Costa Navarino hosts 240 golfers for the Aegean Messinia Pro-Am

Greek golf resort Costa Navarino hosted 240 professional and amateur golfers from around the world last month.

Europe’s newest golf destination was the setting for 60 teams from 23 countries, competing in the Aegean Messinia Pro-Am.

From September 13-17, the biggest event in Costa Navarino’s golfing calendar took place, sanctioned by the Confederation of Professional Golf.

Supported by the Hellenic Golf Federation and the PGA of Greece, participants had the opportunity to play on three of the destination’s signature courses.

The Dunes Course, The Bay Course and the International Olympic Academy Golf Course set the stage for the second edition of the popular tournament.

In the southwest Peloponnese of Greece, the Mediterranean destination hosted the 54-hole event, which reached a total prize fund of €70,000.

PGA of Great Britain & Ireland professional Liam Bond scooped the top professional honours with a 13-under-par winning score of 201.

Bond, who carded a course record 62 at The Bay Course, said: “I’m really excited to win this event, which is the best pro-am on our calendar in Europe, and we’re looked after so well.

“The golf courses are immaculate, and the players will all agree that they are some of the finest courses in the world.

“I enjoyed The Bay Course the most with my course record round, so nine under par around there was really nice to achieve.”

Shaped by 4,500 years of history, the sustainably driven Costa Navarino is graced with the breath-taking seaside landscape of Messinia.

With several five-star hotels, luxury residences and a world-class golf experience, it was named the ‘World’s Best New Golf Development’ at the 2020 World Golf Awards.

The 18-hole Dunes Course, designed by Bernhard Langer, has a links-like style, with spectacular sea views and many holes running adjacent to the golden beach.

The Bay Course is slightly shorter and runs through the foothills, alongside the historic Bay of Navarino.

The final signature layout, the International Olympic Academy Golf Course, was designed by Jose Maria Olazabal and features a distinctively different front and back nine.

AEGEAN Airlines, a partner of Costa Navarino, the Confederation of Professional Golf (CPG) and PGA of Greece, was once again the official carrier for the Messinia Pro-Am.

The airline offered special airline ticket prices for participants teeing it up in the event.