- Landmark season for the Staysure Tour, formerly known as the European Senior Tour
- PGA Seniors Championship returns to the schedule, with Staysure named as title sponsors
- The Senior Open Presented by Rolex to be held on the Old Course at St Andrews for the first time
The Staysure Tour today announces its schedule for the 2018 season, featuring three new events in Denmark, England and Spain.
The Shipco Masters Promoted by Simon’s Golf Club, Staysure PGA Seniors Championship and Costa Blanca Benidorm Senior Masters are the latest additions to the calendar, which will see the Tour travel to four continents in 2018.
United Kingdom-based insurance company Staysure have also been named as title sponsors of the PGA Seniors Championship, which returns to the schedule for the first time since 2015. The field for the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship will be made up of Staysure Tour members, PGA professionals and a Monday qualifier will also take place prior to the event.
The Staysure-sponsored tournament will take place the week after The Senior Open Presented by Rolex, which will see many of the game’s legends step foot onto the iconic Old Course at St Andrews, from July 26-29. Bernhard Langer, who captured his record tenth Senior Major Championship at last year’s Senior Open, will bid to become the first golfer to defend the Senior Claret Jug since Christy O’Connor Jnr in 2000.
Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates will host the first tournament of the inaugural Staysure Tour season, the Sharjah Senior Golf Masters presented by Shurooq from March 8-10. As in 2017, this will be played over the nine-hole golf course at Sharjah Golf & Shooting Club, with two loops of nine holes utilising different tees and hole locations.
The KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship returns to Harbor Shores, Michigan, for the third time from May 24-27. Staysure Tour Members Roger Chapman and Colin Montgomerie have previously won the Senior Major Championship, with Chapman emerging victorious in 2012 and Montgomerie following in 2014.
The U.S. Senior Open, also won by Chapman and Montgomerie, will take place at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado from June 28-July 1.
The first edition of The Shipco Masters Promoted by Simon’s Golf at Simon’s Golf Club in Denmark will be played from June 1-3, and Britain’s most successful female golfer in the modern era, Dame Laura Davies, is due to become the first woman in history to participate in a Staysure Tour event.
The 2017 John Jacobs Trophy winner, Clark Dennis, will defend the first of two titles he won last season at Golf Club Udine, which will once again host the Senior Italian Open presented by Villaverde Resort from June 15-17. The Swiss Seniors Open and WINSTONgolf Senior Open return to the schedule in successive weeks from July 6-8 and July 13-15.
The Willow Senior Golf Classic, which raises funds for the Willow Foundation, will take place once again at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & Country Club, and Woburn Golf Club will host the Travis Perkins Masters for the 11th time – the events will take place from August 24-26 and August 31-September 2 respectively.
The second edition of the European Tour Properties Senior Classic will take place at Lighthouse Golf & Spa Resort in Bulgaria from September 7-9. The Scottish Senior Open will be the fourth event in four consecutive weeks and will take place from September 14-16.
The Farmfoods European Senior Masters at Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & CC will be played from October 5-7, and the following week the third edition of the Paris Legends Championship is set to be staged at La Boulie – Racing Club de France. The Dutch Masters is currently scheduled to take place the following week, from October 19-21.
Meliã Villaitana Golf Club in Alicante will host the first edition of the Costa Blanca Benidorm Senior Masters from November 29-December 1, and the 2018 season will conclude in the spectacular Indian Ocean setting of Mauritius at the eighth edition of the MCB Tour Championship from December 7-9.
David MacLaren, Head of the Staysure Tour, said: “We are all very excited about the forthcoming season and the first year of our landmark partnership with title sponsors Staysure. We have made further progress in expanding our tournament schedule and are delighted to see the return of the PGA Seniors Championship to our calendar.
“Our new events in Denmark, England and Spain are also welcome additions to our schedule, and we are working diligently to add further tournaments to our calendar for the 2018 season.
“We look forward to seeing Clark Dennis begin his defence of the John Jacobs Trophy in Sharjah and wish all of our players the best of luck for the forthcoming season.”
2018 Staysure Tour Schedule: Visit here for the full schedule
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About the Staysure Tour
The Staysure Tour, formerly known as the European Senior Tour, is the men’s professional golf tour for members aged 50 and older. In 2018, the Staysure Tour Schedule will feature a minimum of 18 tournaments across four continents.
Five years after the first edition of The Senior Open, won by Neil Coles in 1987, more than 60 professionals called for a formally-structed Tour, which was then created in 1992. Many of the pioneering champions who played on the European Tour during the 1970s, 80s and 90s make up the Staysure Tour’s active membership which, in 2017, included eight Ryder Cup Captains, 29 former Ryder Cup players, nine Major Champions and 73 European Tour winners.
Former Ryder Cup Captains Colin Montgomerie, Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam are among the winners of the John Jacobs Trophy, which is awarded to the golfer who finishes first on the Staysure Tour Order of Merit each season. Former Ryder Cup player, the late Tommy Horton is the record winner of the Trophy, winning his first in 1993 and four consecutively from 1996-99.
United Kingdom-based insurance company Staysure became the first ever title sponsor of the European Senior Tour on January 2, 2018 at the start of the Tour’s 27th season. The deal includes the incorporation of a new headline event, the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship.