Last year’s winner David Shacklady (centre) with Corrine and Duncan Sinclair, founders of The Sinclair Invitational at Hanbury Manor. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

THE Sinclair Invitational will return to Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel & Country Club in September – with Caring Matters Now (CMN) announced as the tournament’s Official Charity Partner.

Lancashire’s David Shacklady won his second Staysure Tour title at the Hertfordshire venue in 2019.

The 2019 event heralded a new era for The Sinclair Invitational, with the revamped tournament named after its founders Duncan and Corrine Sinclair.

Meanwhile the prize fund increased to £400,000 to place it among the most lucrative events on the Staysure Tour International Schedule.

The tournament will return to Hanbury Manor, from September 4-6, with CMN set to benefit as the tournament’s designated charity partner.

Congenital Melanocytic Naevus (CMN) is a condition characterised by large, brown, noncancerous patches on the skin, which if growing internally, can be fatal.

The condition also increases sufferers’ chances of developing an aggressive form of skin cancer, called melanoma, as well as impacting an individual’s emotional wellbeing.

In addition to being the only UK charity dedicated to supporting those affected by Congenital Melanocytic Naevus – a genetic skin condition present in one per cent of infants – the charity also funds pioneering research to find a cure and raise national and international awareness of the condition.

Mark Aspland, head of the Staysure Tour, said: “We are delighted to welcome Caring Matters Now as the official charity for the 2020 edition of The Sinclair Invitational.

“The work they do across the United Kingdom is tremendous, and we hope that The Sinclair Invitational and our players can help to spread awareness of the condition.

“The Sinclair Invitational was a big hit with our players last year and we look forward to returning to Hanbury Manor in 2020.”

Jodi Whitehouse, founder and chief executive of Caring Matters Now, said: “On behalf of the Caring Matters Now board of trustees, I would like to thank the organisers and sponsors of The Sinclair Invitational for choosing Caring Matters Now as the official charity for the 2020 event.

“Through this prestigious event, the Caring Matters Now board of trustees are thrilled to be able to raise awareness of Congenital Melanocytic Naevus and the work of Caring Matters Now.’’

Stan Power, director of Golf & Estates at Hanbury Manor Marriott Golf & Country Club, said: “Hanbury Manor are delighted to be continuing our relationship with The Sinclair Invitational.

“Each year the tournament has grown and is now a major event not only on Hanbury’s calendar but also in the local area.

“We are really looking forward to working with Caring Matters Now who are set to add a new dynamic to an already great event.”

Shacklady carded a bogey-free final round of 66 to overhaul a four-stroke overnight deficit in front of his wife and children who were watching on.

Hanbury Manor’s back nine features the holes originally designed in the early 20th Century by the legendary Harry Vardon, six-time winner of the Open Championship.

Hanbury Manor’s heritage from Vardon and Nicklaus II to Westwood and Clarke

HANBURY Manor’s first nine holes were designed by legendary six-time Open Champion Harry Vardon in the early 1900s.

The Jacobean style Grade II listed manor house dates back to the 16th Century with the original part of the current hotel built in the 1890s before becoming a convent school in the 1920s until its closure in the 1980s.

When a plan to convert Poles Hall into a five-star hotel and conference centre was conceived, Jack Nicklaus II – the son of the 18-time Major winner nicknamed the Golden Bear – was signed up to add a new front nine, which opened in 1991 to complete an 18-hole championship layout.

The classic Vardon parkland holes have survived while the Nicklaus II half offers a contrasting, more modern links-style introduction to Hanbury Manor.

Marriot acquired the hotel several years later and in 1999 added 65 bedrooms to the exisiting 53 built in the first extension to the old manor house.

Hanbury Manor hosted its first European Tour event with the 1997 Alamo English Open won by Per Ulrk Johansson.

It was also staged at the Ware club in 1998 and 1999 when Ryder Cup stars Lee Westwood and Darren Clarke, respectively, were crowned champions.

In 2016, the Willow Senior Golf Classic was staged at Hanbury Manor for the first time, raising money for the Willow Foundation – the charity founded by former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson, who lost his daughter Anna to cancer at the age of 31.

After Surrey’s Gary Marks recorded his maiden European Tour Seniors win, Berkshire’s Barry Lane took the title in 2017.

Australian Peter Fowler was the last winner of the Willow event before it became The Sinclair Invitational 12 months ago.

The On Course Foundation, which helps the recovery of injured and sick service personnel and veterans through nationwide golf events and arranging employment in the golf industry, was the chosen charity last year.

•Specific tournament dates for the rest of the Staysure Tour international schedule for 2020 will be announced in the coming weeks, the European Tour said this week.

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Ormskirk’s David Shacklady winner of the Sinclair Invitational, at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel and Country Club. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

DAVID Shacklady won his second Staysure Tour title as a six-under par final round 66 sealed the outcome of The Sinclair Invitational, at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel and Country Club.

The Lancastrian carded a bogey-free final round to reach 11-under and win on home soil by one shot ahead of Austria’s Markus Brier and two shots ahead of close friend Paul Streeter, who finished third on nine-under.

It could have been very different for Shacklady as he saw a short birdie putt slide by on the 72nd hole to miss out on taking what would have been – at the time – the outright lead.

But a triple bogey eight on the penultimate hole for co-leader Phillip Price meant the Welshman dropped back into the pack and victory was confirmed for the 2018 VTB Russian Open Golf Championship (Senior) winner.

