champion of PGA professionals in Europe is a great honour and I would like to thank all involved at Pravets and their golf management partners, Braemar Golf, for their wonderful support and commitment to ensuring the return of the Championship for the coming years.”  

In addition of the long term collaboration Pravets will also be the host of the official PGAs of Europe Central Zone meeting on 11 May 2010 where all Central Zone National PGAs will be invited to attend.

- Ends -


For further information please contact:

Pravets Golf Club
Nora Dimitrova
+359 882 550 820
noradimitrova@braemargolf.co.uk
www.pravets-golfclub.com

Braemar Golf
Keith Haslam
+44 (0)1334 478578
keithhaslam@braemargolf.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Braemar Golf is an international golf management services company with its headquarters at the Home of Golf in St Andrews, Scotland and the PGAs official supplier of golf management services. They deliver technical services, management, construction management and advisory services, and are currently involved in projects in St Andrews, throughout Europe, the Middle East, Russia and North Africa. Owned and run by its management team, Braemar Golf offers owners and developers a client and project led approach with a personal commitment and an attention to detail that will take your vision from strategy to reality. (www.braemargolf.co.uk)

The PGAs of Europe is an Association of National PGAs (30 European and 7 International) with a collective membership in excess of 18,500 golf professionals whose objective is to represent, promote and advise PGAs on a business-to-business basis. At all times striving to raise standards and opportunities in the education and employment of golf professionals while also representing member countries in dealing with influential bodies and governments regarding the promotion of the game and the interests of PGA professionals.

The PGAs of Europe guides the administration of the professional game throughout the continent and sometimes beyond in order to ensure excellence in the delivery of those services necessary to guarantee highly qualified, highly skilled PGA Professionals equipped to lead the advancement of the game around the world.

It is also a partner in the Ryder Cup with specific responsibility for the management of the Ryder Cup European Development Trust and is widely acknowledged as a lead body in the delivery of golf development expertise on a global basis through its collaboration with The R&A in implementing its Golf Development Programme. (www.pgae.com)