After a 17-year absence, top-flight golf returns to Tunisia this year as the Port El Kantaoui Golf Club plays host to the Tunisian Seniors Open, a brand new event on the European Seniors Tour.
Contested by the leading 60 players from the European Seniors Tour exemption category list, the Tunisian Seniors Open will take place later this year at a date to be mutually agreed, and will mark one of the most eagerly anticipated dates of the European Seniors Tour circuit.
The event represents the first major tournament to take place in the country since the mid 1980’s when for three years the Port El Kantaoui course hosted the Tunisian Open, a major European Tour event. A number of the current European Seniors Tour line-up contested the event, including Tommy Horton MBE, Christy O’Connor Jnr and the 1982 Champion Antonio Garrido.
Slaheddine Maaoui, Tunisia’s Minister for Tourism, Leisure and Handicrafts said: ‘We are thrilled to see the return of top European golf to Tunisia. The event will provide us with an ideal opportunity to showcase the magnificent Port El Kantaoui course and to promote the country as a world-class golfing destination.’
‘The Tour’s extensive media coverage will provide us with some invaluable exposure in our bid to become the finest golfing destination in North Africa,’ he added.
Andy Stubbs, Managing Director of the European Seniors Tour said: ‘After a gap of some 17 years, we are thrilled to see the return of European Championship golf to North Africa. We are delighted to welcome back Tunisia into the family of European Tournament golf.’
Mohamed Raouf Jomni, Director General of the National Tunisian Tourist Office, said: ‘In the heart of the Mediterranean and just one hour from Europe, Tunisia has tremendous potential to develop into one of the world’s great golfing destinations. Over the course of the next ten years we hope to realise that potential, and staging an event the stature of the Tunisian Seniors Open is a key step towards that goal.’
Created in 1991, the European Seniors Tour has grown rapidly in stature over the course of the past decade, and now boasts a schedule of 20 events with a prize fund totalling some 4.5 million euros.
Andrew White, Managing Director of WSM Sport said: ‘We see the Seniors Tour as a perfect vehicle for countries to showcase themselves as leading golfing destinations – a fact reinforced by the fact that this year alone, the Tour has staged events in eleven different countries around the world.’
For further information please contact:
Tom Maidment
WSM Sport
Tel: 0207 592 7170
Mob: 07714 659 572
E-mail: tom.maidment@wsmsport.com