The 2011 European Senior Tour schedule will comprise a minimum of 19 Order of Merit tournaments in 13 different countries and will conclude with a new season-ending tournament in Mauritius.
New destinations for the 2011 campaign are Australia, China, Germany and Japan, underlining the Senior Tour’s significant global development as it marks its 20th season.
In a change to the Senior Tour calendar, the season will culminate at Constance Belle Mare Plage, in Mauritius, from December 9-11, meaning the 2011 campaign, which started last November, will span 13 months.
The final event, which will determine who succeeds Boonchu Ruangkit as Number One, will be preceded by the second editions of the Handa Australian Senior Open (November 4-6) and the Handa Cup Senior Masters in Japan (November 10-13), which also launched the 2011 schedule.
With three events having already been played prior to the winter break, the season will resume with the Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters presented by the Stapleford Forum from March 4-6 before the inaugural visit to China for the ISPS Handa Senior World Championship presented by Mission Hills from March 11-13.
Moving to Cologne after the inaugural staging in South Africa in 2010 is the Berenberg Bank Masters, from June 17-19, as the Senior Tour returns to Germany for the first time in ten years. Former Ryder Cup Captain and Masters Champion Bernhard Langer will be the tournament ambassador for the event, which is sponsored by Germany’s oldest private bank.
Langer Sports Marketing, which promotes and stages the Berenberg Bank Masters will fulfil the same role at the Casa Serena Open, in the Czech Republic, which returns as part of the Senior Tour schedule for the fourth year in a row from September 16-18.
Long term fixtures remaining on the Senior Tour schedule include the De Vere Club PGA Seniors Championship, which returns to De Vere Slaley Hall in an earlier slot from June 9-12, and the 19th edition of the Cleveland Golf/Srixon Scottish Senior Open sees the tournament return to Fairmont St Andrews for the third consecutive year from August 19-21.
Marking its 15th anniversary is the Bad Ragaz PGA Seniors Open in Switzerland, from July 1-3, while the Travis Perkins plc Senior Masters remains at Woburn Golf Club for the 11th straight year from September 2-4, after Travis Perkins agreed a new three year deal as title sponsor.
Returning after successful inaugural editions in 2010 are the ISPS Handa Senior Masters presented by the Stapleford Forum, at Stapleford Park in England (June 3-5), the Van Lanschot Senior Open in The Netherlands (June 24-26) and the Cannes Mougins Masters (September 22-24).
The Senior Open Championship, which celebrates its 25th edition this year, moves to Walton Heath in Surrey, England, for the first time from July 21-24. Bernhard Langer will defend the title 30 years after he played at the venue in the first Ryder Cup contested by Europe and the United States on European soil.
Langer will also defend the US Senior Open (July 28-31), which is played at the Inverness Club in Ohio for the first time since 2003, with Valhalla Golf Club, in Kentucky, the venue for The 2008 Ryder Cup, hosting the US Senior PGA Championship (from May 26-29).
Andy Stubbs, Managing Director of the European Senior Tour, said: “The 2011 season promises to be a fantastic year for the European Senior Tour and we are extremely grateful to all of our sponsors, promoters and joint sanctioning bodies for helping the Senior Tour to continue its development.
“In our 20th year we are looking at our best season to date, with a number of contractual discussions ongoing that will add new tournaments to what is already an extremely strong schedule.”
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