Alwoodley Announced as Grand Final Venue

The Alwoodley Golf Club will host the climax of the Yorkshire Matchplay Golf Championship.

One of the countries finest golf courses has been revealed as the venue for the Grand Final of the 2010 Yorkshire Matchplay Golf Championship. The new knockout tournament, set to launch next year, is open exclusively to amateur golfers in Yorkshire who are a member of a club affiliated to the county union. The competition is split into four sections; North, East, South and West with the winners of each region, in both the Individual and Pairs event, invited to contest the Grand Final next September.

Tournament Director, Edward Battye, is thrilled to have finalised the Alister MacKenzie designed course as the Grand Final venue, “I am over the moon that we have managed to be able to secure such a fantastic course as the location for our finale. I personally rank it as the best in Yorkshire and believe that the chance to play here will add an extra incentive for those entering the tournament.”

Alwoodley is steeped in tradition and is currently ranked by the independent website, www.top100golfcourses.co.uk, as the 25th best in England – the 13th highest rated inland course. The club was founded in 1907 and forms part of the famous stretch of golfing territory on the northern fringe of Leeds. The course got a five star rating in Golf World’s "1000 Best Courses in Britain & Ireland" and according to Today's Golfer is "one of the best-kept secrets in British golf."

Battye added, “The press coverage and feedback since our launch has been overwhelming. We have had lots of interest in the event already and now that people know they have the chance to win through to the final and play at Alwoodley this will only increase this further.”

Since the turn of the millennium the testing heathland course has already hosted a plethora of major tournaments, both amateur and professional, including; the Yorkshire Amateur Championship, the British Mid-Amateur Championship, The English Amateur Championship, the British Ladies Open Strokeplay Championship and the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship. It has also been a regional qualifying course for The Open on several occasions and has been chosen to host the 2011 English Women’s Open Strokeplay Championship.

Julie Slater, the Manager at Alwoodley commented, “We are really pleased to be the host venue for the Grand Final of the Yorkshire Matchplay Golf Championship and delighted to be associated with this new tournament in it's inaugural year. I am sure the grand finalists will enjoy their day on our fine championship course."

That is unlikely to be in doubt because as well as two rounds on the famous links the finalists will be greeted with breakfast on arrival where a draw will be made for opponents prior to the semi-finals. They will enjoy a light lunch before the morning winners do battle in the afternoon to determine the overall champions. For the morning losers a third place play-off will be held whilst the day is concluded with a presentation dinner.

Entries do not officially open until January, however, golfers can find out more information and register their interest by visiting www.yorkshirematchplay.com .