Aphrodite Hills Resort, home to PGA National Cyprus, will this week host the 2024 edition of the PGA Play-Offs, with the best players of the past 12 months coming together in the hope of taking one of the top three positions, which will gain them DP World Tour and Challenge Tour exemptions, as well as a coveted place in the PGA Cup team to take on the PGA of America in the USA this September.
PGA Ireland Order of Merit winner David Higgins, runner-up Simon Thornton and third-placed Tim Rice are all in the 24-man field that’s assembled on the Mediterranean island for a tournament in which the winner will gain invitations to play in the DP World Tour’s flagship BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, the Amgen Irish Open at Royal County Down, the Betfred British Masters, a trio of Challenge Tour starts including the Irish Challenge and Northern Ireland Open, and a spot on the 2024 PGA Cup team.
The runner-up also gains entry to the British Masters and two Challenge Tour events, while the player finishing third will join the winner and second-placed player on the PGA Cup side.
Waterville’s Higgins cemented his spot at the top of the Order of Merit by winning his third Irish PGA Championship title and second in three years at Carne Golf Links back in August, having already captured the Carlow Pro-Am, Rathfarnham Pro-Am, and shared honours with Colm Moriarty at the Flogas Pro-Am in Woodenbridge.
Spa Golf Club man Thornton’s sole victory came at the Irish Life Druids Glen Pro-Am in August, but the former European Tour winner was a picture of consistency, finishing runner-up in five events including the Irish PGA Championship and finished outside the top 10 just three times in 20 starts.
Rice, representing Limerick Golf Club, was a two-time winner in 2023, sharing the accolade with the home club’s John McDermott at the Grange Golf Club Pro-Am in May before taking solo success at the Burkeway Galway Golf Club Pro-Am in late August.
Andrew Darker, Director of Golf and Head of Sport at Aphrodite Hills Resort is looking forward to hosting the players for the second year running: “It’s great to have everyone back – we’re looking forward to an exciting week on the golf course again. Everything is well set up – we have the greens running pretty fast and the weather conditions might get a little bit blowy, which could create some difficulty out there and make things a little bit interesting.”
“We’re very proud to host the PGA Play-Offs and other big events. Cyprus is a well-known destination and hosting events like these is important for maintaining Aphrodite Hills and PGA National Cyprus as the flagship resort and golf course on the island.”
Players qualified for the PGA Play-Offs thanks to their regional Order of Merit success in 2023. The top three players from each of the seven regions booked their seat on the plane to Cyprus, alongside the top two players in the 2023 PGA Professional Championship – Paul Hendriksen (Ivybridge Golf Club) and Matthew Cort (Beedles Lake Golf Club) and the winner of the 2023 Coca-Cola PGA Assistants’ Championship, Lewis Scott (Lee-on-The-Solent Golf Club).
2024 PGA Cup Captain, Tim Rouse, will be joined at Aphrodite Hills Resort by Vice-Captain, Graham Walker, where they’ll both be observing the players closely during the tournament, as Rouse explains:
“The PGA Play-Offs are extremely important for the PGA Cup match later this year because we get our first three players, which will be the foundation of our team and start to help us make our plans. Graham and I will both be watching players and of course, the Play-Offs aren’t just about the three players that make the team – we have the very best of the regions there and some of our national champions, so I’m expecting not just the three players that qualify to make the team, but also some of the other players in the field to be qualifying later in the year as well, so it’s an extremely important week for us.”
Rouse continued: “I’m very excited for the PGA Cup having seen the golf course – it’s nothing like we would expect to go to as an American course – it’s not a big wide open stadium course that’s going to favour the big hitters. I would say more than 50% of it is played in a forest where tee shots need to be straight, the fairways are quite narrow and there’ll be shorter lines played into the green rather than big long bombing shots, so I’m very confident that we’ll have our players ready to take on the PGA of America and their best players in September.”
Leave a comment