YORKSHIRE'S leading amateur players will descend on Fulford Golf Club in August to compete for the coveted county crown - but this year there is a twist.

When the Heslington-based course hosts the Yorkshire Amateur Championship, gone will be the old format of 36-holes of strokeplay followed by match-play rounds contested by the top 32 qualifiers.

The Yorkshire Union of Golf Clubs has decreed the title will now be decided using strokeplay only, with a midway cut enforced to the top 40 and ties after 36 holes. Two further rounds of golf will then be played on the final day of the event.

"What they found was that there was just a final and a semi-final being played on the final day - four people playing golf - and it became a little bit of an anti-climax as not many people were there," said Gary Pearce, Fulford Golf Club manager.

"What they want to try and do is create some drama. There will be two lots of 18 holes, then a cut, and on the last day 36 holes. It will be a 72-hole strokeplay tournament."

He continued: "It's the first year and they are trying it out to see what it is like. One of the main reasons is that the tournament is over three days now - rather than the five or six it was before - and people didn't have the opportunity to have that much time off work.

"There are fewer demands on the golf club and we want to try and get this arena atmosphere, with 40 people playing on the last day, plus ties, and their friends and their caddies. There should be a few people around to see the winners coming in.

"It should be a bit more of an event on the last day where it was felt it had lost that over the past few years."

The prestigious tournament, which follows round a rotational circuit of host clubs including Ganton, Moortown, Alwoodley, Huddersfield and Middlesbrough, was last held at Fulford in 2010 and comes two weeks after the MacKenzie Salver - the Yorkshire Order of Merit competition staged at the course.

"I guess a lot of the players will use that as a warm up," Pearce added. "That event has become big on the Yorkshire calendar and, of the 64 players balloted out last year, the ballot was at scratch. No-one above scratch played in the tournament."

With the likes of Damon Coulson, George Forder, Jamie Miller, Sam Wilkinson and Craig Smith, who has recently joined from Pike Hills, there will be strong contenders for home advantage at a course which has 58 category one golfers.

Pearce said: "I am sure 2015 will be a good year. The course preparation has been good so far. It's not far off at all - just a bit of warm weather and a bit of growth.

"This year we also have the England Golf Mixed-Team Championships, a one day event. We have two PGA events. We have got the Lombard Trophy back here in June and the club pros' championship along the county event. That's our tournament season."