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Tour will have December finish for first time ever

The newly-released European Tour schedule features three new tournaments for 2011 and finishes in December for the first time.

The 2011 Race to Dubai starts on December 9 this year with the Alfred Dunhill Championship in South Africa and ends on December 11, 2011 at the Dubai World Championship.

The schedule contains a minimum of 50 tournaments, with new events taking place in Bahrain, Sicily and Malaysia.

The December finish is designed to allow following European Tour seasons to be completed in the same calendar year.

European Tour chief Keith Waters said: “The Race to Dubai will conclude in December for the first time in 2011, enabling us to introduce a schedule based on the calendar year, which has been out stated intention for some time now.

“We anticipate, therefore, that the 2012 season will commence in January that year and conclude in late November.”

The new events in 2011 are the Volvo World Golf Champions at the Royal Golf Club in Bahrain from January 27 to 30, the Sicilian Open from March 17 to 20 and the Iskandar Johor Open in Malaysia from November 17 to 20.

Once again Wentworth will host the tour’s flagship event, the BMW PGA Championship from May 26 to 29.

Waters added: “We are extremely encourages that the 2011 Race to Dubai comprises not only many of our established tournaments in addition to some new events and venues, but also three significant month-long runs in designated locations.

“We start with four weeks in South Africa than four in the Gulf and later in the year there is a similar sequence with the Iberian Peninsula Swing.”

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Bryce Ritchie is the Editor of bunkered and, in addition to leading on content and strategy, oversees all aspects of the brand. The first full-time journalist employed by bunkered, he joined the company in 2001 and has been editor since 2009. A member of Balfron Golfing Society, he currently plays off nine and once got a lesson from Justin Thomas’ dad.

Editor of bunkered