It has been confirmed today that the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play will be played at the Quellness Golf Resort Bad Griesbach, in Germany in 2017.
The event remains a 64-man knock out match play with a €1 million prize fund and will be played August 17-20 on the beautiful Beckenbauer golf course of the Quellness Golf Resort Bad Griesbach, in Bavaria.
After two years in Scotland, this will be the first year that the tournament is played outside of the UK, while Saltire Energy will return as title sponsors.
The CEO of 4Sports & Entertainment, Dominik Senn, said: “We are very pleased to see the event coming to Germany in its third year. We know the venue very well as we have successfully run the Porsche European Open two years in a row at this fantastic golf resort. The business reach of Germany presents an attractive market for sponsors and partners alike and we relish the opportunity to keep building on a very well received event the first two years.”
As the tournament host, Paul Lawrie added: “We are very fortunate to be able to host the 2017 event at the Quellness Golf Resort Bad Griesbach and I look forward to seeing the tournament taking place in a new country. Scotland has been great for the event the last two years and we have hosted the event at two superb venues but the opportunity to play on the course where the Porsche European Open returned in 2015 is a fantastic change.”
Dr. Hans-Dieter Cleven, main shareholder of the Quellness Golf Resort Bad Griesbach said: “Being a business partner of Dominik Senn at 4SPORTS I feel honoured that the European Tour gives us the opportunity to promote two tournaments in Germany. Besides staying a partner of the Porsche European Open in Hamburg we are now hosting the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, which is very popular amongst the players. This means the Quellness Golf Resort Bad Griesbach will be broadcasted worldwide by Sky during July and August. Through both events, 4SPORTS is promoting the game of golf in Germany and we are looking forward to exciting tournament days with world-famous players and hopefully nice weather conditions.”
Keith Waters, Chief Operating Officer at the European Tour, said: “This is a positive move for the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play, which has proven a great success over the past two years.
“Bad Griesbach as a venue has been a superb partner to the European Tour in recent years, first hosting the Challenge Tour and then the Porsche European Open in 2015 and 2016, so we are delighted to extend that relationship and also to continue our partnership with 4Sports, who along with Paul Lawrie have shown their huge commitment to the success of this tournament.”
Because match play is a very popular format at the amateur level as well, the Quellness Golf Resort is also hosting the “144 Tournament” from August 8-10, having proved to be a big success when it launched this year.
