Press release -
Scottish Senior Open moves to Archerfield Links
The Scottish Senior Open will be played at Archerfield Links Golf Club for the first time from August 27-29, 2015, with the East Lothian course becoming the sixth different venue to host the long-running tournament.
With a prize fund of £250,000 the tournament will have a field of 60 European Senior Tour professionals, who will play alongside an amateur partner for the first two rounds before the professionals only contest the final round on Saturday, August 29.
Archerfield Links has hosted the Ladies Scottish Open since 2010, while it also hosts an annual charity Pro-Am event each June in conjunction with Senior Tour player Ian Woosnam.
The Fidra Links course, which will host the Scottish Senior Open, was designed by Senior Tour Committee Chairman David J Russell, one of Woosnam’s assistant captains at The 2006 Ryder Cup, who is one of Archerfield Links’ two Touring Professionals, along with Catriona Matthew.
Andy Stubbs, Managing Director of the European Senior Tour, said:
“The Scottish Senior Open is one of the longest running tournaments on the European Senior Tour schedule, and we are delighted to be visiting a new venue this year in Archerfield Links, which will be a magnificent course for our leading players to contest this prestigious title.
“The tournament will witness a new format this year enabling amateur golfers to play alongside some of the legends of the game and we must thank VisitScotland for their continued support, as well as East Lothian Council and Archerfield Links for hosting us for the first time.”
Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said:
“We are delighted to continue our support of world-class golf events in Scotland, the Home of Golf, and to see the Scottish Senior Open move to yet another outstanding venue at Archerfield Links.
“East Lothian is renowned for being home to some of the best courses anywhere in the world and with the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open taking place at Gullane this year, as well as a number of other events throughout Scotland, it promises to be another hugely exciting summer of golf in the region and across the country as a whole.”
Councillor John McMillan, Cabinet Spokesperson for Economic Development and Tourism, said:
“We are very pleased to be hosting the Scottish Senior Open this year. It’s a fantastic year for East Lothian, Scotland’s Golf Coast, as we’re also home to the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Gullane in July. Hosting tournaments of this calibre keeps us firmly on the map as one of the best places in the world to enjoy playing and watching the game of golf. And of course it’s a great boost to our local economy too.”
Tom Younger, Chief Executive Archerfield Links Golf Club, said:
“We are delighted to be working with the European Senior Tour, East Lothian Council and VisitScotland on staging this Championship here at Archerfield Links. It truly is an honour for us to host this event, especially when you look at some of the previous winners, and it will be really wonderful to see some of these great champions back in action on Scotland’s Golf Coast at Archerfield this August.”
This year’s Scottish Senior Open will be the 23rd edition of the event. First played at Royal Aberdeen in 1993, the tournament has also been held at Newmachar, Marriott Dalmahoy Hotel and Country Club, The Roxburghe, and Fairmont St Andrews, which was the venue for the past six editions.
Former Scottish Senior Open champions include Tommy Horton (1993, 1997), Brian Huggett (1995), Neil Coles (1999), Sam Torrance (2006), and Barry Lane (2010, 2011), while Englishman Mark Davis claimed his maiden Senior Tour title at Fairmont St Andrews last year.
Details relating to sponsorship, Pro-am teams and the purchase of individual amateur places in the tournament, will be available shortly.
-Ends –
For more information contact:
European Tour Media Communications Department
+44 (0)1344 840400
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Notes to Editors
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- To market Scotland to all parts of the world to attract visitors
- To provide information – and inspiration – to visitors and potential visitors so they get the best out of a visit to Scotland
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- 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.
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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
