The 5thAegean Airlines ProAm reached its peak on Saturday June 5th, when golf enthusiasts witnessed the final individual round of the 18 -hole eventfor professionals and amateurs, being played at the sublime “Dunes Course”, in the new “Costa Navarino” resort, the jewel of Messinia. “Costa Navarino”opened its hospitable gatesto international visitors in May2010, with its first, genuinely luxurioushotel,“The Romanos,a Luxury Collection Resort”.
Together with “The Romanos, a Luxury Collection Resort”and the plethora of state-of-the-art sports facilities and others, such as the“Anazoe Spa”and the conference centre“House of Events”, which markthe caseof the year in the Mediterranean tourism, visitors witnessed the opening of the impressive “The Dunes Course”, the first signature golf course in Greece, designed by former US Masters Champion and Ryder Cup Captain, Bernhard Langer–proudly,the mosthigh-end spot ofthe Costa Navarinodestination.
The topmost quality level of the pristine golf course, its magical, seaside location, combined with 4,500 years of local history infused the “5thAegean Airlines Pro-Am” withmore passion and spectacle than ever.
As in the previous years, the tournament was, once again,endorsed by the PGAs of Europe and the PGA of Greece and enjoyed the solid support of the Hellenic Golf Federation.
This year’s ProAm tournament, held from 2nd to 5thJune, 2010, was graced with the presence of 48 participating teams, comprised of one professional and three amateurs. Players from England, France, Italy, Cyprus, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Germany, Turkey, Israel, The Netherlands, Serbia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Austria, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and the USA participated in thetournament at professional level, contesting for the highest European prizefundin a Pro-Amprofessional game. Facing stiff competition, the winner professional of the anniversary 5thAegean AirlinesProAm wasthe American Lee Rinker, formerly of the US PGA Tour. The second (runner up) place was tied between the experienced Andrew Sherborne -20 years on the European Tour and two titles-, the SwedeprofessionalHenrik Engdahl and last year’s winner, Paul Nilbrink.
The first proud winning team came from Greece. The international, Greek pro player, with prominent positions in many European golf events,Panos Karantzias and his “Glyfada Golf Club” team ranked first, the second place went to “Lamborghini GC”, with Zeke Martinez, as the professional player and the third to Mr. Martin Dewhurst’s “Golf Range Tuttendoerfl” team.
The prizes includeda substantial purse of 64,850€ for the PGA professionals, and additional gift awards for the amateurs. The first winning professional received the Aegean Airlines Pro-Am Trophy along with €7,000.
The 1st Aegean Airlines ProAm was originally launched in 2006 by Aegean Airlines, as an innovative idea for a most avant-garde golf event in Greece at the time. That tournament was implemented according to international standards and saw the participation of professional and amateur golfers from many European countries and other parts of the world. Five years later, the 5thAegean Airlines ProAm constitutes one of the most challenging golf tournaments in the PGAs of Europe’s annual agenda, featuring among other outstanding and well-established sports events. As a fact, Aegean Airlines consistently aims at acquainting Greek citizens with golf, by promoting golf culture, all the necessary facilities and entrepreneurial activities, in order to boost tourism and the Greek economy.
Following the tradition, the Aegean Airlines Pro Am connected its name with a good cause. Within this framework, this year’s tournament donated the amount of 15,000€ to the “Society of Messinian Archaeological Studies”, an association inspired by the ideals of classical archaeology which, among other things, also supportsthe excavations at Ancient Messine.
In his closing speech, duringtheprize giving ceremony & closing reception, the President of the Organizing Committee of the Aegean Airlines Pro-Am and President of Aegean Airlines, Mr Theodore Vassilakis, deeply touched and profoundly proud, stated: “Back in 2006 when the passionate people of Aegean Airlines conceived the challenging idea of organizing the 1stAegean Airlines ProAm international golf tournament, few would have expected that we would be here today proudly celebrating the 5thAegean Airlines ProAm anniversary. Today’s grandiose celebration is an acknowledgement of the keen vision, selfless devotion and valiant efforts of all those deeply committed to making this event a reality. I am firmly convinced that these efforts havebeen rewarded and our goals met.At this criticalpointin Greece’s history,AegeanAirlines joins the national effort and sees thefinancialcrisis as an opportunity for decisive and collective action. We are confident that the impact of the Golf industry can play its vital part by generating direct revenues in the Greek economy, driven primarily by golf facility operations, real estate and tourism, also supporting jobs and paying wages”.
The triumphant completion of the 5th Aegean Airlines ProAm tournament would not have been possible without the invaluable contribution and thorough devotion of its sponsors, namely:THE ROMANOS, A LUXURY COLLECTION RESORT, ALPHA BANK –AMERICAN EXPRESS CARDS, PUMA HELLAS, ATHENS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, WILLIS LIMITED, VACAR –SAAB, AUTOHELLAS HERTZ, WIND HELLAS TELECOMMUNICATIONS, COCA -COLA HBC GREECE -AVRA ACTIVE CUP, AUTOMOTIVE SOLUTIONS LTD, KOMBOLOGADIKO, its supporters: INTERNATIONAL AERO ENGINES, VOURAKIS JEWELRY, DERMA CARE CENTER, GOLF BUDDY, TURKMALL and itscommunication sponsor: THE ESQUIRE MAGAZINE.