European Seniors Tour returns to Tobago

The European Seniors Tour swings into action this month when a strong field headed by 2003 Order of Merit winner Carl Mason tees up in the third Tobago Plantations Seniors Classic at the Tobago Plantations Beach and Golf Resort. The Seniors Classic runs from Friday, March 19 to Sunday March 21 and has attracted a strong field of professionals looking to start the season in style. This year the Tobago Plantations Seniors Classic is the first event on the European Seniors Tour, and boasts a prize fund of e125,000.  All competitors will no doubt be trying to emulate Australia’s Terry Gale who, last year, won both tournaments on the Caribbean Swing of Tobago and Barbados.

The 57 year-old Australian continued his good form throughout the 2003 season and registered his most successful year to date, winning nearly 200,000 Euros in total.  He finished the season in third place on the Order of Merit and he will no doubt be one of the players to look out for again this year. However, there will be 21 other competitors trying to make Gale’s task more difficult this year in Tobago. Not least, the 2002 winner Steve Stull, who won the inaugural event with an 11 under-par score of 205.  The 53 year-old American from Washington will be looking to return to winning ways on a course that he clearly re-lishes. Other notable entries include Bernhard Gallacher, three-time captain of the European Ryder Cup team and many past Ryder Cup players, including Tommy Horton, Maurice Bembridge, Antonio Garrido, Malcolm Gregson and Eddie Polland, all returning to enjoy the hospitality and competition that the Tobago Plantations Seniors Classic invariably supplies.

The Tobago Plantations Beach and Golf Resort, owned by Tobago Plantation Ltd, and situated about two and a half miles from the picturesque seaside town of Scarborough, is the island’s first ever master-planned resort development. It opened for business in November 2000 and features a 7,000 yard championship golf course, a large marina and a large array of other sporting facilities.  It is the perfect venue for what is sure to be an exhilarating start to the European Seniors Tour 2004.