The 2023 edition of the annual Gold Fields PGA Championship has been launched at the Gold Fields Corporate Office in Accra on Friday.

The 10th anniversary tournament is scheduled to take place from Wednesday, November 29 to December 2, 2023, at the illustrious 18-hole Damang Golf Course.

The total cash prize has increased from 346,000 Ghana Cedis to 385,000 this year.

The regular pro champion will take home 80,000 Ghana Cedis, a 20,000 increase from 2022 while the senior pro champion will take home 25,000 Cedis, 5,000 more than last year.

Thirty-three (33) Ghanaian regular pros and nine (9) foreign regular pros from Togo, Cote d’Ivoire, Zimbabwe and Nigeria are set to compete for the coveted 10th anniversary champion title and bragging rights and cash.

They all qualified through the 'Road to Damang' competitions, which were held during the year.

Organisers say they have also invited 18 senior pros, made up of 17 Ghanaians and one Nigerian, to participate in the competition.

Speaking at the launch, the Executive Vice President of Gold Fields Ghana, Joshua Mortoti, revealed females will be competing for the first time this year.

“I'm excited to announce that the anniversary tournament will be welcoming the first group of female golfers who aspire to become pros. They will play for three days and be awarded trophies,” he said.

“They will, however, not receive cash prizes. We hope that the opportunity to participate in this competition will provide them with practical experience, which will sharpen their talent and propel their careers in golf.”

The Professional Golfers Association’s Director of Operations, Padori Ahmed, said: “I’ve been playing with them since I came from London and they are all eager to go to Damang. This year will be very difficult and interesting.”

The Chairman of the Organising Committee, Hans de Beer, said a new headline sponsor will soon take over from Gold Fields but the mining firm will still be part of the family.