The Madeira Islands Open has been rescheduled for July 30th to August 2nd at Clube de Golf do Santo da Serra, after extreme weather forced the abandonment of the first European based fixture of the season.
Severe winds, dense fog and heavy rain on the Portuguese island of Madeira gave tournament organisers no option other than to cancel the tournament with just one round completed.
The cancellation came with only 18 holes being played and young Dane Joachim Hansen atop the leaderboard after only round was able to be played.
It became 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.
The tournament, which counts towards both The Race to Dubai and Challenge Tour Rankings, will now be played in the same week as the Saltire Energy Paul Lawrie Match Play.
Keith Waters, Chief Operating Officer of The European Tour, said: “Given the importance of the Madeira Islands Open and our close working relationship with the golf club and sponsors, we were very keen to reschedule the tournament and the fact that we have managed to do so this quickly is testament to the desire and commitment of all parties to reach an agreement.
“So we should thank the representatives of Santo da Serra, BPI, Governo Regional da Madeira and Turismo de Portugal for all their hard work and efforts in difficult circumstances last week, and we look forward to working together with them in July, when we hope the weather gods will be smiling upon us.”
Previous winners of this tournament include home favourite Ricardo Santos (2012) and American Peter Uihlein (2013), both of whom went on to be named the Sir Henry Cotton Rookie of the Year.
Further details of the change can be found here.
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