Turkish Open To Be Fully Sanctioned By European Tour In Three-Year Agreement

The European Tour, the Turkish Golf Federation and Int'l Sports Management revealed the Turkish Open, a new $7M event, as the penultimate tournament on the 2013 European Tour Int'l schedule. The 78-man field tournament will be played from Nov. 7-10, 2013, at the Montgomerie Maxx Royal, Belek, Antalya, the week before the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai – the climax to the Race to Dubai. It will be fully sanctioned by the European Tour in a three-year agreement, with details on the eligibility criteria to be announced at a later date. Int'l Sports Management Managing Dir Andrew Chandler said, "This is just a great move for Turkey. This tournament ticks a lot of boxes for Turkey who are really driving towards a bid for the 2020 Olympics. Hosting big events like this tournament can only help that strategy and to be able to announce a three-year deal for a $7M tournament is a very rare thing these days." The Montgomerie Maxx Royal was designed by golfer Colin Montgomerie, in association with European Golf Design, and opened in '08. The par 72 Montgomerie Maxx Royal measures 6,486m (European Tour).