The 2018 Staysure Tour kicks off in late January this year as it heads to Portugal for the first stage of Qualifying School. The Pestana D.Joao II Beach & Golf Resort plays host to over 150 golfers who will battle it out for a place in the Q-School finals, and then ultimately a tour card for the upcoming 2018 season.
Champions of Golf’s Gary Wolstenholme will be teeing it up at the Q-School finals on the 29th January as he hopes to regain his tour card for the 2018 Staysure Tour. After some good results in 2017 including a top ten finish in the Dutch Masters, and a tied 11th in Sharjah Senior Golf Masters presented by Shurooq, Gary’s final standing in the Order of Merit meant that he was unable to regain his card through his 2017 performances alone. Gary will be hoping to mimic a similar route to the eventual 2017 John Jacobs Trophy winner Clark Dennis. The American came through last year’s qualifying school as an unknown quantity; but after impressive wins at the Dutch Masters, and Senior Italian Open, he managed to make history and become the first golfer to top the 2017 Order of Merit in his rookie season as a senior.
Having turned 50 last October Champions of Golf’s Peter Baker was only able to enjoy two European Senior Tour events in his first year as a senior professional. Peter began his senior career when he hosted the inaugural Farmfoods European Senior Masters in October 2017 at the picturesque Forest of Arden Marriott Hotel & Country Club. An impressive top ten finish in his first senior tournament competing against a field sprinkled with Major winners and Ryder Cup players, signalled his intent and he’ll be aiming to continue his promising form for 2018.
A total of four new tournaments will be added to the Staysure Tour roster for 2018, in addition to a new headline, will be The Russian Open Golf Championship, The Shipco Masters in Denmark; and the Costa Blanca Senior Golf Masters, held in Spain which will see the number of tournaments rise to 19 in an exciting first year for the Staysure tour.
Following January’s qualifying school, the tour gets into full swing in March when the Sharjah Senior Masters kicks off the race for the John Jacobs Trophy. The Tour then sees The Senior Open Championship and Staysure’s new headline event take centre stage with a whopping £1.9 million up for grabs in the space of 11 days. October brings the Farmfoods European Senior Masters and with one of the most decorated fields in 2017 the idyllic Forest of Arden will certainly be a hub for Ryder Cup fans when the second edition of the tournament takes place just one week after the famous Walker Cup is claimed by Europe or the USA.
For the full 2018 schedule head over to the Staysure tour website here: www.europeantour.com/staysuretour