Norfolk Golf Club to Hold First Mixed Sex Open Tournament

Barnham Boom Golf Club is breaking away from golfing tradition by holding Norfolk's first week long mixed sex open tournament from Monday 12 to Friday 16 August.

This revolutionary tournament is introducing a new format where female golfers will be competing directly against their male counterparts in a 5-day Match Play and Strokeplay tournament on the two Championship courses in the heart of Norfolk's Wensum Valley.

The week will begin with two days of 18-hole Strokeplay to determine the top 32 players in three categories - scratch; 1 to 11 handicap; 12-18 handicap. From Wednesday, there will be a knockout Match Play tournament for the 32 qualifiers in each category before semi-finals and finalist fighting it out on the Friday.

Those who did not make the first round Match Play and first round losers will play in a consolation competition on Wednesday and Thursday.

Corey Knoop, Head of Golf at Barnham Broom feels the time is right that both sexes competed against each other.

"We feel that it is about time that women and men competed as equals in the same tournament. With more couples playing golf, our Open Week provides them with a great opportunity to play alongside each other in a competitive environment rather than in separate events.

"The women's tour is getting much better coverage on TV now, so we are hoping that an event like this will attract a greater number of female entrants from Norfolk and further a field. We know from our own membership that there will be several couples taking part and we would love at least 25% of the competitors to be women.

"We believe that this mixed sex tournament will prove very popular and should pave the way for similar tournaments and events in the future."

With a guarantee of at least four rounds of golf, the price of £80 for visitors and £35 for members represents good value.