European Challenge Tour golf tournament kicks off in Guba
By Amina Nazarli
The official opening ceremony of "Challenge Tour" European golf
tournament was held in Rixos Guba Azerbaijan hotel on July 30.
Addressing the ceremony, the President and Founder of the
Azerbaijan Golf Federation, Anar Mammadov elaborated on the
tournament's goals.
He said that the main goals of this championship are acquainting
international golf community with Azerbaijan's golf, developing
this kind of sport in Azerbaijan, attracting world-class golf
players and turning Azerbaijan into a new place for holding golf
tournaments.
For his part, Director of the European Challenge Tour Alain de
Sultre noted that "Challenge Tour" is a tournament which allows
young golfers across the world to show their abilities.
He said that Azerbaijan has a great potential for developing this sport. Alain noted that Azerbaijan has achieved great successes in this field in a short span of time.
He said that the National Golf Club in Guba has all necessary
conditions for holding the tournament. He also expressed hope that
Azerbaijan's golfers would rise in the international ranking list
soon.
The opening ceremony was accompanied with a concert program and
spectacular fireworks.
The "Challenge Tour" tournament kicked off at the National
Azerbaijan Golf Club in Guba on July 31.
It has brought together 156 world-star golfers from 72
countries.
The sportsmen represent England, Sweden, Republic of South Africa,
Estonia, Finland, France, Pakistan, India, Spain, Germany and
Argentina.
The prize-giving ceremony would be held on August 3.
The event will be the 16th stop on the 28-stop European Challenge
Tour. It began in the Kenyan capital Nairobi in March and has
already visited Spain, Turkey and Austria. Other stops include
Ukraine and Kazakhstan in September.
The Tour Grand Final will be held in Dubai from November 5 to
8.
The prize fund of the tournament is $300,000. (£179,000/€220,000).