European Tour unveils 2011 schedule, with 50 events around the world

The 2011 European Tour schedule will feature 50 golf tournaments -- two more than this year -- with new events in Bahrain, Malaysia and Sicily. The 2011 tour starts next month in South Africa and ends with the Dubai World Championship next December. The European Tour said in a statement that from 2012, the schedule will be contained within the calendar year, starting in January and ending in December. The 2010 tour ends on Sunday. Sicily will host a European Tour event at the Donnafugata Golf Resort in the south of the Italian island and Malaysia will host a second tournament, the Iskandar Johor Open, which has previously only been sanctioned by the Asian Tour. The 2011 calendar starts with four consecutive tournaments in South Africa, immediately followed by four in the Arabian Gulf as part of a Desert Swing. It includes the Volvo Golf Champions event in Bahrain. The Sicilian tournament will be the first to be held in Europe, in late March. The Scottish Open, traditionally the last event before the British Open, will not be held in the town of Loch Lomond as usual, and a course has yet to be found. A new links course near the town of Inverness, Castle Stuart Golf Links, is reported to be favorite to host the event in 2011. The tour leaves Europe in November and heads to China for the HSBC Champions event in Shanghai, followed by more Asian events in Singapore, Malaysia, China and Hong Kong. “I think the new schedule … is in my own opinion, excellent,” said European Tour Chief Executive George O’Grady. “It’s been quite complicated this year working it all through.” O’Grady said he was especially happy with this week’s Dubai World Championship and he expected the season-ending event to remain in the emirate despite the city’s economic problems. O’Grady said the original five-year agreement has been condensed into a two-year deal that runs through 2011, “which if we secure a powerful sponsorship in that time, we anticipate going further.” Developers have struggled to finish hundreds of villas that surround Jumeirah Golf Estates and organizers reduced the prize money 25 percent to $7.5 million even before the inaugural tournament last year. “We have been looked at by Abu Dhabi, as well, but I think the intention is to try to keep it here in Dubai for as long as possible,” O’Grady said. “We are rock solid for two years, and everybody has the drive to keep it going after that,” O’Grady said. “DP World, who are the presenting sponsor, are very excited by the tournament, and we give them some packages in other events around the world, which coincides with their market. And so I would be very confident this is here to stay.” O’Grady also said he expects to see further growth in India and China and would like to see more tournaments on English soil, though he couldn’t say when that would happen. “Ideally we would bring the British Masters back or the English Open would move forward, but these things tend to go in cycles,” he said. “We are very strong in Scotland … The Scottish Open is very strong. The new venue will be announced very shortly.” O’Grady also said he expected a decision by early next year on the course for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, where organizers are discussing whether to upgrade an existing course or build a new one. “There’s masses of people looking at it now,” he said. “They are looking at two existing golf courses and whether they can be brought up to the required standard. I would anticipate a decision on the venue early in the new year.” Here is the 2010 European Tour schedule: 2010 Dec. 9-12 Alfred Dunhill Championship Leopard Creek CC Malelane, South Africa Dec. 16-19 South African Open Durban CC Durban, South Africa 2011 Jan. 6-9 Africa Open East London GC East London, Eastern Cape, South Africa Jan. 13-16 Joburg Open Royal Johannesburg & Kensington GC Johannesburg, South Africa Jan. 20-23 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship Abu Dhabi GC Abu Dhabi, UAE Jan. 27-30 Volvo Golf Champions The Royal Golf Club Kingdom of Bahrain Feb. 3-6 Commercialbank Qatar Masters Doha GC Doha, Qatar Feb. 10-13 Omega Dubai Desert Classic Emirates GC Dubai, UAE Feb. 17-20 Avantha Masters DLF G&CC New Delhi, India Feb. 23-27 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship Ritz-Carlton GC Dove Mountain, Marana, Arizona, USA Mar. 10-13 World Golf Championship Doral Golf Resort & Spa Doral, Florida, USA Mar. 17-20 Sicilian Open Donnafugata Golf Resort & Spa Sicily, Italy Mar. 24-27 Andalucia Open Parador de Malaga Golf Málaga, Spain Mar. 31-Apr. 3 Trophee Hassan II Palais Royal and Golf de L'Ocean Agadir, Morocco Apr 7-10 Masters Tournament Augusta National GC Augusta, Georgia, USA Apr. 14-17 Maybank Malaysian Open TBA Apr. 21-24 Volvo China Open TBA Apr. 28-May 1 Ballantine's Championship Blackstone GC Icheon, Seoul, South Korea May 5-8 Spanish Open TBA May 12-15 Iberdrola Open Pula GC Son Servera, Mallorca, Spain May 19-22 Volvo World Match Play Championship Finca Cortesin Casares, Andalucia, Spain May 19-22 BPI Madeira Islands Open Porto Santo Golfe Madeira, Portugal May 26-29 BMW PGA Championship Wentworth Club Surrey, England June 2-5 Celtic Manor Wales Open Celtic Manor Resort Newport, Wales June 9-12 BMW Italian Open Royal Park I Roveri Turin, Italy June 16-19 U.S. Open Congressional CC Bethesda, Maryland, USA June 16-19 Saint-Omer Open Aa Saint Omer GC Lumbres, France June 23-26 BMW International Open Golfclub Munchen Eichenried Munich, Germany June 30-July 3 Alstom French Open Le Golf National Paris, France July 7-10 Barclays Scottish Open TBA July 14-17 Open Championship Royal St. George's GC Sandwich, Kent, England July 21-24 Nordea Scandinavian Masters Bro Hof Slott GC Stockholm, Sweden July 28-31 Irish Open TBA Aug. 4-7 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational Firestone CC Akron, Ohio, USA Aug. 11-14 PGA Championship Atlanta Athletic Club Johns Creek, Georgia, USA Aug. 18-21 Czech Open Prosper Golf Resort Celadna, Czech Republic Aug. 25-28 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles Gleneagles Hotel Perthshire, Scotland Sept. 1-4 Omega European Masters Crans-sur-Sierre Crans Montana, Switzerland Sept. 8-11 KLM Open Hilversumsche GC Hilversum, The Netherlands Sept. 15-18 Vivendi Trophy with Seve Ballesteros Saint-Nom-la-Breteche Paris, France Sept. 22-25 Austrian Golf Open Diamond CC Atzenbrugg, Austria Sept. 29-Oct. 2 Alfred Dunhill Links Championship Old Course, Carnoustie, Kingsbarns, Scotland St. Andrews, Scotland Oct. 6-9 Madrid Masters TBA Oct. 13-16 Portugal Masters TBA Oct. 20-23 Castello Masters Costa Azahar Club de Campo del Mediterráneo Castellon, Valencia, Spain Oct. 27-30 Andalucia Masters Venue TBA Andalucia, Spain Nov. 3-6 WGC-HSBC Champions Shanghai, China Nov. 10-13 Barclays Singapore Open Sentosa GC Singapore Nov. 17-20 Iskandar Johor Open TBA Nov. 24-27 Omega Mission Hills World Cup Mission Hills Resort Hainan Island, Southern China Dec. 1-4 UBS Hong Kong Open Hong Kong GC Hong Kong Dec. 8-11 Dubai World Championship Jumeirah Golf Estates, Dubai, UAE