“I can’t tell you what it means,” 52-year-old Shacklady said. “To win one title was amazing and I know it’s a cliché, but people say you validate it by winning another – and this season has gradually improved for me.

“I felt exactly the same as I did the first time. I felt as calm as I did in Russia and I genuinely became focused on just trying to win and post the lowest number. It’s nice to be able to repeat it.

“I played very well. I have been playing well prior to getting here this week, but you never know if you’re going to continue it.

“I knew I had a good chance on the back nine but then to be honest, the little one at the last for birdie, I thought that was going to mean I was in a play-off or maybe lose by one.

“I knew I was hitting it well and I knew I was going to give myself chances but I got on a nice run, in a nice frame of mind and I kept doing what my coach has been telling me and it worked out beautifully.”

The 52-year-old was joined at Ware’s Hanbury Manor, in Hertfordshire, by his wife and three children.

Shacklady was overjoyed to provide them with the perfect conclusion to the week, having been disappointed to bogey the final hole to miss the cut by a single shot the last time his family attended a tournament at The Senior Open, at Royal Lytham & St Annes.

“My family were there at Lytham when I bogeyed the last to miss the cut and they were all devasted I wasn’t there at the weekend, as I was,” the Ormskirk-based pro said.

“You just have to pick yourself up and go again. There are far more lows in golf than highs – there always have been and there always will be.

“I’m back out again next year and that’s all I want. I want to play, and play, and play and I wouldn’t trade this – being out here on this Tour – for anything in the world. It’s incredible.”

The 2018 Qualifying School graduate was typically humble in victory and offered some kind words to Price, whose triple bogey on the 71st hole was only the second time he dropped shots all week.

“We were stood at the last when Phil was coming in and he was signing autographs as he was coming off,” he said. “That says everything you need to know about Phil Price.

“He’s one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet and a class act with it. It is horrible that it’s gone that way but he will be the first one to come and shake my hand and say ‘well done’.

“He’s a gentleman and a good friend as well,” added Shacklady who qualified to play in the 2007 Open at Carnoustie and played seven times on the European Tour between 1999 and 2008.

Despite that triple bogey costing him a shot at victory, Price finished in fourth place on eight-under, which means he leapfrogs Paul Broadhurst and Bernhard Langer to take top spot on the Order of Merit

Shacklady’s victory sees him climb seven places into fifth position.

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Sweden’s first Ryder Cup player Joakim Haeggman could not wait to start his Staysure Seniors Tour career at Hanbury Manor after turning 50 this week. Picture by GETTY IMAGES

JOAKIM Haeggman has wasted no time in embarking on his Staysure Tour career and makes his over-50s debut at The Sinclair Invitational at Hanbury Manor Marriott Hotel and Country Club, just two days after turning 50.

The Swede has not played in a European Tour event since the 2014 Nordea Masters, but has returned to professional golf at the earliest possible opportunity since becoming eligible to tee it up on the Staysure Tour.

Haeggman, who became the first Swede to compete in the Ryder Cup when he formed part of Bernard Gallacher’s team at The Belfry Resort in 1993, admits he has been counting down the days to this moment.

And he feels that despite a long break from competitive golf, his game is in good shape as he headed to the Hertfordshire course designed by Jack Nicklaus II, who added nine holes to the existing nine-hole Harry Vardon parkland north of Ware on the A10, in 1990.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment for quite a long time now,” Haeggman said. “I suppose most guys who are golfers want to do this when they turn 50, so for me, it was an easy choice to come here.

“The game’s not bad. We’ll find out because I think the shots are there and the game is pretty close to what it used to be, which is good for me.

“But the short game needs to be there, the putting needs to be there and the scoring shots need to be there.

“To have the scorecard in the back pocket is going to be a bit different from running around at your home club.”

After turning professional in 1989, Haeggman won three times on the European Tour and twice on the Challenge Tour before leaving the world of professional golf behind in 2014.

After hanging up the clubs for the first time he moved to a different sector within the game.

“I have actually been a sales representative for John Deere where I was responsible for a third of Sweden,” he said.

“I’ve been doing that, selling golf machinery, and also done a bit of travelling and that’s it really. But when it came down to it, I thought ‘I’d like to go and play again’.

“It really started for me back in November of last year. I left my daily job and I got back into the gym and took a few months trying to get myself back into shape, well, some kind of shape anyway.

“I’m sure we’ve all got our own aches and pains out here and I’m just trying to limit mine and get on with it. It’s obviously one of the reasons why I halted and stopped playing on the European Tour.”

As Haegmann took time to hone his touch on the practice green at Hanbury Manor early on Thursday morning, the Swede was interrupted by a number of friendly faces who he had not seen for many years.

“It’s great to see everyone again,” he said. “I had dinner with Mark James last night and it’s nice to sit down and see everybody and have a chat again.

“I think the Staysure Tour will offer me a lot of enjoyment, a chance to play golf and hopefully I’ll be able to make a living out of doing this.

“I’ve said to myself I’ll play this year and then at least a couple more years, so we’ll see where I get to.”

The Sinclair Invitational – renamed this year after founders Corrine and Duncan Sinclair, having been the Willow Senior Classic co-founded by former Arsenal goalkeeper Bob Wilson since 2016 – offers a £400,000 prize fund.

That places it in the top tier of tournaments on the Staysure Tour with 4,500 Order of Merit points on offer.

The action at Hanbury Manor will begin at 9.30am on Friday, with Haeggman playing alongside America’s Bob May at 10am.

For live scoring click here.

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