The European Tour today announced the Austrian Golf Open will be played at Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg from April 15-18, 2021.
The tournament returns to the European Tour’s schedule after last being played in July 2020 when it marked the Tour’s resumption following a three month suspension in the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Austrian Golf Open, which has a prize fund of €1million, moves into the date vacated by the Tenerife Open at Golf Costa Adeje, which will now take place from April 29 – May 2 following the postponement on Friday of the Portugal Masters at Dom Pedro Victoria Golf Course, in Vilamoura, due to ongoing travel difficulties.
Keith Pelley, Chief Executive of the European Tour, said: “Throughout the pandemic, we have had to be agile with our scheduling and today’s announcement is another example of that.
“We are naturally grateful to Diamond Country Club and the Austrian Golf Federation for once again helping us to continue to provide a full schedule and playing opportunities for our members.
“Diamond Country Club is obviously a venue that we know very well, and we look forward to returning there next month.”
Dr. Peter Enzinger, President of the Austrian Golf Federation, said: “We are very proud that the European Tour has, once again, chosen Austria to host a European Tour event and that the Austrian Golf Federation is able to contribute.
“The Covid-19 pandemic continues to pose major challenges for international sporting bodies, but in spite of this, working together with our partners in the Federal Ministry of Sport, we have been able to provide all the necessary information, in a very short space of time, to the European Tour making their decision much easier.
“Diamond Country Club in Atzenbrugg has distinguished itself many times as an excellent host already and we are very happy that Europe’s elite will be teeing off again this year in the region of Lower Austria. Obviously, the tournament will go ahead in compliance with the strictest Covid-19 prevention measures, but they will definitely not detract from the delight of the game of golf at its best.”
Christian Guzy, President of Diamond Country Club, said: “Our long-standing collaboration with the European Tour stems from, and is based on, mutual trust, especially given the difficult circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Last year, along with the European Tour, we showed courage in hosting the first European Tour tournament of the COVID-era, a challenge we mastered beyond expectations.
“With this year’s tournament, we hope to once again showcase golf in Austria and use the international media presence to support local tourism as the summer season is nearing.
“I am grateful to the everyone at the Austrian Golf Federation and the Ministry for allowing us to represent our country internationally. Of course, we are also grateful to everyone else who has made it possible to organise the 2021 Austrian Golf Open within such a tight timeframe.”
The Austrian Golf Open was first played on the European Tour in 1990 when Major Champion Bernhard Langer won the title.
This year’s tournament will be the 22nd edition and the 11th consecutive time it has been played at Diamond Country Club, in Atzenbrugg, near Vienna, which is part of the European Tour Destinations network of world class golf venues. Scotland’s Marc Warren became the most recent winner of the Austrian Open last July, finishing one shot clear of Germany’s Marcel Schneider to claim his first European Tour victory in six years.
(Text: European Tour Communications)