New Turkish Golf Open to Boost 2020 Bid

Istanbul’s 2020 bid for the Summer Olympic Games got a boost Wednesday when it was announced that Turkey will host the first-ever Turkish Golf Open November 7 to 10, 2013.

The new tournament will become the penultimate event on the European Tour schedule.

Ahmet Agaoglu, President of the Turkish Golf Federation said: “I am honoured to announce that starting from 7th November next year the first European Tour PGA event will take place in Turkey for three years up to and including 2015. There has never been a Turkish Open, and this will be an exciting start for this new tournament and it is our hope too that the players competing in this week’s Turkish Airlines World Golf Final will compete.”

Andrew Chandler, head of the UK-based International Sports Management (ISM), will run the tournament with Turkey.

He said: “This new Turkish Open will now tick a lot of boxes and with Turkey and Istanbul as a contender for the 2020 Olympic Games, this staging of the Turkish Open will help in that regard.”