DESERT SPRINGS RESORT TO HOST
2016 PGA EUROPRO TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Europe’s Leading Development Tour
To Conclude Season At Desert Springs Resort
The Desert Springs Resort, Europe’s only international award-winning luxury family resort and championship desert golf course in the Almeria region of Andalucía, south-east Spain, has been selected to host this years season-ending Tour Championship of the PGA EuroPro Tour for the second consecutive year between Wednesday 19th – Friday 21stOctober 2016.
The PGA EuroPro Tour is Europe’s leading development tour, and the European Tour’s satellite in the UK and Ireland.
Offering direct access to the Challenge Tour through the final Order of Merit, PGA EuroPro Tour players will compete for over £800,000 of prize money in 14 main events at some of the UK and Ireland’s premier golfing venues, including The Oxfordshire, East Sussex National and The Carrick on Loch Lomond.
Only the top 60 golfers on the tour’s ‘Race To Desert Springs’ after the final event of the regular season at Moor Allerton Golf Club qualify to play the Tour Championship, which carries an increased prize fund with every golfer guaranteed a pay-out.
The purse for the Tour Championship began the season at £60,000, but with any surplus from each regular-season event prize fund added, this figure it is set to rise considerably by October.
The best players on Europe’s leading development tour will be competing to seal their place in the top five on the ‘Race To Desert Springs’ at the end of the event and earn themselves a Challenge Tour card for 2017.
The Tour Championship at Desert Springs Resort will be filmed for a two-hour highlights package to air on Sky Sports in the UK in November, and on 98 networks around the world including Fox International across Asia, Fox Sports Australia, Fox Sports in Turkey, Greece, Malta and Cyprus and StarHub in Singapore, reaching over 400 million homes.
Desert Springs Director of Golf, Simon Coaker commented:
Desert Springs Resort is both delighted and honored to have been invited to host the Tour Championship for the second year in succession.
Since 2002 The PGA EuroPro Tour has played a vital part in the early careers of some of the biggest names in golf who have gone on to great success, paving the way for Ryder Cup Players, Major Winners and European Tour Winners, most latterly Andrew Johnston, winner of The Spanish Open at Valderrama Golf Club last weekend!
For Desert Springs Resort and the Indiana course to be part of the journey that the best players in Europe travel, is a factor of both benefit and prestige to all at the Resort.
We very much look forward to welcoming the class of 2016 to Desert Springs Resort and to providing them with a wonderful experience.”
Daniel Godding, Director of Operations at the PGA EuroPro Tour commented:
“I am delighted that the tour will be returning to Desert Springs Resort this October.
Our Tour Championship there last season was a resounding success and I am thrilled to be able to continue our partnership with the Resort this year. The Indiana Course is a true gem and the team at Desert Springs Resort ensured we enjoyed one of the most successful Tour Championships the EuroPro has seen.”
Please see below the schedule for the 2016 PGA EuroPro Tour Championship.
Monday 17th October Official Practice Day
Tuesday 18th October PGA EuroPro Tour Championship Pro-Am
Wednesday 19th October PGA EuroPro Tour Championship Tournament Round 1
Thursday 20th October PGA EuroPro Tour Championship Tournament Round 2
Friday 21st October PGA EuroPro Tour Championship Tournament Round 3
NOTE TO EDITORS
About Desert Springs Resort
Opened in 2001, Desert Springs Resort quickly established an international reputation for outstanding quality, attracting discerning golfers, international elite amateur teams and professionals, as well as major international events, including two Spanish Amateur Opens and most latterly the 2015 PGA Europro Tour Championships.
Resort accommodation is provided in the apartments, townhouses and villas available for holidays and short breaks at Desert Springs Resort. Meals are served in the resort’s Croc Restaurant, part of the family-friendly Crocodile Club that is geared up for a wide variety of leisure activities and the award-winning El Torrente Restaurant at the Club House.
