Dates, venues for 2010 Scottish amateur golf season - Gullane to the Fore !

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE SCOTTISH GOLF UNION

The Gullane No 1 course in East Lothian tops the list of venues for the Scottish Golf Union’s 2010 schedule when it hosts the Allied Surveyors Scottish amateur championship in July next year.

Six years on from George Murray’s dramatic victory over Paul O’Hara when the venue last hosted the country’s leading 256 amateur golfers, the recently extended Gullane course will provide the venue for the SGU’s flagship championship from Monday, July 26th to Saturday, 31st.

The domestic season gets underway in earnest with the Scottish boys' championship at the scenic West Kilbride course (April 5-10) while Ayrshire hosts another ‘Major’ the following month when the Scottish men's open amateur stroke-play championship returns to Glasgow Gailes (May 28-30).

East Lothian will also be host to some of the leading junior golfers from the UK and overseas when the Scottish boys' open stroke-play championship takes place at Craigielaw (July 23-25) while Peebles in the Borders is the venue for the Scottish boys' area team championship for a third time (June 6). 

The Scottish Seniors Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship moves to a new date in the schedule (30 June – 2 July) with Pollok on the south side of Glasgow providing a great setting for the country’s veterans, many of whom will be battling for a place in the Senior Home Internationals side which the SGU will host at Crail (14 – 16 September). The Golf Data Lab Scottish Youths (Under 21s) Championship also moves to a new date of 7 – 9 May with the event being staged at Monifieth.

Auchterarder will be the scene of both the firstpointusa.com Scottish Boys U16s Open Championship (6 – 8 July) and the Loretto School sponsored Scottish Boys & Girls U14s Open Championship (9 July). Fortrose & Rosemarkie will be the SGU’s most northerly venue in 2010 when it stages the Scottish Club Championship (26 September) with East Renfrewshire playing host to the Scottish Mid-Amateur (Over 25’s) Open Championship (12 – 14 June).

Euan Mordaunt, SGU Events Manager, said:
“We have some fantastic venues for Scotland’s amateur golfers to look forward to in 2010 and we are very excited about the quality of golf courses lined up for our championships in the season ahead.

“There have been some significant changes on Gullane No 1 with a new eighth hole and several new tees and it will provide a great challenge for competitors playing in our flagship event. The SGU is very grateful to all the clubs who host us throughout the year and indeed the members who give up their courses.”

“These great venues allow us to develop talent through our championships and hopefully we’ll see some good crowds turn out locally to support the players.” he added.

Details of a new date, venue and revised format for the Scottish Area Team Championship will be announced early in the New Year. Entry forms for all national championships will be available to download from www.scottishgolf.org.