Press release -

Fifty Shades of Green

Almost 24,000. people descended on three of Scotland’s most famous links golf courses to watch the final day of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship (4 Oct), an annual pro-am tournament where leading professionals play alongsidesome of the world’s biggest celebrities.

VisitScotland has credited the competition, which came to a dramatic end on Sunday when Denmark’s Thorbjorn Olesen claimed the top prize, with helping raise the profile of golf among less traditional audiences and promoting Scotland as a top golfing destination.

Unique on the European Tour, the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship is played in a Pro-Am format, with professionals playing alongside celebrities and amateur golfers

As well seasoned pros such as Martin Kaymer, Lee Westwood and Paul Lawrie, the four-day tournament also saw famous faces such as Hollywood actors Andy Garcia, Hugh Grant, Jamie Dornan, musician Ronan Keating and sporting idols Sir Ian Botham and Sir Steve Redgrave,tee off at the renowned St Andrews Old Course, Kingsbarns and Carnoustie.

The event, which is free to attend during the first three days, drew an impressive crowd of not just golf enthusiasts but movie and music fans keen to catch a closer look at their idols.

As well as the action on the course, stunning images of St Andrews, Fife and Angus were also broadcast to an audience of millions  worldwide.

Following on from a summer in which Scotland hosted no fewer than eight top-class golfing events it is hoped this global exposure will encourage and inspire even more visitors to make Scotland their number one choice for golfing breaks.

Mike Cantlay, Chairman of VisitScotland, said: “The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship marked a thrilling end to what has been an incredible year for golf in Scotland. In no other competition do you have stars of music, sport and film playing side by side with some of the biggest names in golf. It always adds an exciting new dimension to play and helps attract a diverse audience to these stunning courses.

“This year it has also been fantastic to hear so many of  the amateur and professional players singing Scotland’s praises, by describing why golfing in Scotland is such a special experience. I’m sure this will help inspire future visitors to add Scotland to their travel plans.

“Scotland is the undisputed Home of Golf and throughout 2015 we have shown the world that there is no finer place for a golf break than the country that gave golf to the world.”

Northern Irish Actor Jamie Dornan, star of the Hollywood Blockbuster, Fifty Shades of Grey, has described Scotland as “a great setting for golf”, he added: “It’s a beautiful part of the world with really nice people; very warm and welcoming. I’ve spent a lot of time in Scotland. I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Glasgow and Edinburgh over the years. The Scottish people know how to have fun, it’s a beautiful part of the world, and they take their golf seriously. It’s a great setting for golf. I keep coming back here.”

The Alfred Dunhill Links Championship marks the end of Scotland’s spectacular summer of golf, which included major events such as The 144th Open at St Andrews, The Scottish Open at Gullane and The RICOH’s Women’s British Open at Trump Turnberry. The national tourism organisation believes the tournaments have helped cement the country’s global reputation as the Home of Golf.

To find out more about golf in Scotland, please visit www.visitscotland.com/golf

Topics

  • Tourism

Categories

  • sportstourism

Regions

  • Scotland

Notes to Editors

    • 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:
      1. 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
      2. 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
      3. 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
      4. Customer Experience: we will provide information and inspiration to visitors both locally and globally via their preferred medium of choice
      5. 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
      6. Inclusive Tourism: we will strive to make tourism in Scotland inclusive and available to all
      7. 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 events 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

Contacts

David Connor

Golf PR Manager Contact for media enquiries on Golf 0131 472 2063

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