Dozen pairs all set for a week of Turkish delight

28/11/2023

A journey that began in places ranging from Drogheda in Ireland to Robin Hood country in Nottinghamshire will culminate in the Turkish sunshine with a dozen amateur golfers and their club’s head PGA Professional vying to win one of Europe’s largest pro-ams.

The 12 pairs, who qualified for the all-expenses paid trip to Turkey via seven PGA regional qualifiers, will tee off at Antalya Golf Club tomorrow in the first of two rounds aiming to become the latest winners of the St James’s Place National Pro-Am.

In addition to adding their club’s name to the list of winners of the popular competition that, in various incarnations has been contested since the 1990s, each pair will be battling for a slice of the £41,000 prize fund.

Just shy of a quarter of that goes to the winning PGA Professional and, with some seasoned campaigners in the field coupled with the challenge presented by the PGA Sultan course, he, aided and abetted by his amateur partner, will have earned it.

Those seasoned campaigners include Ireland’s Brendan McGovern (pictured), who has played on the Legends Tour, Cameron Clark, captain of Great Britain and Ireland’s 2019 PGA Cup team, and Glen Portelli of Old Fold Manor Golf Club in Barnet, north London.

Portelli, albeit with a different partner to his current amateur sidekick Andy Busby, boasts ‘previous’ in national pro-ams by being party to winning the PGA Staysure Trophy at the London Club in 2018.

But whichever pair prevails at the end of two negotiations of the PGA Sultan course, the jewel in the crown of the PGA National Turkey, all 12 are set to enjoy a golfing experience of a lifetime courtesy of St James’s Place and official tournament supplier, OCEANTEE.

Their all-expenses paid trip includes accommodation in one of two hotels, the 176-room luxury five-star Kempinski Hotel The Dome and the five-star, 442-room, Sirene Belek Hotel – which has undergone a €2m room refurbishment programme.

Reflecting on his experience of heading the field in last year’s final, Caerphilly Golf Club head PGA pro Darran Clark said: “Winning the St. James’s Place National Pro-Am is one of the highlights of my career.

“The Grand Final venue at PGA National Turkey was an exceptional course to play and all players were treated brilliantly by PGA staff. It’s a brilliant pro-am competition hosted at one of the best golf facilities in Turkey.”