55-year-old British Belgian Michael Jones will be the new Tournament Director of the Soudal Open, the Belgian leg of the new DP World Tour, which will take place at the Rinkven International Golf Club in Schilde in spring 2022.
Jones has both the British and Belgian nationality and has lived in Belgium for nearly his entire life. He learned to love golf at an early age and has been playing golf since he was seven. During his amateur career, Jones won the 1989 Jack Du Vivier Belgian National Order of Merit and even competed in several professional European Tour and Challenge Tour events in Belgium. Although he does not have as much time to practice anymore, he still plays of a hcp of +0.7 and has represented Belgium in the Senior National Team since turning 50 in 2016.
Furthermore, Jones has been active as golf manager and golf marketing specialist for over twenty years, including for IMG, amongst others. “As you can imagine, with my passion for the game of golf and my career in professional golf management, it is a great honour for me to take on the role of Tournament Director of the Soudal Open”, says Jones. “Having a world-wide renown title sponsor such as Soudal and with the professionalism of Golazo, I am convinced that we are in a great position to deliver an outstanding tournament, not only for the Belgian and international golf spectators but also for the competitors that will take part.”
“We are delighted that Michael is joining forces with the Soudal Open team”, says Michel Francken, CEO Golazo Events Belgium. “His long experience, his excellent contact with the Tour players and his knowledge of the game of golf will allow him to take charge of the Soudal Open and to draw up the guidelines for the coming years. We are looking forward to turning the Soudal Open into a Belgian landmark event together with Michael and our partners.”
The Soudal Open will take place at the Rinkven International Golf Club in Schilde from 12 until 15 May 2022. It will be a four-day tournament as part of the European Tour that was recently renamed to DP World Tour. Play will follow the 72-hole strokeplay format with 156 players and a cut after the second round. A pro-am competition will be held on the Wednesday of the tournament week.