PGA EuroPro Tour Confirm De Vere Oulton Hall Event - 26/05/2007

THE De Vere Oulton Hall is to host the world's top young players in August when the PGA EuroPro Tour makes its debut at the Leeds course.

De Vere are spending £7.5 million upgrading the course and facilities to Championship standard in recent years, and will welcome their first PGA EuroPro Tour event this summer.

The venue is the only Five Star golf resort in the north, with work totalling £7.5million on the facilities due to be finished during next summer.

The PGA EuroPro Tour event will be staged from 8-10 August, with players competing over 54 holes, with the top 50 players, plus ties, following two rounds progressing to the final day.

Sky Sports will be screening highlights of the tournament, which will see the likes of Leeds' Stuart Cage - the 2006 Tour Champion - competing alongside rising stars such as Chris Hanson, from Huddersfield.

"We are delighted to be staging one of next year's tournaments at a prestigious venue such as the De Vere Oulton Hall," said PGA EuroPro Tour Managing Director Eddie Hearn.

"De Vere have invested heavily in the golfing facilities at Oulton Hall to bring it up to Championship standard, and I'm sure our players will enjoy the tests it will provide.

"There are many players from the Yorkshire region on the PGA EuroPro Tour, and this will be a great chance for them to shine on home soil."

De Vere Oulton Hall has already staged the charity "Sir Steve Redgrave Golden Five" event in 2006, which saw the five-time Olympic Rowing Champion joined by sports legends Ray Clemence, Alan Wells, Brian Close and Willie Thorne.

De Vere Oulton Hall's Head of Golf Keith Pickard said: "we are very privileged and excited about being hosts to our PGA EuroPro Tour event next August.

"With De Vere's fantastic pedigree of hosting major tournaments along with the significant £7.5m investment we are currently injecting into our Dave Thomas designed 27-hole complex, will ensure that this event lives up to our synonymous five star reputation."

The full 2007 PGA EuroPro Tour schedule will be released later in January

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Further Information
Information for players:
Players wishing to stay at the De Vere Oulton Hall Hotel can take advantage of special offers of £115 for bed and breakfast accommodation for single occupancy and £125 for double occupancy.

Information for media:
The Oulton Park Golf Course was previously operated by Leeds City Council but, in September 2005, the course and facilities, adjoining Oulton Hall, became part of the world-renowned De Vere portfolio of prestigious golf resorts.
These include: The De Vere Belfry, De Vere Slaley Hall, De Vere Carden Park and De Vere Mottram Hall, all of which have a pedigree in managing golf tournaments.
Once played as a mixture of three loops of nine holes, Oulton Hall has refigured the course configuration to provide the Championship 18 holes, called The Park, and the nine hole Hall Course.
De Vere Oulton Hall is a stunning Grade II listed mansion, which has been lovingly restored to its original splendor, located in the beautiful northern English countryside just outside of Leeds.

PGA EuroPro Tour Information
Each event on the PGA EuroPro Tour is played over 54 holes, with the top 50 plus ties going through to the third and final round.
Every tournament carries a minimum prize fund of £40,000, and the season will culminate in the Tour Championship with the top 50 players from the Order of Merit.
Highlights of every PGA EuroPro Tour event are shown around the World, in countries such as America, Canada, Japan and South Africa, as well as on Sky Sports in the UK.