Having hosted the Women's British Open earlier this year, the famous Sunningdale Golf Club on the outskirts of London welcomed one of just five Volvo Masters Amateur Championship events within the 23-event Volvo Masters Amateur Tour.

With an entirely new format for 2008, the Volvo Masters Amateur Tour is taking shape with the majority of the finalists now confirmed for the UK Final of the Volvo Masters Amateur over the famous 2010 Course at Celtic Manor which will host the biannual Europe versus USA Ryder Cup match in two-years-time.

And the latest pair of players to make it onto the big stage and the chance to fight for a place on the plane to Spain are Ashley Ricketts from Enville Golf Club and Andrew Turner from Ealing Golf Club.

Eight-handicapper Ricketts took the title at the Volvo Masters Amateur Championship events at Sunningdale Golf Club, which recently hosted the Women's British Open; he scored 43 Stableford points in the morning round followed by 33 in the afternoon for a total of 76, a single shot ahead of Volvo Masters Amateur Tour debutant Andrew Turner, off 16 whose consistency of 38 and 37 earned him second spot and a coveted place in the UK final at the first time of asking.

"It was the morning round that got me through and ironically that was played in the worst of the weather conditions," said Ricketts, adding, "I'm absolutely delighted to have made it through to Celtic Manor, and, who knows, maybe even the Volvo Masters Amateur World Final at Valderrama."

Runner-up Turner was as surprised as anyone to make it through at the first attempt, joking, "It must have been beginner's luck," adding on a more serious note, "I played pretty consistently all day and thoroughly enjoyed my Volvo Masters Amateur debut. Qualifying for the final was a bonus."

Meanwhile, in the battle for the Volvo Masters Amateur Tour Order of Merit, it could not be tighter at the top with Philip Prudhoe, off nine tied with 10-handicapper Chris Gosling with Paul Everett a single point behind.

In all, only 10 points cover the top 20 on the Order of Merit.

 "The Volvo Masters Amateur Tour in general and the Sunningdale Volvo Masters Amateur championship event in particular have been a huge success and we are looking at a dramatic climax to the season at Celtic Manor with the fortunate few qualifying to represent their country at Valderrama and the chance to be crowned ‘World Champion,'" said Lesley Milne of Volvo Cars UK.

The UK Final of the Volvo Masters Amateur will be staged at the Celtic Manor Resort on 12^th and 13^th October with the Volvo Masters Amateur World Final being held over La Quinta Golf Club in Marbella, Spain on 1^st November and the final round over Valderrama, following in the footsteps of the Masters on Monday 3^rd November 2008.

 http://www.vmatour.com & http://www.volvocars.co.uk