The 2014 edition of the UniCredit PGA Professional Championship of Europe will once again be staged at Pravets Golf & Spa Resort, Bulgaria, from 15 – 18 October after the resort reached agreement to host the Championship for a second three-year period.
The Championship sees leading qualifiers from each of the 36 Confederation of Professional Golf Member Countries compete across four days of strokeplay golf for an prize fund of €60,000.
However, the Championship will this year come with the added boost that the ‘Passport to Pravets’ banner provides. Not only will each of the champions and top finishers in the national PGA Championships receive invitations to compete, but each of the eligible winners from the nine other Confederation of Professional Golf events on the calendar will also qualify to compete.
The first of these invitations have been sent to the 2013 International Team Championship’s victorious PGA of Holland team consisting of Nicolas Nube, Ralph Miller, and Robin Swane, after their long-awaited winning performance in December.
The eligible winners of the Mercedes-Benz International Pro-Am, Fourball Championship, and Kempinski “The Dome” Pro-Ams that have taken place so far this year will also be invited to the event, along with each of the Champions throughout the Confederation of Professional Golf season.
“Pravets Golf & Spa has proved itself to be an ideal venue for our flagship Championship,” stated Ian Randell, Chief Executive of the Confederation of Professional Golf. “The golf course is always in superb condition and provides an excellent test of golf. The facilities at the club and hotel are first-class and the warm welcome that is extended to players and officials makes it a hugely popular event. In addition they operate a very welcoming ‘Everyone can play’ policy and have invested in golf development in the area particularly for local children. We are extremely happy to be extending our hugely successful partnership into the future.”
CEO of Terra Tour Service Ltd., Mr. Lachezar Todorov, stated, ‘’Terra Tour Service and Pravets Golf Club are delighted to extend our sponsorship of the UniCredit PGA Professional Championship of Europe for a further three years and to reaffirm our partnership with the Confederation of Professional Golf. We look forward to an excellent tournament in 2014 with a top-class field once again assembled.”
The 2013 Championship was won by the PGA of Italy’s Federico Elli by six shots from his nearest rivals, and Elli will receive a defending Champion’s invitation to try to emulate the previous double-Champion Hugo Santos, who captured the 2010 and 2011 championships.
Each of the Association’s 36 national PGAs will nominate their qualifying tournament in the coming months and the qualifying competitors will each receive their ‘Passport to Pravets’ and the opportunity to be crowned the Champion PGA Professional of Europe.
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For more information about the Confederation of Professional Golf, visit the Tournament Hub Page (http://eur.pe/17vapHk), follow @PGAsofEurope (http://bit.ly/Pojrwy) and search #PassportToPravets (http://eur.pe/1e6YQex) on Twitter, or like the Confederation of Professional Golf Facebook Page.
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Notes to Editors:
An Association of 36 National PGAs (31 European and 5 international) with a collective membership in excess of 21,000 golf professionals, the Confederation of Professional Golf is committed to the advancement of golf, golfers and the golf profession across Europe.
The Association is also a partner in Ryder Cup Europe as the sole member of the Ryder Cup European Development Trust, and is widely acknowledged as a lead body in the delivery of golf development expertise on a global basis through its collaboration with The R&A in its “Working for Golf” programme.
Pravets Golf Club
Pravets Golf Club, in the magnificent Golf & Spa Resort, easily accessible from Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, hosts the third PGA Professional Championship of Europe in 2013 after a hugely-successful re-launch of the Confederation of Professional Golf’s 72-hole individual strokeplay championship in 2011. The resort features a four-star Riu hotel with restaurants, superb spa and fully equipped fitness centre and all-round sporting facilities including the superbly designed Peter Harradine-designed course, partly lakeside and with the spectacular backdrop of the Stara Planina mountains. [www.pravets-golfclub.com]
UniCredit
UniCredit is a leading European commercial bank with an international network spanning 50 markets, with more than 9,200 branches and over 150,000 employees. The Group operates in 20 European countries.
UniCredit benefits from a strong European identity, extensive international presence and broad customer base.
Its strategic position in Western and Eastern Europe gives the group one of the region’s highest market shares. [www.UniCredit.com]