Lee Westwood, one of this year's Ryder Cup wildcard picks, has been selected to host the 2017 edition of the British Masters.
The Englishman has chosen the Close House, in Newcastle upon Tyne, as the venue for the event which stretches from September 28-October 1 next year.
"I'm delighted to announce that I'll be taking over the hosting duty of the British Masters from Luke [Donald] next year at Close House," he told Nick Dye.
"It's somewhere I'm obviously very well connected with. I'm sure it'll be a fantastic test of golf and I'm sure all of the players will enjoy coming up to the North East and testing their skills around Close House.
"It's not the longest golf course but it's tricky in places. It can be quite tight and undulating. The wind can come into play a lot as people know who've been to the North East. It'll test everybody out.
"There's a little bit of water on the course as well which keeps it interesting and it's always in fantastic condition."
The event was won by Alex Noren this year, with the Swede holding off Austrian Bernd Wiesberger to win by two strokes. Westwood says it's good to see the event attracting such big stars and hopes to see it brought to different parts of the country.
"Obviously the British Masters is back on the map and I think we should try move it around a little bit to let everybody in Britain see it. It's been down in the London area for a few years now so it'll be nice to take it further afield."
Owner of the course, Graham Wylie, added: "The North East loves its sport and we don't get many great events up there but when they do turn up, we support them in tremendous fashion.
"Getting the event here next year is tremendous for the region because everyone will be talking about it and supporting it."
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