Press release -
North Berwick gears up for Scottish Open Qualifier
A combination of Tour players, club professionals and amateurs have entered the inaugural Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open qualifier.
The exciting new event, which is part of the PGA Scotland’s Tartan Tour, takes place at North Berwick this Saturday and Sunday (4 and 5 July).
It carries a £50,000 prize fund and offers five spots in next week’s Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Gullane.
And VisitScotland, one of principal sponsors of the event, says this weekend’s free event will be a treat for golf fans.
Mike Cantlay, chairman of VisitScotland, said: “The Scottish Open Qualifier at North Berwick is an excellent addition to this country’s spectacular summer of golf, which comprises nine professional events including the Aberdeen Asset Scottish Open, the Open Championship and the Ricoh Women’s British Open.
“With so much talent on display at North Berwick this weekend, this free event will not only be a treat for golf fans, but it will also whet their appetite for some of the outstanding sporting action to come over the coming months. All of these events will further cement this country’s global reputation as the home of golf.”
The field for this weekend’s 36-hole shoot-out includes a trio of European Tour winners in Scott Drummond, Alastair Forsyth and Stephen McAllister.
Scotland’s current Challenge Tour contingent is also well represented, with Andrew McArthur, Elliot Saltman, Jamie McLeary, Duncan Stewart and George Murray all giving an event in Germany this week a miss to try and secure a spot in their national championship.
For Murray, it’s a return to a happy hunting ground as the Fifer won a spot in the 2013 Open at Muirfield through a qualifier at the same venue.
Paul Shields, fresh from finishing second in the Granite City Classic at Newmachar, spearheads an entry from the PGA EuroPro Tour that also includes Craig Lawrie, son of 1999 Open champion Paul.
And flying the Tartan Tour flag on the East Lothian coast will be the likes of on-form Chris Kelly, Greig Hutcheon, Graham Fox and Gareth Wright.
It’s great that a number of PGA club pros have also decided to try their luck, with North Berwick’s Martyn Huish and Gullane’s Alasdair Good among those trying to secure spots alongside Rory McIlroy & Co.
Also aiming to achieve that goal are a group of amateurs, including Craig Ross, a winner on the PGA EuroPro Tour at Mar Hall last year, and Calum Hill, who cut his golfing teeth at North Berwick as a Tantallon member.
Sandy Jones, chief executive of the PGA, said: “This event is a superb addition to the Tartan Tour. Our leading players will relish the opportunity to compete for a place in the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open, one of the premier events on the European Tour.”
Martin Gilbert, chief executive of Aberdeen Asset Management, added: “Here at Aberdeen we are very proud of our Scottish roots and so we aim to support Scottish golf at all levels of the game.
“We are thrilled to be giving promising Scottish golfers the opportunity to play in their own Scottish Open through this qualifier.
“What a story it would be if a Scottish player went onto to win The Open at St Andrews having qualified through North Berwick and then Gullane!”
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Notes to Editors
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- Follow us on twitter: @visitscotnews
- VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
- The organisation’s core objective is to contribute to the Tourism 2020 Strategy ambition of growing tourism revenues by £1 billion by 2020.
- This will be supported by seven overarching strategies:
- Marketing: we will market Scotland and its outstanding assets to visitors from all parts of the world, including the promotion of Scotland to people living in Scotland to visit different parts of the country
- Events: we will support the national events strategy and its delivery, and sustain, develop and promote Scotland’s international profile as one of the world’s foremost events destinations
- Internationalisation and International Engagement: we will utilise all our platforms to enable Scottish-based tourism businesses to better understand international opportunities and market to a global audience and we will work within One Scotland Partnerships to optimise the potential of Scotland’s Diaspora and our strategic partners at regional, European and global levels
- Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
- Quality and Sustainability: we will provide support and advice to businesses, with the goal of improving the quality and sustainability of the tourism sector in Scotland. We will provide quality assurance to visitors through our Quality Schemes
- Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
- Working in Partnership: we will listen to and work with the industry, partners and communities to shape our offering and support
- VisitScotland works together with tourism businesses to make tourism a success for everyone and ensure the industry continues to grow.
- The organisation employs 700 people and has offices and VisitScotland Information Centres across Scotland.
- According to a recent Deloitte study, the tourism economy supports 270,000 jobs in Scotland in 20,000 diverse businesses. The same study calculates that the tourism economy contributes £11 billion annually (direct and indirect impact, including day visits) and supports around 10 per cent of employment in Scotland. Almost 16 million tourists take overnight trips to Scotland.
- For VisitScotland’s press releases go to http://www.visitscotland.org/media_centre.aspx, tourism statistics and frequently asked questions go to http://www.visitscotland.org/
- Where possible, a Gaelic speaker will be made available for broadcast interviews on request (Far an tèid iarraidh, agus far am bheil sin nar comas, bruidhinnidh neach le Gàidhlig aig agallamh)
- For holiday information on Scotland go to www.visitscotland.com
- For information about business tourism in Scotland go to www.conventionscotland.com
Year of Food and Drink 2015
- 2015 is the Year of Food and Drink, a celebration of Scotland’s natural larder and the role that food and drink plays in shaping our economic success.
- Scotland generates over £2.5m per day through food and drink tourism.
- A series of themed months will create an appetite for key areas of Scotland’s food and drink industries – from seafood and whisky to berries and high-quality meat
- For more information, visit www.visitscotland.com/tastescotland
