CUMBERWELL Park golf manager Ali James believes the GRENKE Championship is now a firmly established favourite on the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour calendar as the Bradford on Avon course prepares to host the event for a fourth year.

A total of 156 players will chase the £10,000 first prize in the 54-hole strokeplay tournament on European golf’s third tier at Cumberwell from Wednesday.

As well as the pre-event Pro-Am on Monday, Tuesday will see a par-three competition on the club’s short course, the winner of which will take home £1,000.

In addition, the top 25 players, plus the Pro-Am winner, will then take part in the Ablrate.com Shoot-Out, with one shot of 170 yards to carry over water to the island green of the eighth hole. Any player who can score a hole-in-one will carry home a £100,000 jackpot, with nearest the pin winning £1,000.

The hole-in-one contest will be filmed for a special edition of the HotelPlanner.com PGA EuroPro Tour highlights show and will be shown on Sky Sports and James believes it is indicative of the progress the GRENKE tournament has made since its arrival at Cumberwell.

“Everything is coming together, the course is always in great condition and the (Cumberwell) members really get behind the event too,’’ he said. “It’s grown every year and it’s a tournament the players really like playing in.’’ The Shoot-Out this year is something different too and it’s adding something else exciting to it.

Former European Tour pro Stephen Dodd lifted the overall tournament title last year and another top-quality EuroPro field is expected at Cumberwell again, including the tour’s order of merit leader Chris Lloyd (The Kendleshire).

The host club’s Steve Surry, who this week is playing on the second-tier European Challenge Tour’s Made in Denmark Challenge, will feature, having finished runner-up in the event in 2015.

Cumberwell players Will Brown, James Cooper, Joe Retford and Danny Clayton are also in the field.

Spectator entry is free throughout the tournament, which gets under way on Wednesday.

James meanwhile captained Wiltshire’s amateur team to second place in the Inter-County Championship at South West Week at Weston-super-Mare last week.

Coverage of the GRENKE Championship at Cumberwell Park at wiltshiretimes.co.uk/sport in next week's Wiltshire Times