The DP World Tour has added two new tournaments in Spain to its 2022 schedule, with the ISPS Handa Championship in Spain and the Catalunya Championship taking place in consecutive weeks in April.
The ISPS Handa Championship in Spain will be played at Infinitum, in Tarragona, from April 21-24, while the Catalunya Championship will be held at PGA Catalunya Golf and Wellness in Girona from April 28 – May 1.
The Spanish tournaments replace two events that were scheduled to take place in Japan – the ISPS HANDA Championship and the Volvo China Open – both of which were taken off the DP World Tour schedule due to ongoing travel restrictions caused by the pandemic. However, the ISPS HANDA Championship will continue as a solely sanctioned Japan Golf Tour event in the same week (April 21-24), with the original co-sanctioned ISPS HANDA – CHAMPIONSHIP now taking place in 2023.
Infinitum, previously known as Lumine Golf, succeeded PGA Catalunya as host venue for the Tour’s Qualifying School Final from 2017 to 2019 and prior to that it was a Second Stage Qualifying School venue from 2012 onwards.
PGA Catalunya Golf and Wellness, a European Tour Destination, was the venue for the Qualifying School Final for nine consecutive years from 2008 to 2016.
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the DP World Tour, said: “We have much valued relationships with both Infinitum and PGA Catalunya Golf and Wellness and we are extremely grateful to these venues for moving so quickly to help host our events in April, enabling us to continue to provide valuable playing opportunities for our members.
“I would also like to thank the Japan Golf Tour and, of course, Dr Haruhisa Handa himself for his support in helping us relocate the ISPS Handa Championship in Spain, while at the same time organising the ISPS HANDA Championship in Japan. While it is disappointing our international membership will not have the opportunity to play in Japan this year, we are nevertheless grateful for Dr Handa’s continued commitment to the tournament overall, and we look forward to our first visit to his wonderful country in 2023.”
In other changes to the 2022 DP World Tour season, the rescheduled Commercial Bank Qatar Masters will be staged at Doha Golf Club from March 24-27, while a proposed ‘Asian event’ from April 14-17 will not now take place.