NO sooner is Fulford Golf Club thrilled by the prospect of hosting a major European competition than a national event is now heading for the feted course.

The Lombard Trophy is back up and swinging and will descend upon Fulford for one of its regional heats.

The event for which UK asset finance company Lombard has signed a three-year sponsorship deal will comprise the Professional Golfers’ Association National Pro-Am Championship in which club players and pros team up aiming to reach the grand final at Gleneagles’ PGA Centenary Course.

The Lombard round at Fulford will be on Wednesday, July 17, just four days after the Heslington-based course hosts the European Ladies Amateur Team Championship.

That event, being staged in England for only the third time in the last four decades, is at Fulford from July 6 to July 13.

Fulford will be one of 16 regional final venues in the Lombard tournament starting at Kedleston Park on June 3 and ending at Goodwood on July 29.

The prize fund has been increased to £80,000 from £30,000 but the major prize is advancing to the grand final showdown at Gleneagles on September 3 and 4.

Lombard are previous sponsors of the event from 1995 to 2006 during which it regularly attracted entries from more than 1,100 clubs in the United Kingdom.

Said PGA chief executive Sandy Jones: “This is a unique event in that it offers PGA professionals a rare opportunity to team up with an amateur partner and represent their club in a national event.

“I am especially pleased Lombard will be renewing their relationship with the PGA National pro-Am Championship because during their previous sponsorship they took the tournament to new heights making it the largest of its kind in Europe.”