News
European Tour fleshes out fall schedule with three new events and a few cancellations
Luke Walker
Just as the European Tour’s first U.K. Swing draws to a close this week with the U.K. Championship at The Belfry, the next one continues to grow. Tour officials announced on Friday that following the Irish Open at Galgorm Castle (Sept. 24-27), the Scottish Open at Renaissance Club (Oct. 1-4) and the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth (Oct. 8-11), the first-ever Scottish Championship at the Fairmont St. Andrews has been added for Oct. 15-18 to complete a four-week run.
That wasn’t the only news of new tournaments coming to the 2020 schedule. Later in October, the Old World circuit will make its maiden visit to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. Two events at the Aphrodite Hills Resort—the Cyprus Open (Oct. 29-Nov. 1) and the Cyprus Classic (Nov. 5-8)—will go halfway to plugging what was, following the expected cancelation of the WGC-HSBC Champions in China, a month-long gap between the BMW PGA and the Masters in mid-November.
“We’re delighted to be able to put on the Cyprus events,” said Andrew (Chubby) Chandler, chief executive officer of International Sports Management, the tournament promoters. “ISM prides itself on taking golf to new places, and we’re looking forward to seeing the European Tour break new ground once again in Cyprus. It’s been a turbulent year for golf but that brings opportunity and this will be an exciting couple of weeks.”
As things stand, the European Tour will spend the next three weeks on the Iberian peninsula—one in Spain, two in Portugal—before the second tour of the United Kingdom begins in Northern Ireland in late September.
Less happily, however, the Italian Open, currently scheduled to be played Oct. 22-25, remains without a venue. And tour officials announced the long-expected cancellations of the Turkish Airlines Open and what would have been the 40th Nedbank Golf Challenge at Sun City in South Africa.
All in all, the European Tour remains a work in progress.