THE 2018 EUROPEAN Golf Team Championships, taking place in Gleneagles, will feature men and women competing alongside each other for the first time.

The 50/50 gender split in the field will see players from both the European Tour and Ladies European Tour competing for equal prize money over the Centenary Course at the Scottish venue.

The format for qualification was unveiled this morning and will see 16 teams of two players competing in men’s and women’s matchplay events.

The teams will then combine to form teams of four — two men and two women — in a mixed event over 18 holes.

Qualification will be based on official world rankings and a maximum of three teams can represent any one country.

The tournament forms part of the 2018 European Championships, a multi-sport event being staged jointly in Berlin and Glasgow.

It brings together the existing European Championships of athletics, aquatics, cycling, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon.

“This summer’s European Golf Team Championships will be a totally unique event,” said Mark Lichtenhein, chair of the Ladies European Tour.

“We are extremely pleased that the men and women will play competitively together for equal prize money.

“As we have seen through the Olympic Games in Rio, the recent Oates Vic Open in Australia and the announcement to have mixed teams in the GolfSixes in the UK, there is a tremendous public appetite to see men and women competing.”

The tournaments will be played from 8-12 August, a clear time on the women’s LPGA Tour but the same week as men’s final Major of the year, the PGA Championship.

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