The PGA has added a new championship to its 2008 schedule, featuring PowerPlay Golf – the exciting new nine-hole format featuring two flags on every green.
With a total prize fund of £34,000, the PGA PowerPlay Golf Championship 2008 offers one of the PGA’s most attractive purses. It incorporates three regional qualifying rounds – with 24 golfers from each making it through to a £25,000 grand final.
Peter McEvoy, the former Walker Cup captain and co-founder of PowerPlay Golf, said: “We‘re delighted to be launching the PGA PowerPlay Golf Championship, which is our first event created specifically for professional golfers.
“The instant risk and reward element of PowerPlay Golf – where golfers have to perform under self-imposed pressure – is something that many competitors won‘t have experienced before. I congratulate the PGA for embracing this new format and for making this unique addition to their competition calendar.”
In PowerPlay Golf, double Stableford points are awarded for birdies or better to the more difficult black ‘PowerPlay‘ flags. Golfers must take exactly three PowerPlays during their first eight holes, with an optional PowerPlay at greater risk on the final hole, but need to choose carefully when to attack the course and when to defend their score.
Competitors in the new event will play both PowerPlay Strokeplay and also the intense pressure of the innovative PowerPlay Shootout.
The Shootout, which is a TV-friendly format designed to take place in two hours, features an eight-tee shotgun start. Competitors then play eight holes, walking through the ninth hole. A ‘cut‘ is made after eight holes, and the top six points-scorers at that point compete in a do-or-die shootout over the ninth and final hole, where the choice to attack the difficult black flag, or to play to the safer white flag, will be worth thousands of pounds.
Added McEvoy, “The PowerPlay Shootout format means that players are forced into playing shots under tremendously increased and self-imposed pressure.
“The Championship winner will have to demonstrate an ability to handle this intensity and execute shots under extreme tension. This is what makes PowerPlay Golf so exciting at all levels of the game.”
The three regional qualifiers are at:
• Midlands – Bransford GC, Worcestershire, Tuesday 26 August 2008
• North – Oulton Hall GC, W Yorkshire, Tuesday 2 September 2008
• South – Wildwood GC, Surrey, Thursday 11 September 2008
The final is at Frilford Heath Golf Club, Oxfordshire on Tuesday 7 October.
Jim Croxton, PGA sponsorship manager, said, “The PGA is a forward-thinking organisation and the team behind PowerPlay Golf is very innovative. Therefore, the PGA PowerPlay Golf Championship 2008 is a coming together of two organisations that are constantly looking for ways to develop and improve what is offered to golf professionals. This Championship boasts an excellent prize fund and we are sure it will appeal to and be well-supported by our members.”
PGA www.PGA.info
PowerPlay Golf www.powerplay-golf.com