Visiting golfers benefit from resort gated security and full management and services that ensure all aspects of a golfer’s stay are taken care of. These include airport transfers, food hamper deliveries, babysitting and both resort and off-resort restaurant reservations.
Desert Springs Resort is easy to reach from all parts of the UK and Europe, thanks to three international airports: Almeria Airport, 40 minutes transfer; Murcia Airport, 80 minutes transfer, and Alicante Airport 1hr 50 minutes transfer.
Already well known as a resort specialising in golf and family holidays, Desert Springs Resort is gaining popularity as a centre for warm-weather training for cricketers and footballers.
For more information on Desert Springs Resort: www.almanzora .com Tel: – +34 950 091 518
Facilities already completed and in use at Desert Springs include:
§ a par 72 -18-hole USGA Indiana golf course designed by former Great Britain and Ireland Golf Team Captain Peter McEvoy who was inspired by the desert courses of Arizona and California;
§ a golf academy whose PGA qualified teaching professionals cater for several international teams, for the women’s elite squads of the Golf Union of Wales and for many of the English County Union’s elite squads; PGA European Tour and LET players.
§ two hard tennis courts, two paddle courts, beach volley ball and two football pitches – one is a full-size grass pitch; the other is designed for five-a-side games;
§ a Cricket Academy with facilities that comprise; twenty-four (24) grass wickets and run up with nets, one artificial wicket with nets, a full length artificial grass wicket, a Professional Bola Bowling Machine with 28 ball feeder, a slip catch cradle and a specific hard standing area, which provides outside space for facilities such as a free weights gym, stretching mats and a medical area
§ a Spanish colonial style Golf Club House with a lounge, bar, restaurant, locker rooms, TV and reading rooms, and a Ralph Lauren Golf Boutique;
§ The Crocodile Club which provides family fun at the heart of the resort with pools, equipped sand play areas, a kid’s battery powered John Deere Gator circuit and a games room as well as a jacuzzi, sun lawns and a pool bar;
§ a health and fitness club and spa.
Awards
Desert Springs Resort was awarded Best Golf Resort for Groups in Europe by the 2016 European Group Travel Awards (EGTA). The Indiana Course at Desert Springs Resort has also been recognised as the 6th Best Golf Course in Spain, based on the reviews of players who rated the course on the Leading Courses website. Out of the 345 courses present on this ranking the Indiana Course at Desert Springs occupies 6th place with a score of 8,8/10, and awards Desert Springs Golf Club with the “Outstanding” badge. This distinction is only given to the best 10 courses in the country.
Desert Springs Resort has been awarded the Daily Mail Best Almeria Award and the Bentley International Property Awards for the Best Spain Development and Best Architecture, as well as the Spanish National Madera Verde Prize for Environmentally Sensitive Development & SICTED award for the distinction of “Commitment to Tourism Quality”. El Torrente Restaurant has received the New Millennium International Gastronomy Award for the Tourist, Hotel and Catering Industry. This award was created by the Trade Leaders Club with the aim of distinguishing companies from all countries, for the outstanding quality of their products or services.
The climate of the Almanzora coastal region
Desert Springs Resort takes it name from the region’s desert microclimate, which is unique in Europe. It has the warmest winter weather on the continent with an annual average of more than nine hours of daily sunshine and maximum daily temperatures of between 16°C (60°F) and 30°C (86°F) throughout the year. Annual rainfall is less than 200 mm. The Almanzora’s coastal waters are among the cleanest and warmest in Europe, attracting both fish and diving enthusiasts.
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| Simon Coaker
The Almanzora Group Ltd Sales & Marketing Manager The Manor, Boddington, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire GL51 0TJ Tel: +44 (0) 1242 680116 Email: scc@almanzora.com |
The 2015 Europro Tour winners’ celebration on the 18th hole on the Indiana course
Spacious fairway frontage villas that allow for an unforgettable stay at Desert Springs Resort
Desert Springs Resort rental apartments that overlook the championship Indiana course
