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Golf will break new ground later this year when male and female professionals will compete side-by-side for equal prize money in the inaugural European Golf Team Championships.

Taking place at Gleneagles from August 8-12 – just over a year out
from the Solheim Cup being staged at the same venue – the event will
form part of the innovative multi-sport Glasgow 2018 European
Championships.

It will be the first event in history to
feature a 50/50 gender split in the field with male and female
professionals competing for equal prize money in both a men’s and
women’s team matchplay championship, as well as an 18-hole foursomes
strokeplay mixed team championship.

Players will represent their
countries with 16 teams of two players competing in the men’s and women’s team events before combining to form teams of four (two men and
two women) in the mixed team championship.

Qualification for the championships will be determined by the European Golf
Team Championships Points Tables for men and women, which are based on
men’s Official World Golf Ranking Points and women’s Rolex Ranking
Points earned from tournaments finishing between July 10, 2017, and July 9, 2018, with a maximum of three teams representing any one nation in each event.

Mark Lichtenhein, chairman of the Ladies European Tour, said: “This
summer’s European Golf Team Championships will be a totally unique event
and we are extremely pleased that the men and women will play
competitively together for equal prize money.

Related – Thomas Bjorn and Catriona Matthew to team-up in 2018 GolfSixes

Egtc Golf Format Infographic

“As we have seen through
the Olympic Games in Rio, the recent Oates Vic Open in Australia and the
announcement to have mixed teams in the GolfSixes in the UK, there is a
tremendous public appetite to see men and women competing. The format
is terrific and the fact that the event will be shown throughout Europe
via free-to-air television presents an unprecedented opportunity to
bring new fans to the game.”

Keith Pelley, chief executive of the European Tour, added: “The
inaugural European Golf Team Championships is an exciting addition to
the 2018 European Tour schedule, and we are looking forward to this
unique event at the historic Gleneagles PGA Centenary Course.

“There is a need for golf to embrace new formats and engage a wider
audience, and following our recent announcement about the inclusion of
female players in the revolutionary GolfSixes tournament, the European
Championships presents yet another innovative opportunity to break new
ground on a number of fronts.”

Tickets are now on-sale for the European Golf Team Championships,
with adult prices from £10 for practice days and £15 on competition
days. Children under the age of 16 are admitted free when accompanied by
an adult.

As part of the inaugural European Championships in 2018 around 3,000
athletes will visit Scotland for six events (aquatics, cycling, golf,
gymnastics, rowing and triathlon) while a further 1,500 athletes will
compete in Berlin as part of the European Athletics Championships.


author headshot

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor

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