Heythrop Park Resort gears up for debut Tour event

• Bridgestone Challenge starts 25th August on European Challenge Tour
• Estate management team have ‘polished’ course to Tour spec
• Oxfordshire resort’s first major Tour event
• Only European Challenge Tour event in England in 2016

ENSTONE, OXFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND – One of English golf’s most spectacular destinations is preparing to host its first European Challenge Tour Event.

Estate Manager Matthew Cropper and his 12-strong team at Heythrop Park Resort, near Oxford, have spent the last few months working closely with the Tour to produce optimal playing conditions during the forthcoming Bridgestone Challenge event, which runs from August 25th – 28th.

“I’d say it has been more of a polish than a transformation” said Cropper, aged 26, who took up his new post at Heythrop Park Resort in February of this year. “The Bainbridge golf course has been in very good condition this season anyway, and it was fundamentally designed as a Tour layout – so we have been taking care of the finer details such as achieving the right green speeds and cutting heights as specified by the Tour.”

Cropper, a Bristolian who previously worked at Chipping Sodbury GC and Wentworth Club, feels that the golf course is now Tour-prepared. “We had the Championship layout” he said, “and we have now taken it to a Championship standard as regards conditioning.

“We have increased our mowing regime, and have topped up bunkers where necessary to achieve the required depth of sand for the European Challenge Tour. We have also recently improved not just bunker drainage, but our whole drainage system for a sustainable future here at Heythrop Park Resort.”

The giant 440-acre Heythrop Park Resort keeps Cropper’s team busy away from the golf course too, with extensive gardens, lawns and woodlands to maintain, as well as a FootGolf course, croquet lawn and tennis courts.

“Heythrop Park Resort is about so much more than the Bainbridge Course for golfers” said Cropper, “but this month we are definitely focused on delivering the best-possible track for the Bridgestone Challenge competitors to enjoy. We can’t wait to earn our Tour spurs, and it is an important step forward for Heythrop Park Resort.”

The 7,088 Par 72 Bainbridge Course at Heythrop Park Resort will be closed to all but the Bridgestone Challenge competitors during tournament week, which starts on Monday 22nd August.

A strong entry is expected as European Challenge Tour golfers compete to top the Road To Oman Rankings. “We are particularly honoured to host this event, when you consider that Heythrop Park Resort will be the only official European Challenge Tour venue in England in 2016” said Resort Director Paul Russell.

“It has long been our aim to host a full Tour event” he said, “and hosting the Bridgestone Challenge later this month will see the culmination of a lot of hard work by the superb team here at Heythrop Park Resort.

“We are determined to make the most of this rare opportunity, which will finally see Heythrop Park Resort join an exclusive club of fully-fledged English Tour venues. We hope to attract more Tour events in the future – but most of all, we encourage golfers from across the UK to come and sample what Tour-quality golf looks and feels like, and also stay a while to sample our renowned hotel and hospitality!”

See www.heythroppark.co.uk for more about Heythrop Park Resort, and visit www.europeantour.com/challengetour to discover more about this year’s Road To Oman on the European Challenge Tour.

Ends.

www.heythroppark.co.uk

The Bainbridge Course at Heythrop Park Resort– venue for the Bridgestone Challenge tournament on the European Challenge Tour in August 2016 – was designed in 2009 by world-renowned golf course architect Tom Mackenzie. The 7,088 yard Par 72 course weaves throughout the picturesque 440-acre Heythrop estate and provides an exciting challenge for all golfers. The 18-hole course meanders over ridges and through valleys which are studded with ancient woodland, lakes and streams. The course is quintessentially English and has several signature holes, notably the 6th hole where the green nestles besides a fishing lake, the spectacular short 13th, and the closing hole, a 600-yard Par Five with the impressive Mansion House as its backdrop. Located just 12 miles from Oxford, Heythrop Park Resort is a unique, secluded venue set in stunning private countryside parkland. Dating back to 1710 this quintessential English country estate seamlessly combines elegance with style and boasts over 280 rooms at two individual hotels: the elegant Heythrop Park Hotel and the stylish Crowne Plaza Hotel. The Resort also offers a luxurious health club & spa, together with a range of state-of-the-art conference facilities with capacity for up to 400 delegates in a purpose-built conference theatre, and 25 separate meeting rooms of various sizes. All rooms, residential or business, offer free complimentary wi-fi. In summer 2015 the Resort also opened a custom-built 9-hole FootGolf course, open for play during daylight hours seven days a week. Whether you need a venue for a golf day, a conference, a special occasion, a group tour, a weekend getaway or a fairy-tale wedding, Heythrop Park Resort has something for everyone. Just 90 minutes from the heart of London, and easily accessible from Bristol, Birmingham and the Midlands, we are located on the edge of the Cotswolds with Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon and the M40 on our doorstep. Heythrop Park Resort is also the perfect base to explore England’s countryside, or to visit attractions such as Blenheim Palace, Cotswold Wildlife Park and the charming Cotswold villages of Burford & Chipping Norton.