Slaley showpiece moved to March

Sep 11 2008 by Tim Taylor, The Journal

SUNDAY’S Journal Champion of Champions tournament bowed to the inevitable yesterday, falling victim to the 12 inches of rainfall that has saturated Northumberland since the start of the month.

That means all the golf champions in Northumberland and County Durham who have been entered by their clubs will need to make a note of the new date, Sunday March 29, 2009.

De Vere’s golf boss at Slaley Hall, Keith Pickard, said: “We had no realistic alternative but to postpone the tournament. At a pinch, we might have been able to put it on. But, even if we had done that, to send elite golfers out in the condition the course would have been in for their purposes would have been tantamount to asking thoroughbred racehorses to run on marshland.

“The whole idea of playing the No 1 amateur golf tournament in the North East is that it should be a showpiece occasion showing off Slaley Hall at its best. An event like this has to be all about positives. The last thing anybody wants is a sense of anti-climax surrounding The Champions. We thought about playing it in October, but we would have lost the amount of daylight we needed to keep it as a 36-hole event, which The Champions should always be.”

Pickard has taken the opportunity to switch the tournament from the Priestman Course to the Hunting Course. “There are not many saving graces in a situation like this because a Sunday in September is a prime date for a prime tournament,” he said.

“But one thing it has enabled us to do at Slaley is play the event on the Hunting Course, which is where it belongs. While the Priestman is a wonderful course and an enjoyable test of golf, an elite field of club and county champions need to play the Hunting to give the higher skill levels the ultimate test. Even if it does now have a 2009 date, the 2008 Champions has all the necessary ingredients – a 36-hole tournament on the Hunting Course at Slaley Hall. That has the right ring to it.

“So although it will be six months later, the club champions will be following in the footsteps of the Ryder Cup Captains who played the Hunting in the PGA Seniors Championship last month, Ian Woosnam and Sam Torrance.

“It has meant some swift re-organisation for us and our event partners, Nikegolf, and the leaderboard operators, Golftext. We are grateful for the assistance and understanding showed to us by them and The Journal in making the best of an undesirable situation. Slaley Hall’s policy ever since we brought back The Champions last year is to make this occasion so special that golfers and spectators will want to come back time and time again. It’s a big event.” It was Journal editor Brian Aitken who championed the cause of bringing back The Champions in 2007 after an unwelcome gap of eight years from the fixture list.

Aitken said: “It is typical of the commitment Slaley Hall have given to The Champions that they should have spent so much time and effort yesterday into efficiently arranging a new date so quickly. When I made the presentation to last year’s champion, Sandy Twynholm, I made the point that De Vere are not merely the hosts, they host it for free because they are so passionate about supporting top-class amateur golf in the North East.

“They don’t just put their expertise into this. By amateur golf standards, they inject serious money, far more than most regional professional tournaments enjoy. If you take into account free entry, free lunches and free practice rounds for all the golfers playing in the 2008 Champions on the Hunting Course, plus the £5,500 worth of prizes and welcome gifts Slaley have arranged through Nikegolf, The Champions is a tournament worth £16,500.

“All this in a year when De Vere put up the lion’s share of the £300,000 in prize money needed to tempt Sam Torrance and Ian Woosnam to play in the North East. This underlines that nobody in golf is more serious about the sport than De Vere. The Journal are grateful to them for that.”

:: CHAMPIONS who are unable to play on the new date – or who could not play this Sunday but can compete on March 29 – are asked to phone Slaley’s Stacey Clarke on 01434 676 515 or email stacey.clarke@devere-hotels.com

Slaley need to know your name, club, exact handicap and phone number.