Gtour - 2010 Season Review

The 2010 season came to a dramatic conclusion as the Order of Merit came down to the final event of the campaign once again.

In what was an exact replica of last season, Shane Davis retained his Order of Merit title with a win at De Vere Staverton Park after being behind in the race for much of the season.

February

The 2010 season couldn’t have started any better when back in February in glorious sunshine De Vere Belton Woods played host to the first event.

It was Davis who triumphed with 40 points as he picked up where he left the 09’ season to take an early lead at the top of the Order of Merit.

However that would be the last time we saw Davis at the top of a leaderboard until the last event as the tour saw eight maiden winners making the race for top stop one of the most open in the tour’s history.

March

A rainy De Vere Oulton Hall hosted the second event as David Wilson battled the elements to grab victory with 38 points to win by three.

April

On a hot and sunny day the tour stayed in Yorkshire but this time at the fantastic Moor Allerton Golf Club. This would be the first time we saw Andrew Lee adhere the top of a leader board with a score of 39 points.

The win for Lee took him to the top of the Order of Merit where he would stay for the rest of the season. Speaking after the final event at Staverton Park he was still proud of what he had achieved:

“It’s been a great season and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it, I’m gutted about not winning the Order of Merit but full credit to Shane (Davis) he played solidly all day today and it’s really a case of him winning it rather than me losing because whatever I did today, Shane was solid all round and would have been hard to beat.”

May

For the first time the Gtour would incorporate four Majors into its campaign and the first couldn’t have been any better.

The Srixon Masters was held on the Hunting Course at Slaley Hall at the end of May with Gary Walker winning by a single point on what was a low scoring day around the tough Championship course.

It would be the first of two wins for Walker in what was a very consistent season with two top-three finishes along with his victories he is really looking to push on next year.

Talking to Walker after the final event he said, “I just love coming along to these events and I’ve got to say that I’m happy with what I’ve achieved. After the big announcement I can't wait for 2011 and hope to improve on this year's 4th placed Order of Merit position.”

The big announcement for 2011 is the the Order of Merit will be named ‘The Race to Cyprus’ after one of the tours main sponsors Aphrodite Hills announced it will host the grand final next year.

There will be qualifying events throughout the year with a two-day UK semi final to be held in the Autumn in which the top-50 in the Order of Merit will compete.

The tour title and Grand final will then be played out at Aphrodite Hills in Cyprus.

Tournament Director Colin Astbury said he was delighted with the way the tour is moving forward:

“Its fantastic news, the obvious step for us was to take the Gtour abroad and we’ve been lucky enough to partner with Aphrodite Hills and the Cypriot Tourist Office in 2011 to put on something the players will look forward to and what will be a great end to what I’m sure will be another great season.”

June

The Tour bus returned back to Lincolnshire and to the Woodside Course at De Vere Belton Woods where Bruce Evans won with what turned out to be the highest winning total of the season with 42 points.

July

On a scorching day in the English summer the short but tricky course of De Vere Dunston Hall played host to the De Vere Invitational which was the second Major of the year.

High winds coming in from the Norfolk coast made scoring tricky and it was David Roth who dealt with them the best as his 35 points was good enough to claim the title.

August

De Vere Wychwood Park would play host to the first of two events in August, the first time the Tour has done that since its beginning.

Adam Smith winning on one of his favourite courses with 37 points and a one point victory before the Tour went south.

The third major of the year, the Golfbreaks.com Cup was held at De Vere Wokefield Park. Jim Bishop carded a stunning round of gross 73 playing off five, which included four birdies to post 39 points, good enough for a one point victory to take the title.

September

With only three events remaining the Order of Merit was starting to take shape with five or six players still in with a shout to claim the top prize.

The tour would head to De Vere Mottram Hall where wind and rain would be the order of the day.

The course plays tough anyway and in those conditions the 32 points with what Stephen Clarke won with was a remarkable round of golf.

October

The final Major and penultimate event of the season was held at the fabulous Manor House Golf Club, Castle Combe.
On what the players said was arguably the best course of the year, Gary Walker became a double Major winner as his 41 points claimed the Aphrodite Hills Open.

Tour regular Ian Roberts couldn’t give anymore praise for the way the tour has progressed this year:

“It’s been great, I’ve done well this year and played in the majority of events and it’s just the fact that you play on great courses, the organisation is second to none, I’ve made some great friends and it just makes the whole package worthwhile and I can’t thank the guys enough for all their hard work.”

November

And so what was a dramatic conclusion once again, Shane Davis played well when it mattered to regain his Order of Merit title:

“It’s fantastic, it’s what I set out to do at the start of the year but had no expectation of achieving it”, said Davies.

“I managed to pull some great golf out from somewhere today as I haven't been playing too well over the last few months, I was very pleased with 36 points with only a couple of bad holes. Overall I was delighted with my performance on the day.”

The announcement that the tour is going to be taken to foreign shores is great news for all that takes part. When asked how big the tour can get after this news Astbury said “The sky’s the limit.”

Jason Lau has been part of the Gtour from the start and he says the tour will only get bigger:

“Its great news for me, who has played in a lot of events and for the guys who have only played in one or two, word will get out about this and the marketing potential the tour can generate should be endless.”

The tour will be up and running again in February 2011 with venues and dates yet to be confirmed but one thing’s for sure players will not want to miss out on any events as they play for Order of Merit points in order to make sure they are on that plane to Cyprus.