GOLF: Rushmere is to stage a 36-hole professional event on Monday and Tuesday, May 21 and 22.The S3 Pro Tour has been launched this year and Rushmere has been chosen as one of the venues for the 13 tournaments which have so far been arranged.

RUSHMERE is to stage a 36-hole professional event on Monday and Tuesday, May 21 and 22.

The S3 Pro Tour has been launched this year and Rushmere has been chosen as one of the venues for the 13 tournaments which have so far been arranged.

There will be a field of 150 professionals from all over the country, including several from Suffolk, competing for a first prize of between £2,500 and £3,000.

Prize money is likely to be paid down to 30th place which means a fifth of the field will go home with a cheque of some kind.

For instance, there will be £1,000 for the player finishing 10th and £500 for the professional in 20th position, while thirtieth place should guarantee a cheque in the region of £200.

Sam Goode, the tournament controller, said: "Many professionals simply cannot afford to play on some of the tours because the entry fee is so high.

"We have introduced the S3 Pro Tour to help the younger professionals and I hope that we will have a total of 20 events in place before too long."

The cost to enter the S3 Pro Tour is £95 for membership for the season with the entry fee for each event set at £195.

"We want to spread the prize money around instead of it being top heavy," said Sam, who is looking for sponsors to boost the new venture.

The S3 Pro Tour has been well received and the first event is next week at Wildwood in Surrey.

If anyone can help with sponsorship, Ron Hewlett can be reached on 01473 611227 or 0771 3547424.

THE three leaders in last year's PGA East Region of Merit will miss the opening event of the season because they are playing in the Volvo PGA Championship at Wentworth.

John Bevan (Ufford Park), Ian Ellis (Royal Norwich) and Clacton's Andrew Duffin PGA East Region Championship at Nazeing on May 22 and 23.

With only four Order of Merit events, it means that the trio will be hard pushed to repeat last year's success.