Peter Baker is looking to become the first player since 2015 to claim back-to-back Staysure Tour titles during the same season when the inaugural Farmfoods European Legends Links Championship hosted by Ian Woosnam gets under way at Trevose Golf & Country Club from June 21-23.
The Englishman became only the 11th player to have won on the European Tour, European Challenge Tour and Staysure Tour earlier this month, capturing his maiden title on the over-50s circuit at the Senior Open Hauts de France by Jean van de Velde.
‘’It’s not something I set out to do at the start of my career but to have won on all three tours is still very special,” he said. “Winning in every decade since the 1980s is something I’m very proud of and it's a trend that hopefully I can continue.
‘’It’s always a great feeling to win, whichever tour or level you are playing on, and I was delighted, and relieved, to finally clinch my first Staysure Tour victory in France.’’
Baker burst onto the scene with a memorable sudden-death play-off win against Nick Faldo at the 1988 Benson and Hedges International Open. Since then he has become a consistent performer on every tour he has contested, winning two further European Tour titles in 1993 to earn his place in Europe’s Ryder Cup team, where he would go on to win three out of a possible four points.
A three-time Challenge Tour winner, he will need to bring his A-game if he is to replicate Peter Fowler’s feat of back-to-back Staysure Tour titles, with a plethora of former Ryder Cup stars and Major Champions in attendance for the first of five English Staysure Tour events this season to be staged on English soil.
Leading the star-studded line-up will be tournament host Ian Woosnam, who is joined in the field by 1999 Open Champion Paul Lawrie, flamboyant former Ryder Cup player Jean van de Velde and 2019 Senior Italian Open winner Barry Lane.
Baker will be hoping to extend his winning record this week around a venue he is extremely familiar with, having captured his third Asbri PGA Cornish Festival in just seven years at Trevose in April.
“Trevose is a beautiful course that I always enjoy coming to play, so it was great to see it added to this year’s schedule,” he said. “I’ve been here many times, although never in the summer, so it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out. Of course, every week is different, but I’m just going to try and do the same as I’ve been doing and enjoy playing golf.”
The tournament marks the first time that Trevose has hosted a European Tour-sanctioned event, with the course renowned as one of England’s most spectacular links venues.
The action at Trevose will begin at 09:15 local time tomorrow, with Baker getting his title challenge underway at 10:43.
