UK Golf Federation news

The Matchroom Tour Championship will take place on the popular Northumberland resort’s Hunting Course from October 20-22 as the top players attempt to secure a place on the Challenge Tour for 2022. Heading into the season’s finale, Mitch Waite leads by the large margin of £16,607.09 as the only repeat winner this year. But with £25,000 on offer for first prize, there is plenty of opportunity for the final Order of Merit places to change, especially with the challenging par-72 Hunting Course to be negotiated, which despite its sweeping fairways, stunning forests, and banks of rhododendrons, has plenty of bunkers and hazards to catch wayward shots. Following Waite in the EuroPro Order of Merit are John Parry and Callum Fyfe, who both secured maiden wins during the season, with Fyfe managing a record score of 24-under-par at Castletown earlier this month to take an emphatic victory. Will Enefer and Dermot McElroy complete the Order of Merit’s closely packed top five, with the pair also having won on the tour this season. The Order of Merit remains as tight throughout the top 60, meaning that a high finish could see numerous players move up the order to increase their finishing position for 2022. Last week’s second place finish at Castletown Golf Links for Joshua Grenville-Wood sending him up 66 places to secure his place in the Championship finale. Jonny Mould, Slaley Hall’s head of golf, said: “Everyone at Slaley Hall is getting incredibly excited as we get closer to hosting this fantastic event, and now the Order of Merit is complete, we have a real idea about the high quality of golf we are going to see, and how competitive it is likely to be between the field. “We remain focused on providing the best possible experience for the players and want them to be completely at home at Slaley Hall so that they can focus on going out each day and doing what they do best; playing great golf!” Slaley Hall Hotel, Spa and Golf Resort – part of The QHotels Collection, the UK’s largest golf resort operator – also boasts a four-star hotel in an elegant Edwardian mansion and a second USGA course – the Priestman Course – which, together with the Hunting Course, have played host to no fewer than 18 European Tour and European Senior Tour events.