AN ace ascent in status has been accorded Sandburn Hall Golf Club.

The club, which has in the past hosted a Yorkshire PGA Masters championship, will do so again this summer.

And the ambitious ethos at the club is that it will eventually look towards European events being hosted by the course, which is just off the A64 on the road to Flaxton.

The new hike in standing means that instead of the Yorkshire Masters being just a county event it has now been upgraded to a Professional Golfers’ Association North region tournament.

It will be a crucial constituent of only five tournaments to form the PGA North region Order of Merit for 2013.

A restructure plan for the north region of the PGA has halved the number of Order of Merit tournaments to five, including the Yorkshire PGA Masters, which will be played at Sandburn Hall on August 28 and 29.

Steve Robinson, the head professional at Sandburn Hall, where he has his academy, was thrilled by the upswing in the eminence of the tournament.

He said: “It’s a definite step up to regional ranking and that is a big boost for the club.

“It not only recognises the facilities and standing of the club, but also rewards how Sandburn has always been forward-looking.

“The club has ongoing development plans and other developments in the pipeline, so it’s very progressive here.”

That progression was echoed by newly-appointed director of golf Glenn Lowery, also a PGA professional.

“We have held the Yorkshire PGA since 2009, but with it now classed as part of the northern Order of Merit it shows how it’s gone from strength to strength at Sandburn and that more people are realising just what a hidden gem we have here,” said Lowery.

“We are looking forward to having this great event and hopefully again next year and from then on maybe looking at a European Pro event or the Challenge Tour.”

The Masters event at the course will also mean that Yorkshire, which has the biggest number of clubs in the PGA North area, will host two of the five Order of Merit competitions. The other is the long-established De Vere Leeds Cup at Oulton Hall GC between Leeds and Wakefield, the week before the Masters at Sandburn Hall.

Meanwhile, three of the girls in the England Performance Squad coached by Robinson at his academy at Sandburn Hall, were in scintillating form as part of the Great Britain and Ireland boys and girls combined team in the Youth Olympics in Australia.

Georgia Hall took gold in the individual girls’ event, where Gabriella Cowley was fourth and Amber Ratcliffe seventh, while the combined girls/boys’ team won team gold.

“It’s a great start to the year,” said Robinson.