The end of season finale of the 2010 PGA EuroPro Tour season takes place this week with the Tour Championships Aphrodite Hills in Paphos, Cyprus featuring the 60 best performers from the regular campaign in a tournament over three rounds.
The final offers the biggest prize fund of the season with £16,670 on offer to the winner.
Michael Collins of FORE Ireland is amongst a group of Irish players and joins Brendan McCarroll, Brian McElhinney of Team Ireland, Neil O’Briain, Paul O’Hanlon, Tim Rice and Gareth Shaw of Team Ireland.
More importantly at the end of the tournament the Order of Merit will be finalised and the top performers will advance to the Challenge Tour which is one step away from the European Tour.
Paul O’Hanlon is the highest ranked Irish player in 21st place the result of his share of second place at the last event of the regular season - the Brooks Bros Classic at Five Lakes.
Brendan McCarroll is the next best in 24th with Rice 27th, McElhinney 28th and Collins in 33rd place. Challenge Tour regular Gareth Shaw is in 40th place and two places ahead of O’Briain.
EuroPro Tour member Daniel Gaunt has already secured a Challenge Tour card after he won one of their events earlier in the year. As Craig Lee is also already guaranteed a place on next year's Challenge Tour which means the men finishing sixth and seventh will also advance to the higher level.
With Matthew Evans and James Hepworth both on more than £23,000, they seem likely to take two of the spots meaning three places are still up for grabs.
Nick McCarthy and Ian Keenan are currently fourth and sixth on the money list respectively but they are closely followed by James Busby in seventh, Paul Maddy eighth, Gary Wolstenholme in ninth and Zane Scotland in 10th place.
Aphrodite Hills was the first ever leisure and golf development of its kind in Cyprus and the 18-hole championship golf course is over 6,299 meters in length and overlooks the site where Aphrodite, the goddess of love, is said to have emerged from the sea.
The EURO Pro Tour Championship takes place between September 30th - October 2nd 2010.
