European Tour Announces 6-Week UK Swing

The Tour has announced a series of tournaments set to be hosted around Great Britain.

European Tour Announces 6-Week UK Swing

The European Tour has announced a 6-week UK swing of professional golf tournaments after a four month absence thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic.

As many as 30 tournaments were cancelled or postponed on the European Tour which saw chief executive Keith Pelley look at alternative ways of staging golf tournaments.

With many travel restrictions and guidelines still in place, the UK swing of golf tournaments set to take place in England and Wales was the result.

The behind-closed-doors schedule will start with the Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood at Close House in Newcastle. This will take place from the 22rd of July to the 25th.

This will be followed by the English Open at the Marriott Forest of Arden and then the English Championship at Marriott Hanbury Manor.

From there the Tour will then stage two tournaments, the Celtic Classic and Wales Open, at Celtic Manor, the Welsh course that hosted the thrilling 2010 Ryder Cup.

The series of tournaments will conclude with the UK Championship at The Belfry, another venue that has played a key role in the history of the Ryder Cup.

The European Tour also announced a new schedule for the Rolex Series events.

The Scottish Open and BMW PGA Championship will take place in consecutive weeks in mid October whilst the Nedbank Golf Challenge and DP World Tour Championship will take place in December.

Keith Pelley, European Tour Chief Executive, said: “Since the suspension of our 2020 season in early March, we have taken a measured approach in reassessing our schedule, informed every step of the way by our medical advisers and government guidance.

“We have consistently said that safety is our absolute priority and that is why today we are announcing our resumption in two months’ time supported by a comprehensive health strategy which has been led by our medical team.

“Without question we have had to think differently about the remainder of our 2020 season which is reflected in today’s announcement. As golf’s global Tour, diversity is ordinarily one of our biggest strengths, but in this instance it has become one of our biggest challenges.

“Initially, therefore, based on the expert guidance we received, playing in clusters, in one territory, is the best option in terms of testing, travel and accommodation.

“I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank Betfred, Close House, Marriott, The Forest of Arden, Hanbury Manor, The Celtic Manor Resort and The Belfry for sharing our vision for this ‘UK Swing’ and we look forward to returning to tournament play in July with this innovative stretch of six events."

“I also want to pay tribute to Rolex, BMW, Aberdeen Standard Investments, the Scottish Government, Nedbank, Sun International and DP World, for their continued commitment to the European Tour which allowed us to move four hugely important tournaments on the European Tour into new dates later in the year."

The swing of golf tournaments will also start the 'Good For Golf' initiative which will culminate in £500,000 being given to various charities.

European Tour UK Swing Schedule

Betfred British Masters hosted by Lee Westwood, Close House - 22-25 July

English Open, Marriott Forest of Arden - 30 July - 2 August

English Championship, Marriott Hanbury Manor - 6-9 August

Celtic Classic, Celtic Manor - 13-16 August

Wales Open, Celtic Manor - 20-23 August

UK Championship, The Belfry - 37-30 August

Rolex Series Schedule

Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open, The Renaissance Club - 8-11 October

BMW PGA Championship, Wentworth - 15-18 October

Nedbank Golf Challenge Hosted by Gary Player - 3-6 December

DP World Tour Championship - 10-13 December

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