New competition gives club golfers chance to play in a European Pro-Am

Club golfers will get the chance to win a place in a European Tour Pro-Am, thanks to a partnership between Bridgestone Tyres and England Golf.

The Bridgestone Chase your Dream Trophy, which is being played for the first time in 2017, will be an annual event open to members of England Golf’s 1900 affiliated clubs. It features separate competitions for men and women to discover the country’s top handicap golfers of the year. Nine men and nine women will qualify to play in the Pro-Am at the Bridgestone Challenge on the European Challenge Tour, followed by a dream outing with a top Tour player at the Pro-Am of the British Masters supported by Sky Sports.

Rory Colville, Championship Director of the British Masters supported by Sky Sports, endorsed the partnership, saying “This is a great opportunity for regular club golfers to graduate to mix with the leading lights of the Tour. We look forward to seeing England Golf’s qualifying players reaching the final stages at the Bridgestone Challenge and ultimately the British Masters, supported by Sky Sports at Close House”.

Last season, England Golf and Bridgestone worked together to run the Driveguard Trophy for club golfers and made a dream come true for South West players Zack Rosen, Carl Broomfield and Peter Carr.

The trio qualified to play alongside Dylan Frittelli in the pro-am of the Bridgestone Challenge at Heythrop Park, Oxfordshire. They were victorious on the day and then found themselves as guests of Bridgestone at the British Masters supported by Sky Sports, at The Grove, playing alongside 2010 US Open winner Graeme McDowell.

Zack Rosen said: “As a club golfer, you can only ever dream of the experiences that we’ve had, and that’s down to Bridgestone. To win the DriveGuard Trophy was special enough, but to play on some of the courses during the process was something to remember forever. And of course, the round of golf with Graeme McDowell was the icing on the cake.”

The Bridgestone Chase Your Dream Trophy will replace the women’s Grand Medal and the men’s Gold Medal competitions. Each year the club players who had the best medal scores of the previous season will qualify for regional finals, where the leaders will go forward to men’s and women’s national finals.

This year’s grande finale will take place in England Golf Week at Woodhall Spa in August. There, the players will be the overnight guests of England Golf and be treated to the full championship experience. The individual winners will be England’s handicap golfers of the year and the top nine players at each final will play in the Pro-Am at the Bridgestone Challenge on 6 September. The most successful team there will play in the Pro-Am at The British Masters supported by Sky Sports, at Close House Golf Club, Northumberland, on Wednesday 27 September.

Click here for entry details for the men’s Chase Your Dream Trophy. Click here for entry details for the women’s Chase Your Dream Trophy