Madeira Islands Open to re-schedule after wash-out

For the second year in a row, the European Tour’s Madeira Islands Open was severely hampered by adverse weather conditions, this time the weather causing an early cancellation of the event.

Heavy wind and severe downpours waterlogged the course, making it unplayable.

A series of delays were put in place to try and give course management staff the opportunity to prepare the course, but these proved futile.

The cancellation came with only 18 holes being played and young Dane Joachim Hansen atop the leaderboard after his opening round of four under par 68.

The European Tour has already begun discussions with the sponsors and host venue to reschedule the event for another week in The 2015 Race to Dubai schedule.

It is just the third event in European Tour history to be subject to a cancellation, after the Compaq European Grand Prix in 1998 – due to adverse weather – and the WGC – American Express Championship, which was cancelled in the wake of the terrorist attacks in the USA on September 11 .

Keith Waters, Chief Operating Officer of The European Tour, said: “The Madeira Islands Open – Portugal – BPI is a hugely important event for The European Tour so it is disappointing for everyone concerned that we have been forced to cancel this week.

“This tournament has produced some memorable moments down the years and we share a very strong relationship with the hosts and sponsors, so we are already in discussions with the club and the sponsors to reschedule the event for another week in this year’s Race to Dubai schedule.

“We really appreciate the efforts of those who worked tirelessly this week to make the tournament happen, so we feel we must now make every effort to make sure that the Madeira Islands Open – Portugal – BPI takes place this year and that together we can show the world the true potential of this great event and this beautiful island.”
Full leaderboard details prior to this abandonment can be found here.

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