NEWS. Finn tops crop of tour professionals earning European Tour card at PGA Catalunya Resort

(PGA Catalunya Resort, Barcelona – November 21) Twenty-seven tour professionals, from 12 different countries, have secured their place on next year’s European Tour, playing at PGA Catalunya Resort, Barcelona, in The European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage.

Contested for the seventh consecutive year at The European Tour Destination on November 15-20, 2014, the 150-strong field – cut to 78 after four-days play – was topped by Finland’s Mikko Korhonen.

The Finn has played and competed at PGA Catalunya Resort as recently as May 2014, when he finished tied in 15^th place in the Open De España.

The 34-year-old said: “I’ve been playing here since the late 90s when I played in an amateur championship and I love it. I played well here in spring during the Spanish Open and there are no bad holes.

“Everybody is so friendly here – it’s a great place to come. It’s very important to like being where you’re playing. It helps you play well.”

The venue has recently been recognised as Spain’s Best Golf Course by the World Golf Awards, and has been voted European Golf Resort of the Year 2015 by the International Association of Golf Tour Operators (IAGTO).

Mike Stewart, European Tour Qualifying School Director, said: “The European Tour has an increasingly global appeal, and as a by-product, The Qualifying School attracts golfers from all over the world.

“In total, 28 nations were represented in the final stage alone and golfers have travelled from as far away as Australia and New Zealand to compete this week.

“PGA Catalunya Resort is the ideal venue for this tournament. The two courses, practice facilities, accommodation, staff and climate are outstanding.”

Julio Delgado, Chief Executive Officer of PGA Catalunya Resort, said: “The Qualifying School Final is now a familiar event on our calendar and we do everything we can to make players and their teams, The European Tour, volunteers and spectators feel comfortable wherever they have travelled from.”

For more information about PGA Catalunya Resort, visit: www.pgacatalunya.com

ENDS

Image caption 1: The Finnish winner of European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage, Mikko Korhonen on the first tee of the Stadium Course at PGA Catalunya Resort

Image caption 2: Mikko Korhonen plays his approach on the signature 13^th hole on the Stadium Course at PGA Catalunya Resort en route to victory in The European Tour Qualifying School Final Stage

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Manuela Whittaker

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Opened in 1999, PGA Catalunya Resort quickly established an international reputation for outstanding quality. The Stadium Course is ranked the number one golf course in Spain by the Top100golfcourses.co.uk we

bsite and Golf World magazine, which also recognizes the venue in its World Top 100 Courses.

The 36-hole resort, a European Tour Destination, also comprises a discreet, low-density real estate development, with first class leisure facilities and a select number of villa plots, stylist modern semi-detached villas and luxury apartments. Conveniently situated close to Girona-Costa Brava Airport (five-minute drive) and Barcelona International Airport (one-hour drive), the venue also benefits from the recently completed high-speed train line that links Girona (approximately 15 kilometres from PGA Catalunya Resort) to the rest of Spain and Europe, which provides even faster connections to major cities, including Barcelona, which can now be reached in only 37 minutes.

PGA Catalunya Resort has been developed in phases. The Stadium Course was opened first in 1999. Its sister Tour Course was inaugurated six years later, followed by the opening of the onsite hotel that is popular among the venue’s golfing clientele.

In 2011, the resort upgraded its golf practice facilities, lengthening its driving range and adding target greens and bunkers, as well as developing Spain’s largest putting green and chipping area. At 2,000 square-metres, with five different sand bunkers and greens, it is the only one of its kind in Europe.

More recently, PGA Catalunya Resort became the home to Sergio Garcia’s first Junior Golf Academy, opened in 2012, and of world-renowned putting and short game coach Dave Pelz’s Spanish Golf School.

The construction of a discreet, low-density development started in early 2011, comprising state-of-the-art leisure facilities and a select number of villa plots, stylish modern semi-detached villas and apartments for sale, has earned the 36-hole venue its position as one of Europe’s finest new golf and residential communities.