The Clutch Pro Tour - The New UK Golf Tour For Male and Female Pros

The Clutch Pro Tour may be the career-boost than many pros are looking for this year

The first event of the newly-released schedule takes place at Notts Golf Club
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The Clutch Pro Tour may offer the career-boost than many professionals are looking for this year

The Clutch Pro Tour - The New UK Golf Tour For Male and Female Pros

Whilst many pro golfers in the UK may be struggling during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Clutch Pro Tour is offering the chance to fast-track their careers.

The ambitious new tour - which is the brainchild of golf professional, Tom Hayward - is based in the UK and is open to both male and female players.

It offers huge incentives, such as a £10,000 first prize for a 'Major', plus the top three players at the end of the season will have their European Tour Qualifying School fees covered.

"I just thought there should be more opportunities out there for players where they can go and win something substantial," says Hayward, who struggled to find somewhere to compete after missing out at Qualifying School in 2018.

"For mini tour players, sponsorship is hard to come by. We’re just trying to offer a really exciting and interesting platform for players with genuine opportunities for development."

The new 2020 schedule boasts £200,000 in prize money and the tour has received backing from Modest! Golf management as well as Cobra Puma Golf, who will be running its own Order of Merit.

Modest! Golf is co-owned by Niall Horan, and it manages the likes of Tyrrell Hatton, Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Guido Migliozzi.

"We are always very passionate about providing opportunities for young players as they start out on their journey," says Modest! Golf's Mark McDonnell.

"You win one of these events for £10,000 and that can pay for a lot of the travel costs for the first six, seven months of the season for these younger guys who have limited schedules. It's life changing for them."

The Clutch Pro Tour will visit some of England's finest inland courses, with the next Major taking place later this month at the stunning Notts Golf Club.

The 18-hole tournaments have already attracted a number of top professionals, including European Tour stars, such as Matthew Southgate and Steven Brown.

In July, 'The Open Access Masters' at Sunningdale Heath will unite the stars of the European and Ladies European Tours in a split field boasting equal prize money.

The field gets stronger by the day, with four-time Major winner Dame Laura Davies, LET star Meghan MacLaren and the highly-rated Connor Syme already confirmed.

This year's overall champion will receive full status for the 2020/2021 MENA Tour (Middle East North Africa), which is an Official World Golf Ranking-sanctioned tour that is an official feeder tour to the Challenge Tour.

In addition, the 2020 Clutch Pro Tour winner will receive a year's Mizuno sponsorship, featuring a full bag of equipment: driver, metal woods, a full set of irons and wedges, a season’s worth of balls and gloves, two pairs of shoes, a Tour Bag and clothing from Mizuno’s range of performance apparel.

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Elliott Heath
News Editor

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!

Elliott is currently playing:

Driver: Titleist TSR4

3 wood: Titleist TSi2

Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1

Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5

Ball: Srixon Z Star XV