De Vere Oulton Hall in Leeds has replaced De Vere Slaley Hall in Northumberland as one of the courses hosting stage one of Qualifying School on March 31-April 1, after poor weather rendered Slaley Hall unplayable.
Conditions in the Northumberland area are set to get worse over the coming days, forcing the Tour to find an alternative venue. Oulton Hall in Leeds hosted a Tour event in 2007, and have stepped in at the last minute to replace the Northumberland venue (pictured), who will host a Tour event in August.
“Slaley Hall did everything they could possibly do, but the torrential rain has made the course unplayable and with further rain forecast, it would be impossible for us to fit 36 holes in,” said Danny Nickless, operations manager of the PGA EuroPro Tour. “On behalf of the Tour and the players, I would like to thank Keith Pickard at De Vere for his hard work and cooperation that has allowed us to switch to Oulton Hall for 36 holes, thus ensuring the best players progress to the final stage.”
Oulton Hall now joins Stoke by Nayland in Essex and The Players Club in Bristol as the first stage venues, with the final stage taking the players to Frilford Heath in Oxfordshire. Round scores from the three venues will be available via the Score Updates link on the homepage throughout the day.
Date Posted: 30 March 2010, 4.45pm